Review

Ludwig van Beethoven
Romance in F, Op. 50:

Arranged by Gordon Cherry

Trombone and piano

Vancouver, BC, , Canada
Publisher: Cherry Classics Music
Date of Publication: 2012
URL: http://www.cherryclassics.com

Score and solo part

Primary Genre: Solo Tenor Trombone - with piano

Composed in 1798, the Romance in F Op.50 is one of two Romances for violin and orchestra composed by Beethoven, Romance in G Op.40 being the other. The piece is relatively slow, mostly lyrical in style, and thanks to some creative problem solving by Mr. Cherry, can be effectively performed on trombone.

 

To assist with the transition from violin to trombone, Mr. Cherry has replaced many trills with grace notes, written out turns, and added additional articulations. There are also a handful of passages where he opted for octave transpositions to avoid extreme registers or leaps of nearly two octaves. Particularly ambitious performers, confident in their valve register, can certainly peruse the violin part and reintroduce some of the original material. Lastly, Mr. Cherry discretely added breath marks, especially in the lengthy passages of 32nd-notes or 16th-note triplets, by artfully removing the occasional note.

 

Beethoven’s Romance in F Op.50 transitions well to trombone or euphonium. Issues with phrasing will need to be addressed and the nine-minute work ends by softly ascending to a c2 but the overall range of the piece is quite manageable, F-sharp to c2.