Review

Bernard Wayne Sanders
Sonata in d:

Köln, , Germany
Publisher: Verlag Dohr
Date of Publication: 2014

Piano score and solo part.

Primary Genre: Solo Tenor Trombone - with piano

Bernard Wayne Sanders holds a BM degree from St. Norbert College, and an MM in composition and organ from Wichita State University. Postgraduate study in Germany culminated in a further degree in organ performance from the Hochschule für Musik in Hamburg. He has also completed examinations for Church Music in Hamburg and Cologne. His compositions have been recognized in international competitions and are widely represented in American and German publishing houses. They have been heard on Radio Hessen, Radio Bavaria, Wisconsin Public Radio, and repeatedly on the syndicated radio program Pipe Dreams. In 2012 he joined the faculty at the Hochschule für Musik in Trossingen as a lecturer on the history of the organ and organ building.  Being a former trombonist, he has composed other works for trombone including:
Four Advent Motets for 3 Trombones
Etchings for Trumpet, Trombone and Organ
Pèlèrinage for Violoncello (Trombone) and Organ Epitaph for Violoncello (Trombone, Bassoon) and Organ
Rhapsodie for Trombone (Bassoon, Cello) and Organ
 
He stated the following: Dr. Bruce D. Tychinski commissioned the Sonata and premiered it on a faculty recital at St. Norbert College, on October 22nd, 2002. I grew up in DePere, Wisconsin, which is where St. Norbert is located, so whenever I visited my parents I would drop by the college and say hi. That’s where I met Bruce, and when he heard that I also play trombone and compose, he asked me to write something for him.
 
Bruce Tychinski wrote the following about the Sonata: The first movement highlights the sonorous qualities of the trombone with an irregular meter adding an underlying rhythmic energy. The second movement uses a dissonant cluster of tones in the piano contrasted by lyrical episodes in the trombone. The final movement is very energetic and angular and covers a wide range on the instrument.  It is an exciting conclusion to this piece. I have found the piece to be student friendly and have had several undergraduates play it on recitals or juries.
 
The score and trombone part erroneously name this as a work for trombone and organ. It is for trombone and piano, with the two being equal partners. The three contrasting movements are marked Moderato, Andante and Allegro molto. The harmonic and melodic writing is conservatively tonal, with interesting irregular and changing meters in the outer movements. The trombone writing is idiomatic, its range, endurance and technical requirements within the grasp of a good undergraduate level player. This is well-crafted music worthy of a place in the trombone/piano sonata literature.

-Karl Hinterbichler
University of New Mexico