Review

Gary Powell Nash
Ana's Song and Dance:

Nashville, TN, United States
Publisher: Gary Powell Nash
Date of Publication: 2010

Primary Genre: Trombone Ensembles - 8 trombones

Ana's Song and Dance is a through-composed work for eight trombones, six tenors and two basses. All parts are printed in bass clef but their range is extensive, GG-flat to d-flat2, requiring players with strong endurance and high range on the top two tenor parts. Compound meters are used throughout; significant amounts of syncopation and hemiola provide rhythmic energy.
                       	
The work begins with an ascending pyramid that grows quickly through the parts from low to high to a punctuated climax from which the piece dissipates. A single line descends gradually until the primary theme, Ana's Song, appears in a section labeled with a "Jazz/ Blues-like feel." In this meter, there is no implication to swing the eighth notes. The melody is presented twice in the low end of the choir, first with minimal responses from the lowest bass and then using parallel fourths to create a strong, dark timbre that may not be what one would envision from the title. The Dance evolves directly out of this and adds a few parts at a time with a new layer to the rhythmic groove.  Eventually, the top part soars above, while several rhythmic tiers simmer below. The tier groupings are always written successively among the parts. It will therefore be fairly easy for players to hear the harmonized versions of their line nearby for tuning and cohesiveness. The work progresses through a variety of keys and uses extended harmonies borrowed from the jazz genre. Nash has scored these well for intonation and at times places them at structurally significant points which creates a dramatic effect. There is an ebb and flow to the amount of activity in the work, but for the full six minutes, it is rhythmically persistent.

-Bruce Tychinski
University of Delaware