Review

Sigmund Hering
Forty Progressive Etudes for Trombone:

New York, NY, United States
Publisher: Carl Fischer
Date of Publication: 1945 / 2011
URL: http://www.carlfischer.com
Language: English

Includes compact disc with etude performances by John Drew. 45 pages.

Primary Genre: Study Material - method
Secondary Genre: Study Material - etude

Trained in Vienna, Sigmund Hering served as principal trumpet of the Philadelphia Orchestra for 40 years. He taught at the Settlement School of Music and the Curtis Institute with students including Gilbert Johnson. Hering wrote quite a few trumpet etude books including the four-volume Sigmund Hering Trumpet Course. This collection of etudes is one of three that have been transcribed for trombone. Carl Fischer’s reissue of both the trumpet and trombone versions include accompanying recordings. Christopher Moore, Dr. Drew’s colleague at Florida State University recorded the trumpet version.

These are solid one-page etudes that start out on the half-note quarter-note level and finish with long strings of 16th notes. As is often the case with transcribed trumpet books, the range is fairly conservative, sitting mostly between B-flat and f1 with an occasional F on the low end but nothing beyond the 6th partial on the high end. The limited high range might be useful for students needing time to develop, but the low tessitura does make for some awkward technical passages in the 2nd-4th partials. The etudes remain safely diatonic, venturing out to D-flat major on the flat side but not beyond one sharp. Time signatures and rhythms are not exotic. 

John Drew’s performances are helpful. He adheres to the printed tempi even though, in the later etudes, this requires some virtuosic playing in that awkward mid-range. He wisely adds musical nuances to pieces that could easily have become too mechanical. This reissue is a good choice for students leaving their beginner methods but be advised that the ending material becomes rather ungainly at times. This book can work nicely for more advanced students when played in tenor clef or down an octave. 

-Brad Edwards
University of South Carolina