Review

John Sweden
Solemn March:
eight trombones and percussion

Coventry, , United Kingdom
Publisher: Warwick Music Publishers
Date of Publication: 2009
URL: http://www.warwickmusic.com

score and parts

Primary Genre: Trombone Ensembles - 8 trombones

Solemn March is an homage to Giuseppe Verdi and is written in the style of that composer. It is scored for trombone octet including alto and contrabass trombones though these parts can well be covered by a proficient tenor trombonist and bass trombonist respectively. The score also calls for percussion: Timpani, Snare Drum and Bass Drum. However it is possible to perform the piece without these instruments with a small modification to the score. The melody is performed in octaves in alto trombone and tenor trombone 1 throughout the work. Tenor trombone parts 2, 3 and 4 provide rhythmic background while bass trombone 1 and 2 and contrabass trombone provide the bass line.  Form is ABA with the first 8 bars of the B section being an alto solo and the lower octave entering for the final 8 bars. While the melody is pleasant enough, the background parts are extremely repetitive, uninspired writing. Scoring is also quite condensed, muddy in lower parts. The percussion, while novel, adds only a different color as their parts are doubled in the trombones. This can be a good educational tool for a young alto player, and it may work as a recital piece for an alto player as well. For the majority of the choir and for the audience the work is repetitive and does not break any new musical ground.

-Thomas Zugger
Capital University