Review

John Frith
Intermezzo:

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

Primary Genre: Solo Tenor Trombone - with piano

John Frith (b.1947) hails from Hampshire in the United Kingdom. His professional training began at Dartington College of Arts and continued at the Guildhall School of Music where, studying horn and composition, he won both the brass and school composition prizes. Combining a career as a professional horn player, teacher and composer, he has written extensively for a variety of ensembles and soloists. His published compositions are numerous and include the following works for trombone: Behind the Mask and Blockbuster, both for bass trombone and piano, Four's Company for trombone quartet, Adagietto for eight trombones, Ode to a Happy Bunny for solo bass trombone, Three Duets for tenor and bass trombone, Meditation for bass trombone and organ, and A Beautiful Noise for solo bass trombone and seven trombones.

Michael Sallis commissioned Intermezzo for his Gloucestershire Wind Orchestra and it was premiered in 2002 with soloist Roger Cutts. The original version was scored for solo trombone and winds. The work is generally elegiac in character, showing off the lyric and tonal qualities of the trombone. From a formal, melodic, tonal and rhythmic standpoint its style is quite conservative, utilizing a neo-romantic language. In the composer’s own words:  I like to think that my music is accessible and hopefully memorable. For the trombonist this work presents no formidable challenges in terms of range, endurance, flexibility or technique, making it playable by good college level performers. It does however require a sensitive musician with excellent tonal and dynamic control. The composer created the piano reduction; it is accessible from a technical standpoint but requires a mature collaborator. 

-Karl Hinterbichler
University of New Mexico