Review

Lars Halle
Concert Piece:

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Publisher: Lars Halle
Date of Publication: 2008

Primary Genre: Solo Tenor Trombone - with piano

Concert Piece is a new and exciting work from Norwegian born composer Lars Halle.   Halle is a percussionist and composer who teaches at the Pennsylvania Governor’s University of the Arts and also heads the Lars Halle Jazz Orchestra in the Philadelphia area. His big band compositions and arrangements are published through Kendor Music.  Though his performance is often in the jazz idiom, this work falls decidedly in the classical realm. Concert Piece was composed in 2008 for Jarred Anotonacci, a student at the University of the Arts. A recording of this performance and other information about the work is available at Halle’s web site, www.lhjo.com/composer.html. 

The piece is in palindrome form, opening with an extended cadenza followed by a triple meter 6/8 Allegro section, an Adagio 2/4 middle section and then reverses to the end with the 6/8 allegro section, extended cadenza and a three-measure coda to conclude. Its quite reasonable range extends from e to a few c2’s. Page and clarity of parts for both piano and trombone are excellent, clear and well marked. Harmonically the overall structure can be described as pan tonal, hovering in c-sharp minor in the Allegro and e-flat minor in the Adagio. The harmonic motion is both frequent and consistent throughout. Melodically the piece uses the major and minor second intervals extensively while also employing octave displacement to create more interest. The cadenzas especially are explicitly marked with wide dynamic changes, accents, flutter tongue, glissandi, and use of the trigger as a modified trill. Challenges for the trombonist include carefully following the specificity of articulation, mastering the many leaps and working to create melodic line in sections that could be considered unidiomatic. Having said this, I believe this is an excellent, well crafted work that fills a niche in the trombone repertoire. As a mid length recital piece it explores some interesting tonalities, stretches the trombonist technically and yet is accessible in range and endurance. I highly recommend this as an addition to your standard repertoire list.

-Thomas Zugger
Capital University