Review

Reinhold Glière
Six Album Leaves:

Arranged by Ralph Sauer

tenor trombone and piano

Vancouver, BC, , Canada
Publisher: Cherry Classics Music
Date of Publication: 2016
URL: http://www.cherryclassics.com

Primary Genre: Solo Tenor Trombone - with piano

Glière was born in Kiev in 1875 of German/Polish extraction. He was Professor of Composition at the Moscow Conservatory from 1920 to 1941. He died in Moscow in 1956. He wrote these pieces, Op.51, originally for ‘cello, in 1910, following a period of study in Berlin. They follow Schumann’s example, and have an amiable melodic style. The six selections given here are a well-contrasted set. Three are in major and three are in minor keys. Five different meter signatures are used. The two most substantial are waltzes. No.10 in A minor, Con tristezza, has a playing time of four minutes; range is D-sharp-c2. No.2, Commodo, is written in a syncopated 3/4 meter, basically in B-flat major, and uses an extended tonal vocabulary. It has a playing time of just under four minutes. The briefest is No.7, a 5/4 Allegretto with a playing time of about two minutes. The piano parts are written with an admirable economy of means, and are generally not difficult; there are a few chords for the left hand that span the interval of a tenth. Overall trombone range is C-c2. I think these pieces will be finding their way onto student recital programs fairly soon.