Review

Shane Lamb
Bagatelle: for bass trombone and piano
Bass trombone and piano

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

Score and solo part

Primary Genre: Solo Bass/Contrabass Trombone - with piano

Shane Lamb’s Bagatelle was commissioned in 2016 by Jonathan Warburton as a companion piece to a previous work entitled Pledge from 2010. Lamb’s Bagatelle follows the nature of a bagatelle in the sense that it is indeed a short piece that is light in character. Bagatelle is in the key of A minor but has a rather interesting section that revolves around a motif that appears as a muted F-sharp dorian scale. This motif serves as the primary figure in the second part of the piece until it eventually works its way briefly through D-flat major, E-flat minor with underlying B major chords, and finally back to A minor with the original opening motif. Lamb provides specific articulations and dynamics that contribute to the work’s overall light nature. He also provides specific pedal usage in the piano part that helps provide the opportunity for overtones in the bass trombone to resonate even more. Even though Lamb writes for extensive use of the pedals, he also writes a piano part that is almost constant, reminiscent of a basso continuo line from the late baroque period. The range of the bass trombone in this work is only two octaves from AA up to a, indicating that this work is not difficult in terms of range. The work's difficulty comes in its dynamic and articulation details, and the ability to make glissando as clean as possible from C to c across one beat. This work is meant for an advanced performer who commands a wide range of articulation, the ability to be able to change volume quickly without having the pitch suffer, and who understands the compositional structure and playful nature of the bagatelle.