Review

Giuseppe Verdi
Overture to "Nabucco":

Arranged by Kenneth Pierce/Andrew Poirer

Two alto trombones, two tenor trombones, one bass trombone

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Publisher: Cherry Classics Music
Date of Publication: 2019
URL: http://www.itromboni.com

Score and parts

Primary Genre: Trombone Ensembles - 5 trombones

Nabucco is a four-act opera written in 1841 by Giuseppi Verdi. It is the piece that firmly established Verdi as a composer and the work has enjoyed success since its premiere at La Scala on March 9th of the same year. Its overture is often performed as a stand-alone work by orchestras around the world.

The original composition is for full orchestra, with cimbasso instead of tuba, and highlights themes from the opera. This arrangement for trombone quintet does an excellent job of condensing all of the rich harmonies and voicing from the original into the five voices of the trombone quintet. Other than instrumentation, little has changed from the original composition; the keys, length, and musical content are identical. Delicate solo sections highlight the soloist appropriately, and tutti sections bring robust vivacity to the fore.

The arrangement is scored for two alto trombones in alto clef, tenor trombone in tenor clef, tenor trombone in bass clef, and bass trombone in bass clef. The alto parts are demanding and require complete fluency on the instrument. Both alto parts extend upwards to e², and the first part reaches f². The tenor parts sit in a comfortable tenor register and the bass part descends to C.

The tenor and bass parts are accessible to undergraduate students. However, the demands of the alto parts require the proficiency of graduate-level or professional trombonists. A wonderful recording can be found on iTromboni’s 2003 album there goes the neighbourhood.