Review

Ralph Sauer
Practice with Bach: Volume 2 for tenor trombone
Tenor trombone

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Publisher: Cherry Classics Music
Date of Publication: 2018
URL: http://www.cherryclassics.com

24 etudes based upon the six partitas of J.S. Bach (BWV 825-830). 27 pages.

Primary Genre: Study Material - etude

These are technically challenging studies suitable for advanced players. 13 are in major keys, B-flat, G, and D, and 11 in minor keys, c, a, and e. Six are marked Lento and 18 Moderato, which the arranger indicates can mean “any speed from moderate to fast.” They will be of especial value in developing flexibility and fluency in passagework requiring evenness in playing 16th and 32nd notes and large intervals. Range spans E to c². There are 27 pages of music; tenor and bass clefs are used. Mordents are the only ornaments; used in 11 studies. The arranger writes that “for bass trombonists this book provides excellent material for building high register and clef reading skills.” These are musically and intellectually satisfying pieces, and as always in an encounter with great music, each summit achieved will reveal another yet higher.