Review

Axel Jørgensen
Legende:

Arranged by Niels-Ole Bo Johansen

Trombone and piano

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

Score and solo part

Primary Genre: Solo Tenor Trombone - with piano

Axel Jørgensen, a Danish composer from the early part of the 20th Century, is overshadowed by his countryman Carl Nielsen. Nielsen, although he scored compellingly for brass, wrote no works for solo trombone. Jørgensen, however, has provided us with several pieces that have found their way into the trombone repertoire: Suite, op.22 and especially Romance, op.21. Legende für Posaune und Klavier is a relatively recent discovery. It is a lovely five-minute musical respite in the whimsical, romantic style common to Jørgensen’s compositions.

The work itself is in a ternary form with an extended modulation, a da capo, and a brief coda. The opening E-flat major section contains two dramatic ascending lines. A younger player will need to be encouraged to differentiate between the triplet and dotted eighth-sixteenth figures. A playful transition follows, leading to a lyrical piu lento now in D-flat major. The brief cadenza that closes this section contains both the lowest, pedal BB-flat, and highest, b-flat¹, notes in the piece. The opening section returns and the coda closes with fragments of the initial theme now in quiet resignation.

Legende is a work of musical quality that is technically accessible to an advanced intermediate trombonist. This excellent piece will help a younger student develop expressiveness and learn to make musical choices. More advanced players will enjoy performing a beautiful work that lays comfortably within their technique.