Review

Bernhard Eduard Müller
Studies: Op.4

Arranged by Benny Sluchin

Trombone

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

Etude book. 80 pages.

Primary Genre: Study Material - etude

Müller (b. Altenburg, 1842) played second horn in the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra from 1876 to 1920, and in 1904 he made some solo recordings. The exact date of his death is not known and it is possible that records of him were destroyed during the Nazi era. However, Leipzig City Directory for 1923 records ‘City Orchestra member Eduard Müller living at Scheffelstrasse 35 in Connewitz.’ No directory for 1924 is available; only his widow, M. Müller is living at the above address in 1925. The date of his death is therefore between 1923 and 1925. He composed quite extensively and much of his work, including several sets of quartets, remain in print. These studies, written for his own instrument, and published sometime before 1910, have been used for many years by trombonists. This new edition is intended for tenor-bass trombone. It includes a harmonic series chart going up to the 16th partial (f²), with extensive annotations and helpful hints covering a wide range of technical issues, including economy of slide movement, legato playing, ornamentation and syncopation.

There are 33 studies. All have key signatures of 1-4 flats, and are predominantly in major keys; 24 are in B-flat, and three each in E-flat and A-flat. No sharp keys are used. However, just to be confusing, No.18, which is in D minor, has a key signature of two flats, which results in a superabundance of accidental sharps. There are also many of these in No.20 and No.23, nominally in D minor and B-flat respectively, but modulating at every twist and turn into tonally remote territories. The only other minor key study is No.33 in A/B-flat minor.

Some non-intuitive slide positions are indicated, including third and fourth positions with valve for B-flat and A, both in No.20 in D minor. ‘3v’ is indicated six times for B-flat in No.31 (in E-flat). Solutions such as these will undoubtedly be helpful in developing fluency of execution in problematic passages and I think these studies will be found useful by students and professionals alike. The edition has been produced with exemplary clarity. Benny Sluchin previously made available an edition for bass trombone of 60 Etudes Op.5 by Georg Kopprasch, an early 19th century horn player, details of whose life are also scanty.