Review


Anton Bruckner
Am Grabe:

Arranged by Jeff Reynolds

Three tenor, one bass, optional contrabass trombone

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

Score and parts

Primary Genre: Trombone Ensembles - 4 trombones

Am Grabe is an elegy (WAB2) for a capella men’s voices, that was sung in Linz in 1861 at the funeral of Josefa Hafferl, the widow of a grocer. It is a revised setting of the elegy An Arneths Grab (WAB53) that Bruckner had composed in 1854 for men’s voices and three trombones. The original source of this transcription is not clear; there are significant differences between it and the 1923 Universal Edition (Petrucci).

It is a sombre piece, marked Langsam ♩= 60. There are just 29 measures, 21 not including repeats. The transcription is in the original key of F minor. First part is given in tenor clef, range g–b-flat¹; second and third are in bass clef. Bass trombone range is F–f. There is an optional part for contrabass trombone which mostly doubles the bass trombone part at the octave. I think this arrangement will sound best if the ensemble is not too large. Jeff Reynolds was bass trombonist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra for more than 30 years, playing also with Summit Brass.

 

Reviewer: Keith Davies Jones
Review Published June 20, 2023