Review

Samuel Barber
Mutations from Bach:

Arranged by Ralph Sauer

6 tenor, 2 bass trombones, optional timpani

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Publisher: Cherry Classics Music
Date of Publication: 1968 / 2020
URL: http://www.cherryclassics.com

Score and parts

Primary Genre: Trombone Ensembles - 8 trombones

This work is unusual in several senses. It is an original work for brass instruments (4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba and timpani) by American composer Samuel Barber. It was written for this ensemble in 1968 and Mr. Sauer’s recent transcription for trombones and timpani remains true to the spirit of the original. Mutations from Bach consists of a short sequence of transformations of the plainsong Christ, du Lamm Gottes. The stately and reverent character of the chant is maintained throughout the mutations.

A constant challenge facing arrangers for trombone, whether single instruments or ensembles, is handling music whose original parts go into the treble, soprano range. Mr. Sauer does a fine job with this challenge, placing high trumpet parts lower in the texture. There seems to be no loss of quality with parts placed lower in the texture than in the original. It is important, however, for performers of this arrangement to bear such alterations in mind and work carefully on volume balance. This is an important arrangement of a wonderful piece of music by a major composer and, as such, is a welcome contribution to the repertoire for trombone ensemble.