Review

Pavel Chesnokov
We Praise Thee Op.27, No.6:

Arranged by Jeff Reynolds

3 tenor, 1 bass, 1 contrabass trombone

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

Score and parts

Primary Genre: Trombone Ensembles - 5 trombones

This is a Russian Orthodox chant transcribed for three tenor trombones (part 3 divisi), bass and contrabass trombones. The work is labeled  'Tebe Poyem,' transliterated from the Russian Teбe πoem, which means 'We Praise Thee' in English. Choral performances of this work focus on the extremely deep and resonant “Russian Bass” voice in the choir, and this quality should also be the focus of trombone performances. Arranger Jeff Reynolds’ describes it as a “long tone study.” Long tone study, indeed! Its tempo is marked half note = 30 beats to the minute, quite slow. Bass and contrabass parts mainly play in unison or octaves and make extreme demands on breath control and air capacity. Jeff Reynolds does what he can with those long, low notes, including having those two parts take turns breathing, but the best solution I can see is to use multiple instruments on each part, at least the lower two parts.

One unusual note: the contrabass part uses a bass clef with ottava marking, an indication to play the part an octave below where it is written. The upper two parts contain some unison passages, while the third part is responsible for much of the internal harmonic motion. This is a lovely and profound work; Jeff Reynolds deserves praise for making it available for trombones.