Review

James Pugh
4 x 2 x 1:
Solo bass trombone, 6 tenor, 2 bass trombones

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Publisher: Cherry Classics Music
Date of Publication: 1999 / 2020
URL: http://www.cherryclassics.com

Score and parts.

Primary Genre: Solo Bass/Contrabass Trombone - with brass
Secondary Genre: Trombone Ensembles - 9+ trombones (choir)

Are you looking for a bass trombone feature with your trombone choir? Something new, unique, and challenging for everyone involved? Jim Pugh’s 4 x 2 x 1 just may fit the bill.

The title of the piece, 4 x 2 x 1, refers to the double quartet accompanying choir (4 x 2) plus the soloist (1). Originally composed for bass trombonist David Taylor with the Four of a Kind Quartet and the Vienna Trombone Quartet to premier at the 1999 Manhattan School of Music Trombone Day, the piece was also recorded on The Graham Ashton Brass Ensemble Plays The Music of James Pugh and Daniel Schnyder.

The piece begins with all members playing a highly chromatic statement in three different octaves. Fragments of this twelve-note statement, which contains ten different pitches, will appear throughout the work, sometimes altered rhythmically. The instability of the opening builds to a clear A major harmony where a two measure, serpentine-like triplet theme begins to pass throughout the accompanying voices. Other thematic material, including fragments of the opening statement, is added while the solo part increases in complexity, descending into the double-trigger and pedal registers at a challenging tempo. A slower section follows before transitioning back to an Allegretto passage where the first trombone of quartet A is given a prominent solo. Another transition leads to a final, quasi-fugal section where four short themes slowly accumulate, one after the other, until every member of the accompanying quartets plays together. All the while, the bass trombone soloist has been given instructions to improvise freely, starting slowly and building to a “low G-flat arrival” which conveniently happens to be the first pitch of the work’s opening statement. That opening theme returns, this time fully harmonized instead of just octaves, before the final cadence of the work in G-flat major.

4 x 2 x 1 is a challenging work that demands much from the performers. In addition to the bass trombone solo, all parts require mature musicians to navigate the rapid changes between solo and ensemble lines. However, the uniqueness of the work, as well as its quality, make it well worth the effort.