Review

Michael D. McGuire
Fanfare for Bones West:
8 tenor, 3 bass trombones

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

Score and parts.

Primary Genre: Trombone Ensembles - 9+ trombones (choir)

Bones West, founded in 1980 by famed bass trombonist George Roberts (1928–2014), is a chapter of the International Trombone Association based in Southern California comprised of volunteer musicians. On their website, the organization states that it is “a trombone choir playing in the ‘big band’ style.” Fanfare for Bones West, inscribed as a dedication to “the ashes of Bones West,” is an original composition written by bass trombonist and Bones West member Michael D. McGuire.

Listed on the publisher’s website as “for moderately advanced players,” Fanfare draws on a rather large trombone choir: eleven individual parts split amongst two choirs. While each part does not employ a particularly expansive range (with one part spanning less than an octave), the composition extends from FF–c² and utilizes tenor clef in the top parts, requiring players with a degree of advanced ability.

Though two choirs are present throughout, the full force of this ensemble is deliberately reserved until the end. Choir B primarily supports choir A until measure 34, where McGuire moves into a quasi-recapitulation with powerful, antiphonal interjections. By measure 57, the pinnacle of this texture is realized and continues forward until the final measure.

A moment of particular interest occurs in the final two measures, where the bottom portion of choir B is required to play less than ideal glissandi. Trombones 3B and 4B have a g–c¹ glissandi, bass 5B G–c, all of which can technically be played from trigger 7th position to trigger 1st position (reminiscent of Kodály’s Háry János Suite). This alone presents enough challenge before considering the impossible glissando of GG–C in bass 6B. Ultimately, the effect will lean heavily on parts 1 – 2B to produce a clean glissando from g¹–c².

Fanfare for Bones West is a celebration of the powerhouse capabilities inherent in the trombone. Taking advantage of the homogenous sound, the antiphonal sections add depth and intrigue to the familiar return expositional material, concluding with a strong, exclamative ending one desires in a fanfare.