Review

George Gershwin
Promenade "Walking the Dog":

Arranged by Warren Ryland, edited by Gordon Cherry

Trombone and piano.

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Publisher: Cherry Classics Music
Date of Publication: 1958 / 2020
URL: http://www.cherryclassics.com

Score and solo part.

Primary Genre: Solo Tenor Trombone - with piano

This number comes from a score written in 1937 for a film starring Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, who appears walking a dog on the deck of a luxury liner. It’s a light and jaunty tune and obviously a well-behaved dog. The arrangement is in C major, marked Allegretto ♩=120. The trombone part covers a two and a half octave range from F-sharp-c-flat¹, and is given in bass and tenor clefs. It contains many grace notes and syncopated 16ths, a few wide intervals, and only six full measures of rest, not including those at the beginning and end of the piece. There are some rather awkward chords in the piano part and a span of a ninth is needed in the left hand. It is quite challenging for both players but for those who have the technical skills required it will be a really fun piece to play.

Warren (Gene) Ryland teaches tuba and euphonium in Houston schools and was Principal Tuba in the Galveston Symphony for over 30 years. He has also worked for NASA as a systems analyst.