Review

William Pagán-Pérez
Luna, The Black Cat...:
Trombone and piano

Buffalo, New York, United States
Publisher: William Pagán-Pérez
Date of Publication: 2020
URL: http://www.williampagan.com

Score.

Primary Genre: Solo Tenor Trombone - with piano

Mr. Pagán-Pérez is a Puerto Rican trombonist and composer who has made a commitment to the development of music for brass and other wind instruments at various skill levels and which reflects what he calls his “Afro-Hispano-American heritage.” The present piece, Luna, the Black Cat..., falls within this heritage: it is rhythmically interesting and challenging without being overly complex or demanding a high level of technical skill. It is described on his web page as intended for the early-intermediate level, and it succeeds at this level.

Much of the rhythmic interest in this work falls to the pianist, with sixteenth notes and off beat attacks. The trombone part is generally simpler in rhythmic content and presents few problems for the younger performer. There is a recording on the web page that gives a fairly good account of the piece and shows the influence of Mr. Pagán-Pérez’s Latin heritage. While the score is only for solo trombone and piano, the recording includes various percussion instruments and a bass string instrument. All in all, this is a respectable effort to provide interesting music in varied styles for the younger performer starting out on the trombone.

There is one small item of concern in the trombone part. A glissando from measure 11 to 12 runs from a-flat up to c-flat, which is quite possible, but the positions are incorrect: a-flat is notated with a position number of 6, while it should be in 7th position. Anyone deciding to give this piece to a young student should mark the part with the right number or at least inform the student of the error.