Review

Jean Baptiste Arban
Method for Alto Trombone Part 2:

Arranged by edited by Wayne Groves

Alto trombone

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

Method book. 125 pages.

Primary Genre: Study Material - method
Secondary Genre: Study Material - etude

Jean Baptiste Arban, “The Paganini of the Cornet,” was born in Lyon in 1825 and died in Paris in 1889. These studies were first published in 1860 and have become a cornerstone of the pedagogical literature for many brass instruments. The Alto Trombone Method is currently comprised of three volumes, total 345 pages, and is designed for students starting out on alto trombone. It is transposed down a major sixth from treble clef editions, or a fourth higher than tenor trombone versions, and is given exclusively in alto clef. A photograph of M. Arban appears on the cover of each volume. Each includes a foreword by Per Brevig and an extensive introduction by Wayne Groves. A fourth volume is in preparation.

Part 2, comprising 125 pages and 145 studies, focuses on ornamentation: gruppetto (turn), three note gruppetto (anticipation), double appoggiatura, simple appoggiatura, short appoggiatura (grace note), portamento, trills, and mordent, and these occupy the first 40 pages. The remainder deal with intervals, triplets, sixteenth notes, perfect major and minor chords, dominant seventh chords, diminished seventh chords, cadenzas, triple tongue, double tongue, slur and double tongue and applied triple and double tongue. The majority of these studies are in flat keys, sharp major keys are represented by G, D, A, E and B. All minor keys are represented by at least one study. Nos.24-29 and 68-71 are duets in F, B-flat, E-flat and G major. Overall range is A-e-flat².

The overall range of these studies does not cover the highest notes in the repertoire, such as Bach Cantatas 68 and 121 (e²), Britten ‘Burning Fiery Furnace’ (f-flat²), and Beethoven Symphony No.5 (e²/f²). There is, however, much attention given to the low register, which is seldom required in works of the baroque or classical period. They are not written for a B-flat extension or whole-step trill valve.

I estimate there are more than 50,000 notes in each of these volumes, a majority of them 16ths or triplet 16ths, and the amount of work involved in their preparation is impressive. Mr Groves has rendered a great service in providing a quantity of study material that I think will be of great value to students and professionals alike. Wayne Groves is a graduate of the Juilliard School and is currently Principal Trombone of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Aguascalientes.