Review


Jean Baptiste Arban
Method for Alto Trombone Part 3:

Arranged by edited by Wayne Groves

Alto trombone

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Publisher: Cherry Classics Music
Date of Publication: 2021
URL: http://www.cherryclassics.com

Method book. 122 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 3 is comprised of The Art of Phrasing, 70 pages, Characteristic Studies, 25 pages, and Arban’s Solos with Variations, 22 pages. It includes studies in 11 major keys (missing E) and in all minor keys. Overall range is B-flat-d². Some of the Characteristic Studies have many 16th and 32nd notes and many of the beams have solidified. They are at the highest level of difficulty, with, for example, a slide shift from 1st to 7th position in a group of 16th notes. They will call for great ingenuity in trying out alternative slide-positions before they can be perfected. The material is taken from the works of some ‘great’ composers, and many now unknown. Some are his own compositions, including his well-known Variations on “The Carnival of Venice,” which is a final tour de force of 185 measures with a blizzard of 16th and 32nd notes spread over five pages. Mr. Groves writes in his introduction that these studies are “mostly quite playable.” This last piece may be one of the exceptions!

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.

 

 

Reviewer: Keith Davies Jones
Review Published June 24, 2023