Review


Michael Praetorius
Four Sacred Carols:

Arranged by Mark J. LaFratta

Trombone quartet: four trombones: 3 tenor, 1 bass trombone

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

Score and parts.

Primary Genre: Trombone Ensembles - 4 trombones

Mr. LaFratta has taken four original choral pieces and molded them into a continuous arrangement. The carols are, in sequence, In Natali Domini, In Dulci Jubilo, En Natus Est Emmanuel and Psallite Unigenito. The ending of each piece is altered so they can be performed as a connected series of movements. 

The music is straightforward containing no really difficult passages. The need in performing this arrangement, as it is so often, is to blend sound well and work for a vocal flow and musicality. The musical texture tends toward polyphony, indicating a need on the individual players to match with colleagues in articulation, pitch and style. Particular attention should be paid to dynamics, which are well marked and provide necessary variety to the arrangement. Mr. LaFratta has composed a short coda to the arrangement in the style of the last carol, Psallite Unigenito. This coda can be played or not, according to the demands of a given performing environment. This work is useful in that it can be played by an experienced group with little preparation as a sort of repertoire piece.

Reviewer: Philip Brink
Review Published June 24, 2023