Review

Johannes Brahms
Die Nonne und der Ritter (The Nun and the Knight) Op.28, No.1:

Arranged by Transcribed and edited by Elliot Chasanov

Alto trombone, tenor trombone, piano

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Publisher: Cherry Classics Music
Date of Publication: 2012 / 2022
URL: http://www.cherryclassics.com

Score and parts.

Primary Genre: Trombone Ensembles - 2 trombones
Secondary Genre: Chamber Music

This is a setting of a poem by Joseph von Eichendorff, which Brahms wrote in 1860, seven years after he met Clara Schumann. It’s one of four vocal duets for alto and baritone comprising Op.28, published in 1864. It’s a hauntingly beautiful setting of some deeply melancholy poetry, and I think it will be impossible to play this music without some feeling of sadness creeping into your performance.

The arrangement is in the original key of E minor. The melody is based on a trochaic meter, unvarying through the first 99 measures, and used in 40 of the remaining 63. The largest melodic interval in either trombone part is a sixth; most are major and minor seconds and thirds. Phrases typically extend over 2-4 measures, calling for sensitive breath control throughout. All but 20 out of 161 measures are marked at a dynamic of mezzo-piano or less; the first 70 measures are pianissimo. Both parts contain adequate rest. Range for alto trombone is g-sharp-c². The tenor trombone part, given in bass clef, covers A-c¹. The low register of the piano is used extensively, going down to DD. Elliott Chasanov is Professor of Trombone in the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne.