Review

William Pagán-Pérez
Obertura Tropical: for 7 trombones and Acoustic Bass
Trombone Choir 7-part trombone ensemble with acoustic bass and Latin percussion 6 tenor, 1 bass trombone, acoustic bass, bongos, congas, timbales

Buffalo, New York, United States
Publisher: William Pagán-Pérez
Date of Publication: 2021
URL: http://www.williampagan.com

Score and parts.

Primary Genre: Trombone Ensembles - 7 trombones

Composer, trombonist, and music educator William Pagán-Pérez adds to his impressive list of original works for trombone with the charming Obertura Tropical. According to the composer’s own bio, he began composing works for trombone in 2012. In the intervening ten years, he has written an extensive list of notable works, a brief summary of which includes the Concertino for Trombone and the Three Afro-Hispanic Movements, reviewed in the Journal in April 2022, both premiered by Luis Fred, the Sonatina for Bass Trombone premiered by Gerry Pagano at ITF 2017, Short Piece for solo contrabass trombone commissioned by Javier Colomer, and the moving trombone ensemble work Justice Fanfare: A music piece to unite people in a good cause, to name but a few of the notable works in this impressive and growing catalog.

Obertura Tropical begins with a gentle, moderately paced introduction featuring ascending arpeggios in the upper trombones and a doubled bass line in the bass trombone and string bass. Additional voices enter with lovely, brief melodic lines added to the established texture, then the work seamlessly transitions into a double-time Salsa groove with a 3-2 clave rhythm in the optional Latin percussion which may include bongos, congas, and timbales. The trombone 1 part is a soaring lead part, yet ascends no higher than c2. Trombones 1-3 contain chord changes for an improvised, open and repeated 8-bar solo section, which is over a repeated 3-6-2-5 turnaround in A-flat. Trombones 4-6 are also scored for tenor trombone and contain a fair amount of rhythmic chordal playing which guides us through the harmonies. Trombone 7 is a true bass trombone part and contains several BB-naturals yet goes no lower than AA-flat (Pedal Ab). For flexible instrumentation an optional tuba or additional bass trombone part, to be used in substitution for the acoustic bass if one is unavailable is included. This optional part would be a fun, low, and sustained challenge for a talented bass trombonist with an extensive low range (descends to FF), yet the part is quite well suited to the tuba. This amiable work is highly recommended for your trombone ensemble library, a quality addition to any trombone ensemble program.