Review

Jeffrey Joseph
Three Scherzos and a Lullaby: for Bass Trombone and Piano

Seckington, Tamworth, United Kingdom
Publisher: Warwick Music Limited
Date of Publication: 2021
URL: http://www.warwickmusic.com

Primary Genre: Solo Bass/Contrabass Trombone - with piano

This four-part work by Mr. Joseph uses the bass trombone quite effectively, while keeping the pianist very busy. Each of the movements features what the composer calls “a brace of ideas.” The opening Scherzo begins with a fanfare-like motive in rising fourths contrasted with ff passages in a scalar style, while the piano has continuous sixteenth-note triplets in legato. After about twenty measures of this, the texture changes in favor of soft passages in fifths in the trombone, accompanied by clusters in both hands on the piano. The contrast is one of textures and seems to be very effective. The texture of the opening returns with the stacked-up fourths now in the piano part, leading back to the sixteenth-note triplets, ff.

The second Scherzo features the cluster sound in the piano, with the cup-muted trombone playing softly, with modal intervals in a dance-like rhythm. In the middle section, the piano takes over the main melodic load and the trombone playing a sort of recitative or chant without a return to the earlier material. The third section or Lullaby is described by the composer as a Siciliano. A second section uses the sixteenth note pattern in the piano, with the trombone once again muted. This is followed by a return to the original material, ending in a quiet close. The closing section, or Scherzo Three, is very fast and alternates a fugal texture with a march, and the piece ends strongly.

There are a few concerns about technical matters: near the beginning of the First Scherzo [measure 19] there is a glissando written in the trombone part which is only possible without cheating on the G flat valve on an instrument so equipped. Later, in the 11th measure of the Third Scherzo, the trombone is given a lip trill on a fourth space G, which would be very difficult; perhaps it can be played using both valves in fourth position. Apart from those two examples I saw no serious technical challenges.

Without a chance to hear the piece performed, it is hard to judge the effect it would have, but from what I can gather from the score, it should definitely conform to the subtitle in its name and be quite entertaining.