Valorous: for unaccompanied bass trombone
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Publisher: Cherry Classics Music
Date of Publication: 2022
URL: http://www.cherryclassics.com
Primary Genre: Solo Bass/Contrabass Trombone - unaccompanied
Mississippi based trombonist, composer, and educator, Jason Beghtol, has added to his growing catalogue of compositions with Valorous, a 5-minute work for unaccompanied bass trombone. Consisting of five short sections played continuously, the form could best be described as slow-fast-slow-fast with an introductory fanfare.
Written within a reasonable melodic range (BB-flat to g1), Valorous is aptly named with heroic and bold statements throughout. The opening fanfare requires short bursts of double-tonguing, but afterwards the technical challenges are minimal. Both of the slower sections are in 3/4 and are predominantly lyrical in nature while the two fast sections are more aggressive, in 12/8, and contain occasional duple passages for contrast. Overall, the piece is well-written, approachable, and appropriate for advanced performers. This work, and other compositions and arrangements by Jason Beghtol, are available as a hard copy or digital download from cherryclassics.com.
Review Published December 14, 2023