I found Eric Ewazen’s Triple Concerto for Three Trombones and Orchestra in a round-about way.
I was listening to my local classical music radio channel, WVTF, a few mornings ago, and one of the selections they played was Johannes Brahms’ “Academic Overture.” Meh. I’ve never been a fan of Brahms. Just a few weeks ago I listened to and reviewed Brahm’s Piano Concerto No. 1 (HERE) – and yes, it turns out that I had, in fact, heard the piece before – but Brahms is never my “go to” composer when I’m in the mood for classical music, so I just didn’t put two-and-two together to know that I was familiar with the piece (especially the first movement). So when I heard Brahms' “Academic Overture” on the radio I thought perhaps I’d give him another chance, and I wondered if he had written a concerto for trombone. Why the trombone? I used to play the trombone in high school and college, and I thought it would be fun to listen to a piece written specifically for the instrument. However, when I ran a Google-search for a Brahms concerto for trombone – of which there is none – I found this post, “The trombone players in the Buffalo Philharmonic asked composer Eric Ewazen if he would write something especially for them. Ewazen loved the idea and came up with his Triple Concerto for Three Trombones and Orchestra.” (HERE) Wow. A triple concerto. For three trombones. It sure sounded interesting. Alas, I did listen to it this week, and – sad to say – I did not find it interesting at all. Oh, it was pleasant enough, and the sound of three trombones was rich and sonorous – but to be honest, I thought it was boring. I had planned to listen to it again, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Perhaps I’m being too harsh. Like I said, it was a pleasant enough piece – it just didn’t embody anything special that captured my interest – so maybe just classify it as decent enough background music? I mean, I didn’t hate it. So back to Brahms for just a sec. When I found no trombone concerto composed by Brahms (not that every composer writes something for every instrument), I wondered when the trombone made its entry into the orchestra, and I found this: “The first use of the trombone as an independent instrument in a symphony was in the Symphony in E♭ (1807) by Swedish composer Joachim Nicolas Eggert. But the composer usually credited with the trombone's introduction into the symphony orchestra was Ludwig van Beethoven in Symphony No. 5 in C minor (1808).” (HERE) So the trombone was most definitely around during Brahms’ time. I also found information, HERE, on the standard trombone repertoire. I ran a word search on the term “concerto” on that page, and it appears 39 times. Interestingly enough, of all the concertos listed, all but five are from the 20th or 21st centuries. The five earlier concertos are as follows:
Hmm. Seems as though the trombone is the viola of the brass section? The viola obviously adds depth and breadth to the strings section, but its overall sound as a solo instrument just doesn't seem to be one that is favored by the human ear – and similarly so for the trombone? Its sound adds depth and breadth to the brass section, but as a solo instrument it plays second fiddle to the trumpet and/or French horn. I dunno. I’m just speculating. Anyway, if you have time, listen to Ewazen’s Triple Concerto for Three Trombones and let me know what you think.
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A New Hope:As the header above says, each week I will listen to a piece of classical music that I've never heard before, and then I will report out what I thought about it. Archives
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