Review

Benedetto Marcello
Sonatas 1-3:

Arranged by Justin Chiang


Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Publisher: Cherry Classics Music
Date of Publication: 2023
URL: http://www.cherryclassics.com

Score

Primary Genre: Trombone Ensembles - 2 trombones

The Sonatas of Italian composer Benedetto Marcello (1686-1739) have been adopted as staples in the repertoire of various instruments due to their technical and musical depth. These Baroque works for solo instrument and basso continuo are musically expressive and give various instruments the opportunity to develop nuanced and stylistically appropriate interpretation. This arrangement by Justin Chiang enriches our duo repertoire, presents intriguing performance opportunities, and is a valuable educational tool for trombone teachers to help students cultivate ensemble skills, intonation, and articulation. The works offer a worthy and substantial challenge for the student, yet they are accomplishable by players of various levels due to their somewhat conservative range and key centers. 

More often than not the melodic content from the original solo part is placed in the trombone 1 part; however, this pattern does occasionally flip with the trombone 2 part taking on the solo work in the latter half of most of the allegro movements. Thus, though the trombone 2 part frequently plays the basso continuo part, both trombonists will be challenged with interesting and technically challenging musical passagework in these Sonatas. Sonata 1 ventures no higher than g1 in trombone 1 and in the trombone 2 part, which is generally in the bass clef staff, no lower than written D or optional lower trigger C. The ranges are similarly conservative in the other Sonatas in this arrangement, with an a1 appearing in Sonata 3 in Trombone 1. These Sonata arrangements will make an outstanding addition to any teacher’s or performer’s duo repertoire.