Review

William G. Rose
Soliloquy 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

William G. Rose is Associate Professor of Music at McNeese State University where he teaches music theory and applied low brass.  A soliloquy is often a piece that portrays deep introspection without a lot of interaction with other musicians.  Appropriately, the unaccompanied format of this piece in two movements fits the title well.  There is a unifying motive present throughout the entirety of the first movement and part of the second movement.  This motive is mournful and drawn out and uses three notes to create two large intervals (descending, then ascending).  The first movement is marked Sorrowful with the eighth note getting the beat.  There is an ever-changing tonal center with many accidentals throughout, but the recurring motive provides continuity and stability.

The second movement is marked Agitated with a tempo of quarter note = 132 and a key signature with six flats.  It begins in e-flat minor but quickly goes elsewhere.  As one would expect, this movement is more technically demanding than the first.  There are many disjunct passages with large intervals, some spanning more than an octave.  The fast pace of this movement returns to the slow drawn-out motive from earlier to tie the piece together.

The range of this piece is certainly manageable for bass trombone spanning from GG to F1.  The intermediate difficulty makes this piece appropriate for an early undergraduate student of even an advanced high school student.  The length is perfect for an unaccompanied piece and would fit well in the middle of any recital program.