Review

David Fetter
Elysian Suite:
3 tenors (1 in tenor clef), 1 bass

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Publisher: Cherry Classics Music
Date of Publication: 2013 / 2024
URL: http://www.cherryclassics.com

Score and parts

Primary Genre: Trombone Ensembles - 4 trombones

The copyright on this piece shows two years: 2013 and 2024. I assume David Fetter first composed this in 2013 and more recently released it through Cherry Classics. David Fetter was the Principal Trombonist of the Baltimore Symphony and taught at the Peabody Institute of Music from 1970 until 2016. He is well-known by trombonists for his Variations on Dona Nobis Pacem (for tenor or bass trombone) and Spain for bass trombone (a movement from the larger work, Bass Lines.

The piece is dedicated to Nate Siler, a founding member of the Elysian Trombone Quartet, thus explaining the piece’s title. This work’s four movements are titled Fanfare, Wind Chime, Gongs, and March. The first trombone part, mostly in tenor clef, ranges from c to c2. While it does venture up to those higher notes it doesn’t hang in the upper tessitura so much as to exhaust the player. Also, Fetter wisely includes rests wherein the lower three voices are featured. The second part remains in bass clef but does sometimes function as a lead voice ranging up to a2. The fourth part really should be done by a true bass trombonist since Fetter includes some powerful pedal notes ranging down to fortissimo pedal FF’s. This part also includes some low B-naturals.

Overall, the work is harmonically dissonant but not aggressively so. At times Fetter’s use of dissonance comes across as sardonic, reminding me of Shostakovich (especially in the fourth movement). At other times, the sonorities remind me a bit of Debussy.  While much of the piece features homorhythmic writing often in pairs, there are some trickier rhythmic sections, especially in the Gongs where the composer is emulating the somewhat random ringing of bells.

The first movement, Fanfare, is marked ‘Lively’ and features a lot of homorhythmic writing often using quarter note arpeggios arriving on brilliant seventh chords. The second movement, Wind Chime, marked ‘Pensive,’ does not, as one might expect, feature bell effects. It is consistently homorhythmic with rich harmonies. I wouldn’t call it a chorale given the amount of movement in the parts. If it’s bell effects you’re looking for, you’ll find them in the third movement, Gongs, appropriately marked ‘Resonant.’ For the most part, the first and second parts are rhythmically paired in contrast to the paired third and fourth parts. This will help performers from getting hopelessly lost. Performers will have to contend with complex back-and-forth between these two pairings.  It will have been worth the challenge as the movement should be very effective for the audience. The fourth movement, March, again marked ‘Lively,’ leans into ironic humor, contrasting bombast with lighter leggiero moments. The movement has its own gong-like effects leading me to wonder if the first two movements would also receive homage. However, such a backward reference wasn’t immediately apparent.

This is a strong, well-written piece by a person who clearly understands our instrument. It isn’t so difficult that it can’t be done by a competent undergraduate trombone quartet. It is a refreshing addition to the repertoire.