Review

Franz Joseph Haydn
Concerto No. 1:

Arranged by Angelo Piazzini


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

Piano score and solo part

Primary Genre: Solo Tenor Trombone - with piano

This is an excellent arrangement for trombone and piano of the light and lovely three movement Haydn Horn Concerto No. 1. (Note: publisher title does not mention this is originally a horn concerto, only titles the arrangement as Concerto No.1, it would be helpful if this was corrected). The arranger has transposed the concerto down from D to B-flat major which makes this an accessible piece for trombonists that would be excellent material for college or professional recitals. The piano and the trombone are equal partners in this work, and an excellent pianist is needed for this piece as the orchestra interludes covered in the piano part are filled with scale and arpeggio passages that demand precision and technical skill.  The trombone part fits the instrument well. The outer movements emphasize scale and arpeggio characteristic of the style, and the third movement in particular contains some fast sixteenth-note arpeggio work that will be challenging for the trombonist. The original work explores the extreme low register of the horn, so the trombone version has a few pedal B-flats and C’s in the second movement. I found this to be a useful and promising new addition to the solo repertoire. Grade 4-5. Range BB-flat to c2.