Review

Richard Lane
Aria for Adina:

Vuarmarens, , Switzerland
Publisher: Editions Bim
Date of Publication: 2006
URL: http://www.editions-bim.com

Piano score and solo part

Primary Genre: Solo Tenor Trombone - with piano

Richard Lane (1933-2004) a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, seems to have spent most of his career as pianist, composer and teacher in New Jersey where he was born. His compositions have been widely performed and are said to demonstrate both a particularly skillful use of counterpoint and sometimes a sparkling sense of humour as well. This piece, composed in 1990, is dedicated to Adina Salmansohn, Dean of Mount Vernon Music Academy, with a neat allusion, of course, to Donizetti. The trombone part is of intermediate difficulty, in song-like style, marked molto sostenuto, much of it at a quiet dynamic; tempo marking throughout is Andante, range is B-f1. The apparent simplicity however is deceptive; there is much subtle harmonic complexity and tonal ambiguity in the piano part, which is both analytically challenging and harder to play than it looks. In this respect it reminds somewhat of the work of John Gardner. This is an excellent student recital piece, which is both charming and musically interesting. Instinctively, one feels that this music accurately reflects the personality of the composer, who was said to have been a ‘very pleasant man.’

-Keith Davies Jones
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada