Review

E.A. Fenstad
Maine Stein Song:

Arranged by Fritz Velke


Glen Echo, MD, United States
Publisher: Velke Publishing
Date of Publication: 2000

Primary Genre: Trombone Ensembles - 4 trombones

The piece on which this charming arrangement is based has an interesting history. Legend has it that Adelbert Sprague, a student at the University of Maine in the early 1900s, made an arrangement of a German march called Opie (the original Fenstad work) and convinced his roommate, Lincoln Colcord, to write spirited lyrics to go with the tune. Popularized by Rudy Vallee in the ‘teens and ‘20s, the newly renamed “Stein Song” grew to become the University of Maine’s rouser (a recording of the UMaine choir singing it can be found on the university’s web site). The current arrangement for trombone quartet was created by the late educator/trombonist/composer Fritz Velke, who was a fixture in the Fairfax, Virginia region throughout the last quarter century. The arrangement is brief, 54 bars plus a repeat of the 32 bar first strain, lasting about 1.5 minutes, but inventive. A rollicking 6/8 march in E-flat, the melody is carried mostly by first trombone, which spends considerable time in the range from e-flat1 to a-flat1 . The bass part provides the typical rhythmic/harmonic foundation in 6/8 meter, with trigger-E-flat being the lowest note; there are cues an octave higher. The inner voices reveal the arranger’s inventiveness, with lively parallel chromatic lines and driving rhythms, while making only modest range demands. This work is an ideal encore piece or light interlude for any trombone quartet at the high school level or above, particularly one whose members wish to express loyalty to the state of Maine!

-Nat Dickey
Concordia College-Moorhead