Review

Gregory Nicolett
Artifice:
trombone and string quartet/string orchestra

, United States
Publisher: Greg Nicolett
Date of Publication: 2004
URL: http://www.gregnicolett.com

Primary Genre: Solo Tenor Trombone - with orchestra
Secondary Genre: Chamber Music

Composing for trombone and string quartet presents unique challenges in terms of differences in timbre, volume, articulation, and tessitura. Using neo-romantic tonalities, textures, and treatments can compound these difficulties; the shadow cast by Bartok's six string quartets looms large over these types of musical treatments. Nonetheless, Artifice is able to embrace the sonorities of the great Hungarian master and evoke personalized, percussive momentum, bi-tonality, glissandi, and sumptuous melodies to create a work that deserves widespread attention. Each of the three movements treats the trombone as protagonist, with the string quartet occupying the role of the loyal opposition. Always stable, consigned to talking amongst themselves, the quartet rarely strays from its mission as subtle sidekick, only occasionally engaging the trombone in exchanges or imitation. Instead, the strings set the table for the emotional but well-conceived lyricisms of our hero. The second movement includes an off-stage second trombone part that, in conjunction with harmon mutes, molto vibrato, pp dynamics, ostinati, and slow tempo, helps create a Bartokian "night music" feeling that Bartok often included in his inner movements. The final Dance is aggressive and inventive in its use of short motifs that are to be played "like a mariachi trumpet; dirty, raw." The effect is one that induces the listener to follow the decisiveness of the music intently. Artifice supercedes any inherent limitations for this unusual medium and proceeds to charm, humor, and energize on each hearing.

-Joel Elias
Sacramento State University