Review

Edward Elgar
Three Pieces:

Arranged by Ralph Sauer


Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Publisher: Cherry Classics Music
Date of Publication: 2011
URL: http://www.cherryclassics.com

Piano score and solo part.

Primary Genre: Solo Tenor Trombone - with piano
Secondary Genre: Solo Bass/Contrabass Trombone - with piano

This collection of solo recital pieces with piano accompaniment are arrangements of Elgar’s Op. 15, No.1 and No.2, Chanson du nuit and Chanson de matin and his Romance, Op.62, not Op.63 as printed in the score being reviewed here. Donated for review by Cherry Classics, the publisher’s website includes solo and piano score samples as well as excerpts of a bass clef euphonium version of the trombone part that is also available: www.cherryclassics.com.

Originally scored for solo violin and piano, Elgar wrote orchestral versions of both chansons, as well as a solo viola version of Chanson de nuit. In Sauer’s arrangements, violin technical jargon has been removed and practical edits have been incorporated to make the works more accessible. These include sensible octave transpositions and transferring solo material to the piano accompaniment in mm. 17-19, 21-23, 33-35, and 45-48. One fermata at the beginning of m.49 is absent. For those wanting to listen to a recording, I recommend Violin Recital: Simone Lamsma (Naxos 8.557984), with Yurie Miura, piano. The chansons have been lowered from G major to F major for the trombone version (tenor clef, spanning F to a1), and A-flat major for the tuba (bass trombone) version (bass clef, traversing AA-flat to c), to more readily pair them with Sauer’s arrangement of Elgar’s Op.62, Romance.

Elgar dedicated his Romance to Frederick Edwin James (1862-1921), the first principal bassoonist of the London Symphony Orchestra. This trombone arrangement is in the same key as the original bassoon version, F major, while the tuba (bass trombone) arrangement is in A-flat. The most significant edits are simplified scalar runs and the elimination of several wide leaps. Such edits will make this arrangement attractive to bassoon students seeking attainable recital repertoire. The version for trombone spans E to c2 with optional D. The lower transposed version for tuba (bass trombone) spans BB-flat to e-flat, with optional low passages descending to FF. As Sauer’s arrangement extends Elgar’s optional octave 8va for mm. 64-65, the tubist or bass trombonist may wish to play this passage an octave lower. These arrangements offer accessible lyrical solo works of Elgar that can be effectively performed as stand-alone pieces, or as a combined set on a solo recital.  

-Peter Fielding
Mahidol University