Review

Eric North
Chasing the Unknown:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Publisher: Cherry Classics Music
Date of Publication: 2009
URL: http://www.cherryclassics.com

Performing score

Primary Genre: Solo Bass/Contrabass Trombone - unaccompanied

This contemporary composition is an accessible recital piece that requires prowess shifting between extremities of register while navigating continuously changing meters. Donated for review by Cherry Classics Music, the publisher’s website generously includes preview .pdf pages that contain large portions of the composition, enabling the viewer to make an informed decision prior to purchase.  

The work stems from three thematic gestures, as presented in m.1, mm. 25-27, and m.28. The initial theme’s asymmetrical quadruple subdivision of compound triple meter, 9/8 grouped as 2+2+2+3, is akin to Dave Brubeck’s Blue Rondo a la Turk. One aspect of the composition not shown in the online excerpts are multi-octave glissandi, frequently spanning compound intervals of a tritone plus one to three octaves, which I play as glissandi harmonic overtone series rips. Aside from climactic gestures descending to FF and ascending “as high as possible,” the music spans AA through b2. Given the high range demands at the end of the piece, this work may be of interest to the tenor trombonist wishing to demonstrate doubling skills as the piece is accessible on a single-valve bass trombone. There are shifting meter signs in almost every measure, coupled with several accelerandos that allow for nuanced changes of tempo.

While the overall page layout is excellent, containing thoughtful aligning of fermatas and rests at the end of pages, I would like to have seen courtesy (cautionary) accidentals enclosed within parentheses to aid legibility, especially given the redundant use of b-flat accidentals in the second-half of mm.7 and 68 that make for awkward reading as the performer must give pause and wonder if they misread something. 

-Peter Fielding
Mahidol University, Thailand