Review

Henry Wolking
Bass Trombone Music:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Publisher: Cherry Classics Music
Date of Publication: 2007
URL: http://www.cherryclassics.com

Piano score and solo part

Primary Genre: Solo Bass/Contrabass Trombone - with piano

Henry Wolking is an expert composer and arranger, at home in both the jazz and classical worlds. He is also an accomplished trombonist, so when he composes trombone music, good things happen. Bass Trombone Music is a case in point. Wolking calls it a “four-movement sonata” and each movement is a little gem of a character study that can easily stand on its own and, when given a proper detailing and polishing, will engage and charm the listener. The preface explains how each movement is entitled with the first-name of the individual who inspired it, how this person is connected to the composer in some personal way. Movements I, II, and IV pay homage to three renowned musicians of radically different stylistic persuasions: Roger (Miller), Lou (Harrison), and Thelonius (Monk). Movement III, Simon, is a poignant elegy to Wolking’s beloved English setter.

The “Roger” and “Thelonius” movements employ the time honored tradition of making something new out of something old, in this case Miller’s Dang Me and Thelonius’ Blue Monk. “Lou” uses a compositional technique that Wolking learned from Lou Harrison and is also evocative of the “Gamelan” style that colors much of Harrison’s music. Aurally reviewing these various sources, all freely accessible on the internet, will give the players immediate interpretive insights on these movements. For example, listen how Miller sings “dang me” and “they oughta take a rope and hang me” and you will know how to inflect those rhythmic motives that permeate the first movement. Considerable technical, stylistic, and collaborative skills are required of both trombonist and pianist to effectively realize these finely crafted and compelling movements. The trombone part stays mostly in the bass staff but the trigger and pedal registers are amply exploited, once down to CC, and there are occasional excursions above the staff, but never higher than f1. Henry Wolking dedicated Bass Trombone Music to Donn Schaeffer, his University of Utah colleague who premiered it at the 2008 Eastern Trombone Workshop.

-Art Jennings
University of Florida