Slide Sonata: ,
Publisher: C. Sharpe Editions
Date of Publication: 2023
URL: http://www.CSharpeEditions.com
Piano score and solo part
Primary Genre: Solo Tenor Trombone - with piano
Thomas Hultén is principal trombone with Houston Grand Opera/Houston Ballet and the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra. He started playing at the age of ten in the local music school and a year later joined the Salvation Army Band in his hometown of Katrineholm, Sweden. He studied trombone performance at the Gothenburg Conservatory with Ingemar Roos and additional studies with Christian Lindberg and Nils Landgren. He has performed with several Scandinavian orchestras, including the Västerås Sinfonietta, Gothenburg Symphony, the Danish Radio Symphony, the Copenhagen Philharmonic, and the Royal Swedish Opera. Since moving to Houston, he has performed with the Houston Symphony, the San Antonio Symphony, and artists such as Ray Charles, Tony Bennett, Dave Brubeck, Natalie Cole, Barry Manilow, Patti Austin, Johnny Mathis, Chaka Khan, and Michael Bolton. His Grammy-nominated album Slide Sidewas released by Tierra Studios in 2009 and is available on iTunes and Amazon.com. Equally at home in the jazz arena, he regularly performs in the Houston area with his Dixieland band The Hot Vikings and is also a founding member of the Houston Jazz Orchestra. He has appeared as a soloist with the Houston Civic Symphony, the Dallas Brass Band and the Houston Brass Band and was a featured artist at the International Trombone Festival in 2018. The three movements (Valse, Song, Fete) of the Slide Sonata time in at 9 minutes. It was completed in 2022 and premiered by the composer in 2023. The structural, melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic elements are all traditionally tonal. An advanced undergraduate trombone major should be able to negotiate its technical and musical challenges. The piano part is also quite reasonable in its technical/musical demands. In true sonata fashion, it does not just accompany the trombone but is an equal partner. The layout and printing are first-class in every respect. There is an excellent recording, performed by the composer, available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXYkYGgHv5o.
Review Published December 27, 2023