Review

Chris M. Sharpe
The Secret City:
3 tenors, 1 bass

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Publisher: C. Sharpe Editions
Date of Publication: 2021
URL: http://www.CSharpeEditions.com

Score and parts

Primary Genre: Trombone Ensembles - 4 trombones

The inspiration for this piece is a prophecy attributed to John Hendrix (1865-1915), known as The Prophet of Oak Ridge. It is said that Hendrix, following the death of his two-year-old daughter, spent 40 days in the woods, returning with a vision of the future for that Tennessee region, which would come to be known as Oak Ridge, “I tell you, Bear Creek Valley someday will be filled with great buildings and factories, and they will help toward winning the greatest war that ever will be…” Hendrix goes on to describe big engines, big ditches, and “thousands of people running to and fro.” He also described “great noise and confusion and the earth will shake.” As some will know, Oak Ridge became integral to the Manhattan Project’s work to build a nuclear bomb. 

Hailing from the same region, the composer has given us a three-movement work which makes frequent use of a motif derived from the area’s zip code, 37830 (E-flat, G, A-flat, E-flat, C). In the first movement, “40 Days and 40 Nights” the harmonies bring a sense of foreboding with a middle section of rhythmic energy. The 37830 motive is quite apparent throughout and is compositionally well-handled. There are passing dissonances but it isn’t 12-tone or atonal. 

According to the composer, the second movement, “Splitting Atoms” refers to “the nuclear activity in Oak Ridge beginning in World War II.” Harmonically, Sharpe floats between the A-flat major seventh implication of the pitch set and its darker C minor cousin. The slow movement builds in intensity (and dissonance) before resolving with brooding open fifths in the low register. 

The final movement, “The Earth Will Shake,” carries a double meaning referencing both the rumbles of Oak Ridge construction “as well as the horror of the atom bombs that were dropped on Japan during the war.” It maintains a fast 3/4 tempo throughout, alternating between rhythmic passages driven by an ostinato between G and A-flat and urgent chorale passages. It seems odd to me that, after setting up an intense C minor movement, Sharpe opts for a picardy major third on the final chord.

One nice feature of the composition is that each member of the quartet has interesting things to do while the first part has moments of rest to avoid exhaustion. The first part is in tenor clef ranging up to c2. All other parts sit in bass clef with the 2nd part ranging up to a1 at one point. The 4th part really requires a true bass trombone, extending down to FF. The score and parts are clean and well laid-out. This piece is within the reach of a good undergraduate quartet but shouldn’t escape the notice of older groups. There are enough challenging licks in the first part that a confident high range will be needed. This is a good addition to our repertoire. I like the solid grounding in both region and history. If you are looking for a substantial piece for a quartet to tackle, The Secret City is well worth your consideration.