Review

Joseph Edouard Barat
Andante et Allegro:

Arranged by Justin Chiang


Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Publisher: Cherry Classics Music
Date of Publication: 2023
URL: http://www.cherryclassics.com

Score

Primary Genre: Trombone Ensembles - 2 trombones

First published as a solo for trombone and piano in 1926, Justin Chiang arranged Joseph Edouard Barat’s Andante et Allegro for trombone duet. While the score simply indicates that this is set for two trombones, the second trombone part spans a range from D to b-flat1 and should be playable by most intermediate to advanced players on either tenor or bass trombone.

The first trombone part for this duet is an exact transcription of the original trombone and piano version, while the second part contains most of the prominent motives and melodic lines from the piano accompaniment. This creates some logistical challenges, as lots of the triplet arpeggiations do not benefit from the harmonic blurring of the damper pedal when played on trombone. Instead of creating atmosphere, this duet version will tend to sound much more contrapuntal. Perhaps this could be somewhat mediated when performed in a reverberant space.

While this duet might not be the best musical representation of the original version, it will probably prove to be a valuable teaching material. The parts and score are well edited for legibility.