Review

Jamie Wehr
Ballad for My Other Brother:
trombone, narrator, orchestra

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Publisher: Wehr's Music House
Date of Publication: 2007
URL: http://www.wehrs-music-house.com

Score and parts

Primary Genre: Chamber Music
Secondary Genre: Solo Tenor Trombone - with orchestra

A full useful telling of the story behind this work is contained on the music folder. The narration text is a poem by Stephen Caldwell Wright which reads: 

My other brother Is more properly attired To the brighter ranks, And, although I do not Witness Myself In Suit and Tie, I Glory his Spunk for ascension To the Hills The Capitals The Suburbs No Loss. No Harm. No Plantation. No Reservation. But I shall not be a brother in the Mix And twine of Confusion.  I like to raise The windows at Dusk; Hear the whispers From the house next door; See the homely children Playing inn the alleys Under street lights; Watch them plant their hopes Against evening sky. (Capitalization and punctuation as in the score).

The music begins with a Moderato fanfare-like section with the trombonist and orchestra sharing roles equally. Those first thirty-one measures are followed by a second and slower section the composer marks, ‘Sonorusly’. This is where the trombone soloist has opportunity to sing on the instrument as the narrator reads the Caldwell Wright poem. There is some development of the musical ideas in the middle of this section. The ending section is quiet and peaceful. Trombone ranges to b-flat1 once, but approaches that area a number of times. 

It may be impossible to produce a piano reduction of this work for study and possible performance, but such a reduction would make the work more accessible for a good college/university student. The orchestra parts are clearly written and a high level high school group should be successful in accompanying this work. 

-Mark Lammers
Gustavus Adolphus College