Review

Carson P. Cooman
Remembering Tomorrow: Trombone Concerto Op.580:

Lagny sur Marne, , France
Publisher: Musik Fabrik
Date of Publication: 2005

Score in C and solo part

Primary Genre: Solo Tenor Trombone - with orchestra

Remembering Tomorrow is the title of a rather strange novel by Harold Hester (2003) in which a human clone travels back in time, searching for a soul so he can enjoy the experience of falling in love. It also subtitles a whole genre of futuristic science fiction by writers such as William Gibson and Isaac Asimov; I do not know if this piece draws inspiration from any of these stories.

Carson Cooman, born in 1982, is an extraordinarily prolific and wide-ranging composer whose opus numbers are now over 700. He is also active as a concert organist and has commissioned and premiered dozens of new works. Remembering Tomorrow is scored for a small orchestra comprising two flutes, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, and trumpet; timpani, tubular bells and divisi strings. It was commissioned by Haim Avitsur, completed in October 2004, ‘in the presence of God’, a devotion found in other works of this composer, and at the time of this writing, awaits its premiere. The concerto is presented in four sections played continuously. The first, marked ‘with unfolding mystery’, begins with the main themes played on bells, the trombone joining them in what the composer describes as a ‘cantorial role’, playing its melodic material through a tapestry of string sound. The second section (‘excited’) is fast and increasingly energetic, climaxing in two short hammer chords. The third section is chorale-like, its energy building up to the fourth section, a cadenza, marked ‘very fast’ and also pianissimo. The concerto ends softly, ‘with increase of silence’, a mysteriousness consistent with its enigmatic title. 

Remembering Tomorrow is written in an extended tonal idiom, using no extended techniques. Tonal range is C–b-flat1. Wide ranges of dynamics and expressive capability are exploited, and some sections, especially the cadenza, are technically challenging. Scoring for small orchestra is of considerable originality, the prominent use of bells providing some unusual and effective sonorities. By turns lyrical and declamatory, the trombone is given an eloquent and perhaps a prophetic voice. In my opinion, this is a successful piece that should fairly soon be able to find its way out of the wilderness and into the repertoire. Production of score and solo part is good; note that there is no piano reduction provided.

-Keith Davies Jones
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada