Review

Fritz Velke
Fantasy for Unaccompanied Trombone:

Glen Echo, MD, United States
Publisher: Velke Publishing
Date of Publication: 2001

Performance score

Primary Genre: Solo Tenor Trombone - unaccompanied

Fritz Velke (1930-2005), former conductor of the National Concert Band of America, was also a trombonist with a professed fondness for Dixieland music. He wrote this unaccompanied solo work for Don Lucas, then trombone professor at Texas Tech University, but currently trombone professor at Boston University. The piece is challenging and suitable in a recital setting for an advanced college or professional trombonist. Alternative techniques include many glissandi, against the grain slurring, and vibrato on specifically marked notes. The range, G to d-flat2, and tessitura (which remains above the staff for most of the solo) are challenging but within the reach of a strong college trombonist. Many large leaps of over an octave will present challenges. The work is mostly straightforward rhythmically, though there are many fast note values within a relatively slow tempo. Some rapid technical passages may require multiple tonguing. Much of the solo is in cantabile style, almost all of it slurred. Typical of many contemporary works, the piece features a wide dynamic range, pp to fff, with numerous subito shifts. Structurally, the piece alternates several times between Largo (quarter note=54) and Larghetto (quarter note=60), culminating in a somewhat faster Andante (quarter note=88). 

-Will Kimball
Brigham Young University