Review

Ralph Vaughan Williams
Two Carols from "Hodie":

Arranged by James Bates

Trombone quartet 3 tenor, 1 bass trombone

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Publisher: Cherry Classics Music
Date of Publication: 2020
URL: http://www.cherryclassics.com

Score and parts.

Primary Genre: Trombone Ensembles - 4 trombones

Hodie (This Day) is a cantata by Vaughan Williams (1872 -1958), written between 1953 and 1954; it was his last major choral-orchestral composition.

The two carols stand in marked contrast. No Sad Thought, marked Lento, is a complex mixture of Aeolian and Dorian modes and G major, with many accidentals and a high level of dissonance. The Blessed Son of God, marked Andante sostenuto, is in unequivocal B-flat major with no accidentals and few dissonant harmonies. In both pieces, textures are homophonic with much parallel movement. All parts play throughout and there are few rests. First and second parts are given in tenor clef, topping out at b¹ and g¹ respectively. Fourth part, bass trombone, goes from D to f-sharp with an optional BB-flat. This is an interesting addition to trombone literature from a composer who is not at present well represented. It is suitable for moderately advanced players.

James Beaumont Bates was born in Greater Philadelphia in 1949. He studied bass trombone at the Eastman School with Emory Remington and later played in the United States Army Band. He subsequently worked freelance in Baltimore and in North Carolina, and as an arranger for Quincy Jones in Los Angeles. Notes in the publication indicate he is now deceased; the year of his death is not given.

All proceeds from the sale of this music will go to the Laura W. and Emory B. Remington Memorial Fund at the Eastman School of Music.