Review

Ralph Vaughan Williams
A London Symphony:: Extracts from Symphony No.2

Arranged by Randall Malmstrom

Trombone Septet: seven trombones: 5 tenor, 1 bass, 1 contrabass trombone

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Publisher: Cherry Classics Music
Date of Publication: 2021
URL: http://www.cherryclassics.com

Score and parts.

Primary Genre: Trombone Ensembles - 7 trombones

First performed in 1914, the score to the original version of A London Symphony by Ralph Vaughan Williams has been lost to history. The version that exists of this work today was completely reconstructed and revised several times into the edition that was first published in 1936. Randall Malmstrom’s arrangement for seven-part trombone ensemble is a five minute collection of excerpts from the 1936 version.

Written as a single movement, Malmstrom’s arrangement highlights most of the main themes of the original while avoiding too much compositional development. While certainly fun to play, at times it struggles to achieve cohesion and unity as a result of showcasing so much diverse musical material in such a short work. It is scored for five tenor trombones, a bass trombone, and a contrabass trombone. While possible on bass trombone, the contrabass part is exceedingly low for much of this arrangement—frequently playing down to DD with an optional CC at one place. The highest three tenor trombone parts are written in tenor clef, and the first part plays up to c².

Aside from the very low contrabass part, most of this arrangement is highly accessible to college level trombone ensembles. Everything is well scored and arranged for trombones; parts and score are well edited. Randall Malmstrom’s arrangement of A London Symphony is a fun way to expose trombonists to a great piece of orchestral music. It will surely find its way onto many trombone recitals for years to come.