Concert Etudes

Composer’s Note:These are the first five in a projected series of ten concert etudes for trombone solo in which each piece focuses on specific techniques of playing the trombone. Written as the compulsory piece for a trombone competition, each contestant was required to play Etude No. 1 and could chose a second from the other four, Nr. 1 being the most conventional and the others featuring more unusual technical aspects. Searching for a balance between a pedagogical purpose and an artistic merit, these pieces should introduce advanced young trombone players to new technical possibilities on their instrument, preparing them for works for trombone of the 20th and 21st century, such as compositions by George Aperghis, Luciano Berio, John Cage, Vinko Globokar, Heinz Holliger, Nicolaus A. Huber, Giacinto Scelsi, Karlheinz Stockhausen, or Iannis Xenakis, as well as many more recent compositions by younger composers active today. The order of the five etudes in a performance is free. They also need not necessarily be played all together as a set and could be spread out through a concert program. In addition one could just play two or three of the five.

Instrumentation:

trombone