Gordon Cherry has been running Cherry Classics for over 20 years. He is a leading professional Trombonist in North America, having performed as Principal Trombonist of the Vancouver Symphony, and the CBC Radio Orchestra. As well, Gordon has taught hundreds of Brass students for over 30 years at the University of British Columbia and many international leading music festivals.Details
Below is a brief description of this marvelous work by Per Brevig, former student of Smith and Principal Trombonist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra (retired).
Originally Roger Smith called his composition for trombone a concerto. However, during one of my lessons, he suddenly said “This piece is not substantial enough to be called a concerto.” Then he crossed out “Concerto” and wrote in capital letters: “A SHORT SONATA FOR TBN + PIANO”. Thus, the composition was eventually called Sonata for Trombone and Piano.
The first performance, as it was noted in the program, took place on August 14, 1966, at Juilliard’s old Claremont Avenue location at Broadway and 122nd St in New York City.
The Sonata for Trombone and Piano is a spirited piece of music. It consists of three movements: Allegro, Allegretto and Allegro. The outer movements are quite majestic with beautiful primary and expressive second themes.
The beginning of the second movement contains music that students could benefit from including in their daily practice. It is a clever idea and while the solo part introduces the initial theme unaccompanied for four bars, the piano enters with an expressive counter melody. These two ideas are reversed the second time around. The movement ends, as it started, in a quiet and relaxed mood.
The third movement starts with the same rhythmic idea as the first movement. The second theme, entirely new material is written in 6/4 time, introduced by the piano and contrasted with the 2/2 rhythm in the solo part consisting of the original rhythmic idea. The Sonata ends as spirited as it started.
The brilliant performance of the Roger Smith Sonata for Trombone and Piano is by Per Brevig from his 1965 Juilliard recital.