The composer writes:
My Trombone Concerto was commissioned by Brett Baker following an earlier piece I had written for him called Shout. The concerto was composed in Spain the summer of 2010. Once I started writing I realised this concerto was, inevitably, going to draw on my own experiences as a trombone player.
The first movement was really a matter of getting the right thematic ideas and balancing the tutti and solo passages so, for formal structure, I studied the Gordon Jacob Trombone Concerto. There is a lyrical section preceding the first Allegro that owes much in spirit (but not the actual music) to The Eternal Quest, Ray Steadman-Allen's Salvation Army solo.
The slow movement seemed determined to come out in the vein of a Richard Strauss song. I wanted to write ineluctably cantabile as we trombone players rarely get a chance to play the melody! There is a brief allusion to that wonderful moment when the trombone gets to sing above the orchestra in Sibelius' seventh symphony. Arthur Wilson (my teacher at college) died in the summer of 2010 so it seemed appropriate to dedicate this movement to him.
The last movement is the lightest of the three in style and is slightly jazz-inflected, hopefully providing some fun for the soloist.
While wanting to test the instrument, I did not set out with the intention of making the concerto difficult but there are undoubtedly challenges of technique, range and style to be met by the soloist.
Recorded on Polyphonic CD QPRM161D Roman Trilogy
Duration: 19:30
