Donald Erb, "Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra

CONCERTO FOR TROMBONE AND ORCHESTRA
(I) 3:49
(II) 4:50
(III) 3:31
(IV) 2:47

Stuart Dempster, trombone
Louis Lane, conductor

The CONCERTO FOR TROMBONE AND ORCHESTRA, written a little more than eight years after CHRISTMASMUSIC, may be the composer's best-known work. It was commissioned by trombonist Stuart Dempster with assistance from the Martha Baird Rockefeller Fund for Music. Completed January 26, 1976, the Concerto was first performed on March 11, 1976 by Mr. Dempster and the St. Louis Symphony conducted by Leonard Slatkin, another important champion of Erb's music. The TROMBONE CONCERTO was also a featured work at the 1980 American Composers Orchestra concert in Lincoln Center and received highly favorable notices. Musical America's Joan LaBarbara called it "a worthy task, integrating the extended, experimental sounds of the contemporary trombone into a traditional format. He has succeeded in producing a fine piece of music . . . "

Mr. Erb has kindly provided the following comments on his work:

The concerto is in four movements. The first movement is the most traditional and uses primarily the time-honored lyric qualities of the trombone. The linear quality of this movement draws at least in part on the contributions of jazz. Many of the great trombo~istsof the twentieth century have been jazz musicians and their influence on the development of the instrument cannot be discounted. Although lyric, the movement is in a medium fast tempo.

The second movement, the only truly slow movement of the concerto, features several other aspects of the instrument. Brass instruments, particularly the trumpet and trombone, are capable of great timbral variety due to the use of many mutes which produce beautiful sounds. Several of these can be employed in a variety of ways and in the concerto the performer is called upon to make subtle changes in their use while playing.

The movement also makes considerable use of the lip trill which is produced by moving from one overtone of the instrument to another. The soloist is asked to play staccato passages of elegant character.

The third movement of the concerto is very similar in character to the scherzo found in most symphonies. In this movement double stops are produced by playi~g one note and simultaneously singing bother. The extreme upper register of the instrument is featured several times in this movement.

The final movement is in many ways the most unusual. Here I drew upon Mr. Dempster's knowledge of the didjeridu, a wind instrument played by the bushmen of Australia and one of the oldest instruments still in use. There are several unique aspects of playing the didjeridu. One is the ability to play continuously due to a technique known as circular breathing. The Aborigines also interpolate animal sounds such as barking through the instrument while the playing continues. I attempted to give the movement a thrust that would enhance the primitive quality involved. It also, hopefully, makes a fitting finale.

This record was made possible, in part, by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, an independent agency of the federal government.

Mr. Dempster's performance was made possible, in part, by a grant from the Bascom Little Fund.

Notes by Marshall A. Portnoy
Cover art by Judith Lerner 1980
THE LOUISVILLE ORCHESTRA
333 West Broadway
Louisville. Kentucky 40202
Jack M. Firestone, General Manager
Andrew Kazdin, Producer
1980 Louisville Orchestra First Edition Records