SONATA FOR TROMBONE AND PIANO

Duration:  15 minutes
Instrumentation: Trombone and Piano

PROGRAM NOTES

I.  Hymn
II.  Riding to Higher Clouds

The Sonata for Trombone and Piano is a transcription of the Sonata for Horn and Piano composed in 1996.  At the turn of the new century and after a century of atonality, I was interested in exploring new harmonic directions.  It seemed as if something new should happen in a new century.  The Sonata for Horn and Piano is representative of explorations of mine done between 1995 and 1999 toward a personal expression in a new direction.  It is also a very personal expression of searching prompted by the deaths of two loved ones within a year’s time.  Hymn, straightforward and melodic, expresses grief and faith.  Riding to Higher Clouds deals with the complex struggle between the conflicting emotions of loss, hope, memories, and understanding.  This work, originally for horn and piano, was commissioned by The Horn Consortium Commissioning Group, which consisted of 11 hornists.