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Trombone 5

This document provides a review of the piece "Harlequin for Bass Trombone and Piano" by Larry Lipkis. It summarizes that the piece is a virtuosic and atonal one-movement work that will be very challenging for both performers and audiences. It features rapid wide leaps across the bass trombone's range, complex rhythms and meters, and an unusual cadenza where the bass trombone dialogues with a musical saw. The review criticizes the published edition for some errors and for lacking any program or performance notes to help explain the complex musical work.

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107 views

Trombone 5

This document provides a review of the piece "Harlequin for Bass Trombone and Piano" by Larry Lipkis. It summarizes that the piece is a virtuosic and atonal one-movement work that will be very challenging for both performers and audiences. It features rapid wide leaps across the bass trombone's range, complex rhythms and meters, and an unusual cadenza where the bass trombone dialogues with a musical saw. The review criticizes the published edition for some errors and for lacking any program or performance notes to help explain the complex musical work.

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api-478072129
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Harlequin for Bass Trombone and Piano: A Review

Brad Edwards

Harlequin for Solo Bass Trombone and Piano. Larry Lipkis. Warwick,
England: Warwick Music, 2000.

This is a substantive virtuoso work that will challenge


performers and audiences alike. Commissioned in 1997 by the
Los Angeles Philharmonic for bass trombonist Jeff Reynolds,
this work is now available in a piano reduction. Harlequin is
an atonal one-movement work consisting largely of dramatic
gestures and frequent contrasts. The difficulty of the solo part
lies largely in the execution of rapid wide leaps throughout a
range from double pedal A-flat to high B-flat. High G's and A's
appear often, sometimes approached by wide leaps. Shifting
rhythms and complex meters will require performers to stay on
their toes. Although the piano reduction does not present
anything ridiculously difficult, don't attempt this work unless
you have a strong pianist willing seriously prepare their part.

You won't find long, lyrical phrases in this work. Most of the solo part consists of short
gestures. Lipkis' compositional style is sophisticated and uncompromising. I fear that many
audiences will be left scratching their heads and politely applauding even after a fabulous
performance.

Harlequin's greatest curiosity is its unusual cadenza which calls for a dialogue between the
bass trombone soloist and a musical saw. At one point in Lipkis' cadenza, he calls for a
"thirty-second dialogue with the saw." In fact, Warwick's edition includes a second cadenza
composed by Jeff Reynolds (as premiered by Reynolds and saw performer David Weiss) to be
used at this point in the score.

Curious about the inclusion of a musical saw, I corresponded briefly with Lipkis and received
this response, "...I had known about David Weiss and his saw playing for many years; I
frequently used his recording in my Orchestration class. So I asked Jeff Reynolds whether
David still played, and he thought he did, so I went ahead and called him up and he agreed to
play it in the concerto. We chatted for a bit, then I met with him when I was next in LA and he
gave me a saw demo could do, which was quite revelatory. Compositionally, I conceived of
the saw part as a kind of counter-ego to the bass trombone - an ethereal, heavenly voice trying
to lure Harlequin to become, well, less of a roque. I know that many orchestras do not have
access to saw players. David has said he would be happy to be a guest soloist if he could work
it into his schedule. Otherwise, the part could be played by an offstage synthesizer."

This edition by Warwick is basically solid but seems to contain a number of sloppy minor
errors. In m. 23, position indications for a "across-the-grain" glissando have been omitted
from the solo part (although they do appear in the piano score). An accent is sloppily placed in
m. 134. Measure 170 in the score indicates an optional tacet for the soloist but this
information does not appear in the solo part. In m. 245, the "saw" dialogue has an appendix
reference in the score but not in the solo part.

These details aside, my greatest frustration with Warwick's edition is the complete lack of
program or performance notes. Considering the complexities of this work and Lipkis' own
allusions to programmatic content, the fact that Warwick hasn't bothered to include
explanatory notes is inexcusable.

If you are in the mood for a real challenge, this work will offer plenty of them, both
technically and musically.

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