Trombone and Trombone Ensemble

Cello, Trombone and Piano

from "Tosca"

Soloist with 12 Trombones

Composed for Joseph Alessi

Soloist with 8 Trombones

Composed for Joseph Alessi and the Trombone Collective and premiered at the 2009 Slidefactory. A real show stopper!

Three for Two (or One or Three) is a versatile composition for trombone(s) and/or euphonium(s) with optional percussion (bongos, snare drum) on any or all  movements.

A 6-8 minute work playable with a tenor-bass “trigger” trombone, challenging for but playable by a college senior. Three for Two teaches jazz stylistic characteristics that are not normally encountered in standard classical solos.

The three movements can be performed entirely or independently, and with variances in instrumentation from solo trombone or euphonium (TC euphonium parts included) to duos including bass trombone or percussion or trios including the same. All notes are playable without a trigger-horn, and the duo version is easier for the brass-performer than the solo version. An optional percussion part includes the highly portable instruments of bongos and snare drum so that staging is easily accomplished for a horn/percussion duo or trio.

The title of the piece refers to the three movements scored for duo, solo, or trio (ordered so within the title since it rhymes with the popular title “Tea for Two”). One can generate fourteen instrumentations of this composition, as indicated on the cover sheet of each part.