Shift
Peter Moore (trombone)
Tredegar Band/Ian Porthouse
rec. 2024, Jack Williams Hall, Ebbw Vale, Monmouthshire, UK
Chandos CHSA5366 SACD [66]

It was fascinating to learn a little about the development of the trombone in Dudley Bright’s informative notes which explain how the slide trombone has unique properties that no valve additions can match. Though valves were an obvious boon for other horn players, whose instruments were effectively ‘liberated’ by them, the addition of valves to trombones was soon abandoned since the slide trombone’s distinctive tone was lost; as a result, the slide trombone came back into its own. The ‘slide’ is known as a shift, hence the title of both Simon Dobson’s concerto and the disc.

Like so many other things in life, the once immensely popular concerts by brass bands throughout the UK, performed at weekends on the bandstands built especially to accommodate them, have lost that popularity to the advent of the myriad other things that engage the population in their spare time. Fortunately, that has not stopped people’s enjoyment of hearing brass bands, whether in concert halls, on radio or TV, resulting in composers continuing to write music for them and their constituent instruments.

This disc includes several classic pieces along with some less well-known, and one première recording of Simon Dobson’s trombone concerto. The name of Peter Moore will be forever etched in the memories of devotees of the always-eagerly-anticipated BBC Young Musician competition, as in 2008 at the tender age of 12, he became the youngest ever winner of the title. The sight of this small boy with an instrument very nearly as big as him, especially when the slide was out at its fullest extent, was indeed a something to behold.

Kicking the disc off in suitably virtuosic style is Arthur Pryor’s arrangement of the popular Scottish song Annie Laurie. Pryor was the famous and brilliant trombone soloist of the Sousa Band, so it is no surprise that his arrangement tests the soloist to the limit, though that is no barrier for Moore, who polishes it off in thrilling style. Next is a work I have a particularly soft spot for as it was composed by Gordon Langford who was in the primary school class taught by my mother. Aged about five, he was standing behind my mother, along with the rest of the class while she played the piano. When she had finished, Gordon asked if he could ‘have a go’ to which she replied that of course he could. He then proceeded to stupefy both the class and my mother by replicating precisely what she had just played. When she asked how he had done that, given that there was no music score, he replied, “I just watched your hands”. He went on to play trombone in the Royal Artillery Band while a conscript, after which he carved out an enviable career both as a composer and an arranger who was always in great demand. Looking him up on Wikipedia will reveal that he was often used by Hollywood as a score orchestrator, with Return of the Jedi, Superman II, The First Great Train Robbery, Clash of the Titans, and Return to Oz to his name. Closer to home, my mother engaged him to teach me the piano, unfortunately to no avail; his reply to my childish utterance “I want to be able to play like Beethoven, but without practising” was, “We all do Stephen; we all do!” His Rhapsody for trombone went a long way towards dispelling the divide that existed among the different genres of trombone playing and threw a spotlight on the lyrical possibilities of the instrument. It was interesting to learn from the notes that the trombone virtuoso, Don Lusher, who gave the work its première in front of the well-loved Black Dyke Mills Band, also gave his name to a new ‘Italian’ musical term ‘Lusheroso’, so called due to his glorious rendition of the ‘solo cantilenas over rhythmic accompaniment’ that feature prominently in the first section. The sophisticated second section, a Siciliana, openly invites the soloist to create their own cadenza above it and the work is completed by an exciting feast of virtuosity. Following the uproarious close to the rhapsody, space is given over to a gently reflective piece, a much-loved evangelical hymn Blessed Assurance which Peter Moore makes sound particularly lyrical, with a deliciously singing line.

For many of us, the Salvation Army will be our first experience of the brass band during their frequent public performances, and although the composer of the Concertino for Band and Trombone, Erik Leidzén is best known for writing for it, he also happily moved into the concert music arena. However, as with this work, he was still able to use hymns as a starting point for the composition, though the two which form the basis of the concertino are so cleverly integrated into its fabric that the work gives the impression of being totally original work. It presents challenges for the soloist, but they are easily met by the brilliantly talented Moore. I’m Gettin’ Sentimental over You with its long lines would seem an obvious choice for the skilled arranger, particularly as it was associated with the supreme trombonist of his time, Tommy Dorsey (1905-56), and that is proved here by Bill Geldard. 

Next, we have the work that gives its name to the disc, Simon Dobson’s Trombone Concerto No.1: Shift. The work is divided into three movements, each unusually given intriguing titles, e.g., 2. On Solitude and longing. ♩ = 68. Clear and Spatial – A tempo ♩ = 68 (weird and twisted) -… These ‘markings’ are precise in their descriptions of what you can expect to hear. The first movement starts with an explosive entry by percussion followed immediately by the trombone heralding the marking of ‘On frustration and confusion’ and including ‘Wild and jazzy – Wildly and Chaotic’ and that is entirely accurate, though some calmer moments do intrude. There are certainly a lot of notes, though not a single one that shouldn’t be there and the overall effect is thrilling. The second movement is a welcome respite from the chaos with the trombone providing a gently singing tune against a background of metallophones (the family that incorporates vibraphones, glockenspiels, etc.,) providing bell-like sounds. The final movement ensues without a break. Entitled ‘On Hope and Momentum. ♩= 130. Bold and with Energy – Più mosso’ and with other instructions ‘Surreal and Expansive, With Energy’ it lives up to them all with bursts of energy throughout from the rest of the band as they surround the soloist, whose singing tone cannot be suppressed. The work ends abruptly. This world première recording is an exciting experience; the trombone shows that it can hold its own against any other instrument, especially in the hands of this master soloist.

Gordon Langford’s arrangement of the spiritual ‘Nobody Knows the Trouble I See’ makes the well-known tune rhapsodic, the core melody emphasising the painful nature of its background of slavery. The disc concludes with Philip Sparke’s piece Sambezi. It was surprising to learn from the notes that Sparke has no background in brass band music yet has become one of the most prolific and sought-after composers of it. This piece is, in fact, the final movement of Sparke’s trombone concerto, composed in 2007. Its vitality is infectious and the apparent duelling of soloist and the trombone section of the band is great fun, with the soloist winning hands down.

It is rare to have a disc dominated by such an instrument as the trombone so it is a welcome addition to the list of recordings available. One could not wish for a better soloist than Peter Moore who has built on his astonishing debut, winning the BBC Young Musician in 2008 at such a tender age. Now his world renown is well deserved, as the disc underlines.

Steve Arloff

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Contents
Arthur Pryor (1869-1942)
Annie Laurie (1895) arr. as a trombone solo by Keith M. Wilkinson (b.1947)
Gordon Langford (1930-2017)
Rhapsody for trombone (1975)
Phoebe Palmer Knapp (1839-1908)
Blessed Assurance (1873) arr. by Simon Wood for B flat trombone solo
Erik William Gustav Leidzén (1894-1962)
Concertino (1952) for band and trombone
George Bassman (1914-1997)
I’m Gettin’ Sentimental Over You (1932) arr. by Bill Geldard (1929-2023) as a trombone solo
Simon Dobson (b.1981)
Shift (c.2012) Trombone Concerto No.1* for Peter Moore
Traditional
Nobody Knows the Trouble I See African-American Spiritual arr. for trombone and brass band by Gordon Langford
Philip Sparke (b.1951)
Sambezi (c.2007) arr. by the composer for trombone and brass band of the finale from Trombone Concerto, originally for Concert Band
*première recording