Eric Ewazen: Music for Bass Trombone

Composer Eric Ewazen is a master at showcasing brass instruments as this collection of works for bass trombone demonstrates. A faculty member at Juilliard, Ewazen has been a guest at more than 100 universities and colleges around the world and is the recipient of numerous composition awards, prizes and commissions. Bass trombonist Yossi Itskovich joined the Haifa Symphony at age 16, attended…

Sonata for Trumpet and Piano- Eric Ewazen

While programing my upcoming master's recital, I find myself asking what I would want to hear if I had to listen to trumpet solos for an hour. Even as a trumpet player, that sounds like a LOT of trumpet music, so I can only imagine what the poor non-trumpeters in the audience must think. Does the world really need another performance of the Haydn Concerto in Eb?? 

This Trio for Trumpet, Violin, and Piano is one that I've been considering playing as a break from all the other trumpet, trumpet, trumpet, and a little piano stufff (yes, 3 f's for fortississimo). The Trio is a fantastic piece of music, and it has all the drama, excitement, lyricism and beauty an audience could ask for, with the added bonus of some tonal variance in the form of a violin.

When it comes down to it, I think the reason I like Ewazen's music so much is that at its core it reflects why we listen to music. Hey, why do we listen to music, anyway?? For me, the answer is as simple as it's nice. Yes, there are great works that peer a bit too accurately (I'm looking at you, Mahler) into the condition of the human soul. But Ewazen has the rare gift of being able to create a melody. This lyrical, tuneful music is a conversation between three instruments (two really, with accompaniment from the piano). Some composers seem get away without writing “melodies” in their music, particularly contemporary composers—a style that Ewazen avoids.

I've always believed that there's something special about a piece of music that connects with listeners via an old-fashioned tune. In a way, this music is equally as important as the great works that use sophisticated compositional techniques because it get at the kind of music that connects with people (read: not highly trained musicicians). DID YOU KNOW most of those old hymns and folk songs (like Amazing Grace) are based on a pentatonic scale, which is a type of scale found in most traditional styles of music around the world?! Interesting how so many different cultures came up with the same, simple system independently. It says something about how deeply that kind of music is ingrained in our collective minds as music that feels safe and comfortable.

Maybe I made it seem simpler that it really is, because the Trio doesn't quite live in the diatonic world (or pentatonic). Ewazen's not afraid to use chromaticism, but it's lyrical, or pretty, or nice. I like the description “song-like” because it says what I’m trying to get at here. However you describe it works for me. Long story short, that's why I value this piece of music.Not as the be-all-end-all of what music means, but as something that can connect with an audience as a jumping off point before moving Onward&Upward.