Works for Trombone

Christian Wolff - Works for Trombone

From the liner notes:

The works on this CD constitute a representative sampling of Wolff's music from the 60s through the 80s. The earliest of these compositions, For 1, 2 or 3 People (1964), is also one of his most celebrated and often performed works. It epitomizes the techniques and concerns apparent in all his music of the last 50s through the early 70s and in a sense represents these concerns in extremis. In this piece we can vividly experience Wolff's early focus on the reenactment, in a musical setting, of a variety of human social interactions.

In the late 60s and early 70s Wolff created a set of pieces compiled under the title The Prose Collection (1968-71) in which he first explored the intermarriage of his musical/political concerns. The works in this collection dispense altogether with musical notation in favour of simple verbal instructions. As such these pieces can be performed by anyone, whether trained as a musician or not. The Prose Collection soon led to the creation of a large number of pieces which incorporate the term 'exercise' in their titles. Of course, the term exercise has many meanings to a musician. Most obviously it alludes to the learning process itself. Wolff's 'exercise' pieces actually require knowledgeable and skilled performers for their execution. But somehow they make us acutely aware of the ongoing learning process that is required to be a real musician (as well as a human being). As such, they too extend his political concerns in that such strong emphasis on learning encourages each listener to re-evaluate his stance on a wide range of human issues. Exercise #17 (1975) clearly reflects this process of re-evaluation.

More directly through the 70s and 80s Wolff attempted to merge his political agenda with his musical interests by actually incorporating political texts or popular songs with overt political associations into his compositions. Works such as Accompaniments (1972) and Wobbly Music (1975-76) include, respectively texts from the Chinese cultural revolution and songs such as Bread and Roses, strongly associated with the American labour movement in the early years of the 20th century. Dark as a Dungeon (1977) is a beautiful example of such a work as it incorporates a number of protest songs from the American labour movement. The title itself refers to a song about Kentucky coal miners by folk singer Merle Travis. More recently, Wolff has extended his interests in American political and cultural issues to include those of Native Americans. The music of Tuba Song (1992) is partially derived from a Native American (specifically Navaho) melody. Since the mid 80s Wolff has also written a number of pieces dedicated to the memory of friends, many of which make overt reference to the work of these friends. These compositions continue to reflect Wolff's social concerns, but on a smaller, more intimate scale than that of the larger political arenas alluded to in such works as Accompaniments and Wobbly Music. Compositions such as Ruth (1991) and Peggy (1993) reflect these more intimate social interactions. The title Ruth refers to the composer Ruth Crawford (later Ruth Crawford Seeger), an avant-garde composer in the 20s and 30s in the United States who struggled to develop and project a progressive, original voice at a time when the music world was both dominated by men and becoming increasingly conservative. Similarly, the music for Peggy is drawn from the songs of Peggy Seeger, a folk singer and song writer, to whom this composition is intended as a tribute.

Performers:

Ruth:
James Fulkerson - tenor trombone
Frank Denyer - piano

Exercise 17:
James Fulkerson - bass trombone

Dark as a Dungeon (Duet):
Jos Tieman - contrabass
James Fulkerson - trombone

Tuba Song:
James Fulkerson - bass trombone and pre-recorded bass trombone

For 1, 2 or 3 People:
John Anderson - bass clarinet
Jos Tieman - contrabass
James Fulkerson - bass trombone

Peggy:
James Fulkerson - tenor trombone
Tracklisting:

1. Ruth {21:43}

2. Exercise 17 {7:58}

3. Dark as a Dungeon (Duet) {7:15}

4. Tuba Song {7:03}

5. For 1, 2 or 3 People {20:01}

6. Peggy {11:55}

(1) or (1) [maybe reposted soon]