Ouverture: Works for Trombone Quartet (2007)

After reading the list of contents for Overture: Works for Trombone Quartet, the listener might reasonably approach the album with some trepidation. Any pre-modern trombone quartet is not necessarily going to be an arrangement, so much hangs on the repertoire chosen to arrange. A suite of Praetorius dances and the William Tell Overture seem like fair game, but Debussy's La fille aux cheveux de lin? Barber's Adagio for Strings? Fortunately arranger Thomas Horch knows what he's doing, and the Münchner Posaunen Quartet is a ... Read More

After reading the list of contents for Overture: Works for Trombone Quartet, the listener might reasonably approach the album with some trepidation. Any pre-modern trombone quartet is not necessarily going to be an arrangement, so much hangs on the repertoire chosen to arrange. A suite of Praetorius dances and the William Tell Overture seem like fair game, but Debussy's La fille aux cheveux de lin? Barber's Adagio for Strings? Fortunately arranger Thomas Horch knows what he's doing, and the Münchner Posaunen Quartet is a virtuoso ensemble, so the listener can lay his or her anxieties to rest. The Renaissance repertoire (Praetorius) predictably sounds fabulous for trombones, as do the arrangements of the Baroque pieces by J.S. Bach and Boismortier, but perhaps the biggest surprise is the Barber, which has an affecting gravity that's entirely in keeping with the character of the music, particularly when it's played with as much sensitivity as it is here. The Münchner Quartet wisely plays it a little... Read Less