Concerto for Trombone (Shilkret)
Encyclopedia
Concerto for Trombone is a 1942 instrumental crossover work in three movements, which trombonist Tommy Dorsey
, one of the best known musical entertainment stars of his time, commissioned Nathaniel Shilkret
, a noted conductor and composer of music for recording, radio and film, to write. Shilkret describes the first movement as "in classic form, but in the middle I introduced a fugue, partly in jazz form, and near the end I wrote the main theme in fox-trot rhythm." The second movement has a blues mood and the third movement is in a boogie-woogie rhythm. The blues second movement is a 1943 replacement of the original "negro spiritual" arrangement. The original second movement has never
been performed. A cadenza in the first movement is written to include the use of multiphonics, although the earliest performances of the piece did not use this technique.
own ensemble, a new orchestration was made for Dorsey's group.
Dorsey had contracted with Werner Janssen
for ten performances with the Janssen's Symphony Orchestra of Los Angeles, with the first performance scheduled for February 6, 1944. There was some publicity announcing these performances, but Dorsey was not available, and there were never any performances, despite claims in the liner notes to the LP Ecstasy to the contrary.
The premier performance was by the New York City Symphony, directed by
Leopold Stokowski
, with Dorsey as soloist, broadcast over WNYC on February 15, 1945. WNYC recorded and has re-broadcast this performance several times through the years. The performance was part of one of Stokowski's student concerts at New York City Center
.
Stokowski, directing the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra
, with Hoyt Bohannon (who was a sergeant in the army at the time) as soloist, performed the concerto on July 28, 1945 in the Hollywood Bowl. Dorsey was originally contacted to be the soloist for the Hollywood Bowl
performance, but a mutually acceptable price for the performance was never reached.
Dorsey and Shilkret planned to make a Victor
recording of the concerto, and Dorsey had asked Shilkret to write an arrangement that allowed for more resting places in the solo. Shilkret arranged the piece with the solo split between trombone and piano, and plans were made for Shilkret to conduct a Victor recording with Dorsey and Jose Iturbi
. Shortly before the planned recording date, Dorsey signed a contract with Decca
, and a recording at the Victor studio was not possible.
Shilkret recorded an arrangement for trombone, piano and chamber orchestra in November 1947, with trombone solo by Will Bradley
(Wilbur Schwitchtenberg) and piano solo by Leonard Pennario
. The recording had a limited pressing as Aztec 248 (Aztec was a label belonging to Nathaniel Shilkret Music Company, which was owned by Shilkret's son Arthur), but the recording was never issued commercially.
In 1944 Shilkret and Phil Moore
wrote a dance arrangement of the third movement of the concerto entitled "Specie Americano." This was recorded as one of the first pressings of the Discovery
label. It was released in 1948 as Discovery 1200 (a twelve-inch 78 rpm) with the title "Concerto for Trombone--Parts 1 and 2," recorded by the Phil Moore Orchestra, with Murray McEachern
as trombone soloist. The liner notes to the recording say that the dance arrangement was "first performed 1946 by Paul Barron with the CBS Symphony Orchestra. Soloist Will Bradley."
Shilkret wrote "The Crazy Cool Musician in Between," with lyrics by Art Sydney, as a popular song based on the third movement of the concerto. Barbara Shilkret, daughter-in-law of Nathaniel Shilkret and owner of Nathaniel Shilkret Music Company from 1982 to 2004, claimed a 45 rpm recording by artist Phil Leeds was made of the song on the Aztec label. No such recording has ever been found in the Shilkret archives. However, a July 21, 1953 air check of the female vocal group, the Metrotones, singing the song on WHAS-AM (CBS) is in the Shilkret archives. WHAS was the Louisville, KY radio station with which Art Sydney was affiliated.
An August 19, 1954 press release announced, "WNBC concert Sunday, August 29, 1954, directed by [Le]Roy Shield
, will play the first radio performance of Maria del Carmen (Granados)
and Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra by Nathaniel Shilkret, with Neal di Biase, formerly first trombonist with the NBC Symphony, as soloist.” Granados biographer Walter A. Clark confirms that the concert was broadcast.
Shilkret was a guest on the July 3, 1956 broadcast of The Classical Disc Jockey, hosted by Tom Baxter, on the Los Angeles radio station KABC AM/FM, and the broadcast ended with an excerpt of the third movement of the concerto. A copy of the broadcast is in the Shilkret archives.
Shilkret continued to write new arrangements of the concerto into the early 1960s. An April 19, 1961 letter from noted trombonist Davis Schulman, to whom Shilkret had given a copy of the original version of the concerto to check, before sending it to Dorsey, that the piece was playable, asks whether a band arrangement had been published. Shilkret's handwritten note drafting a reply indicated that a band arrangement was written, but not yet published. The premier performance of the second and third movements of the band arrangement was in July 2003, and the full three movements of the band arrangement was first played in October 2004.
Other arrangements and derivative works include Monkey Junction,
another popular arrangement of the third movement, Blue Tint, a cornet solo based on the second movement, and Carnival, a banjo solo arrangement of the third movement. None of these works have been performed as of 2010.
Shilkret's son Arthur, the publisher for the concerto did not pursue further exploitation of the concerto, nor did his wife Barbara Shilkret, who became publisher upon Arthur's death in 1982. Thus, the concerto languished in total anonymity for over forty years.
for many years, read about the Stokowski-Dorsey performance of the concerto and set about discovering its history, trying to obtain a sound recording and written music that would make it available for orchestras to play, and publicizing its history. From the early history of the piece, it is clear that information about the concerto was difficult to find, and an audio copy of the concerto was even more difficult to obtain. When Free obtained contact information for and wrote to and called Barbara Shilkret, her responses were slow, but finally resulted in her giving the Library of Congress permission to send Free a copy of the trombone solo and a piano reduction. Free also did obtain a copy of the WNYC recording of the Stokowski-Dorsey performance. In 1999 the results of his research to that date were published in the official magazine of the British Trombone Society.
The year 2000 brought two significant advances to Free's effort to revive the concerto. First, Nathaniel Shilkret's grandson, Niel Shell, had begun organizing the Shilkret archives and eventually was able to make all the written music available to Free, who transcribed over a period of several years the full orchestra, band and chamber orchestra arrangements using Sibelius music notation software
. Free's progress in reviving the concerto was the subject of a cover story in the quarterly magazine of the International Trombone Association
.
Second, Free's 1999 article attracted the attention of the prominent trombonist Jim Pugh
, who had long been aware of the concerto and had wanted to obtain the music in order to perform it, but, as he had said in a WNYC radio interview, Bryan Free "had more tenacity and perseverance." Pugh contacted Free and from Free and the Shilkret family was also given access to the written music. Pugh immediately started looking for venues to perform and or record the concerto and provided material assistance in proofreading the transcribed scores. His first success came when he convinced Skitch Henderson
to direct the 21st century “re-premier” of the concerto, with his New York Pops Orchestra, featuring Pugh as soloist, at Carnegie Hall
. The performance was on January 17, 2003. Pugh followed this with the world premier of the second and third movements of the band arrangement in July 2003, the first 21st century performance of the chamber orchestra arrangement in March 2004, the first 21st century recording of the concerto, with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra
directed by Jeff Tyzik
, in July 2004 (a recording by Swedish trombone virtuoso Christian Lindberg
was to follow four weeks later), and the world premier of the complete band arrangement in October 2004.
Pugh has continued to perform the concerto.
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
, one of the best known musical entertainment stars of his time, commissioned Nathaniel Shilkret
Nathaniel Shilkret
Nathaniel Shilkret was an American composer, conductor, clarinetist, pianist, business executive, and music director born in New York City, New York to an Austrian immigrant family.-Early career:...
, a noted conductor and composer of music for recording, radio and film, to write. Shilkret describes the first movement as "in classic form, but in the middle I introduced a fugue, partly in jazz form, and near the end I wrote the main theme in fox-trot rhythm." The second movement has a blues mood and the third movement is in a boogie-woogie rhythm. The blues second movement is a 1943 replacement of the original "negro spiritual" arrangement. The original second movement has never
been performed. A cadenza in the first movement is written to include the use of multiphonics, although the earliest performances of the piece did not use this technique.
Early history
The concerto was first orchestrated in 1943 for a full orchestra. Dorsey rehearsed the piece using this orchestration while working on a motion picture for MGM. When Dorsey left Hollywood and was working with hisown ensemble, a new orchestration was made for Dorsey's group.
Dorsey had contracted with Werner Janssen
Werner Janssen
Hans-Werner Janssen was an American conductor of classical music, and composer of classical music and film scores.-Biography:...
for ten performances with the Janssen's Symphony Orchestra of Los Angeles, with the first performance scheduled for February 6, 1944. There was some publicity announcing these performances, but Dorsey was not available, and there were never any performances, despite claims in the liner notes to the LP Ecstasy to the contrary.
The premier performance was by the New York City Symphony, directed by
Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Anthony Stokowski was a British-born, naturalised American orchestral conductor, well known for his free-hand performing style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from many of the great orchestras he conducted.In America, Stokowski...
, with Dorsey as soloist, broadcast over WNYC on February 15, 1945. WNYC recorded and has re-broadcast this performance several times through the years. The performance was part of one of Stokowski's student concerts at New York City Center
New York City Center
New York City Center is a 2,750-seat Moorish Revival theater located at 131 West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues in Manhattan, New York City. It is one block south of Carnegie Hall...
.
Stokowski, directing the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra
Hollywood Bowl Orchestra
The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra is a symphony orchestra which is managed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association and plays the vast majority of its performances at the Hollywood Bowl....
, with Hoyt Bohannon (who was a sergeant in the army at the time) as soloist, performed the concerto on July 28, 1945 in the Hollywood Bowl. Dorsey was originally contacted to be the soloist for the Hollywood Bowl
Hollywood Bowl
The Hollywood Bowl is a modern amphitheater in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles, California, United States that is used primarily for music performances...
performance, but a mutually acceptable price for the performance was never reached.
Dorsey and Shilkret planned to make a Victor
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
recording of the concerto, and Dorsey had asked Shilkret to write an arrangement that allowed for more resting places in the solo. Shilkret arranged the piece with the solo split between trombone and piano, and plans were made for Shilkret to conduct a Victor recording with Dorsey and Jose Iturbi
José Iturbi
José Iturbi was a Spanish conductor, harpsichordist and pianist. He appeared in several Hollywood films of the 1940s, notably playing himself in the 1943 musical, Thousands Cheer and in the 1945 film, Anchors Aweigh...
. Shortly before the planned recording date, Dorsey signed a contract with Decca
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
, and a recording at the Victor studio was not possible.
Shilkret recorded an arrangement for trombone, piano and chamber orchestra in November 1947, with trombone solo by Will Bradley
Will Bradley
Wilbur Schwictenberg was an American trombonist and bandleader who also performed under the name Will Bradley...
(Wilbur Schwitchtenberg) and piano solo by Leonard Pennario
Leonard Pennario
Leonard Pennario was an American classical pianist and composer.He was born in Buffalo, New York, and grew up in Los Angeles, attending Los Angeles High School remaining in L.A. for his entire career. He first came to notice when he performed Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto at age 12, with the...
. The recording had a limited pressing as Aztec 248 (Aztec was a label belonging to Nathaniel Shilkret Music Company, which was owned by Shilkret's son Arthur), but the recording was never issued commercially.
In 1944 Shilkret and Phil Moore
Phil Moore (jazz musician)
Phil Moore was an African American jazz pianist, orchestral arranger, band leader, and recording artist.-Biography:...
wrote a dance arrangement of the third movement of the concerto entitled "Specie Americano." This was recorded as one of the first pressings of the Discovery
Discovery Records
Discovery Records was a United States-based record label known for its recordings of jazz music.Discovery was founded in 1948 by jazz fan and promoter Albert Marx...
label. It was released in 1948 as Discovery 1200 (a twelve-inch 78 rpm) with the title "Concerto for Trombone--Parts 1 and 2," recorded by the Phil Moore Orchestra, with Murray McEachern
Murray McEachern
Murray McEachern was a Canadian jazz trombonist and alto saxophonist born in Toronto, perhaps best-known for having played trombone for Benny Goodman from 1936-1937...
as trombone soloist. The liner notes to the recording say that the dance arrangement was "first performed 1946 by Paul Barron with the CBS Symphony Orchestra. Soloist Will Bradley."
Shilkret wrote "The Crazy Cool Musician in Between," with lyrics by Art Sydney, as a popular song based on the third movement of the concerto. Barbara Shilkret, daughter-in-law of Nathaniel Shilkret and owner of Nathaniel Shilkret Music Company from 1982 to 2004, claimed a 45 rpm recording by artist Phil Leeds was made of the song on the Aztec label. No such recording has ever been found in the Shilkret archives. However, a July 21, 1953 air check of the female vocal group, the Metrotones, singing the song on WHAS-AM (CBS) is in the Shilkret archives. WHAS was the Louisville, KY radio station with which Art Sydney was affiliated.
An August 19, 1954 press release announced, "WNBC concert Sunday, August 29, 1954, directed by [Le]Roy Shield
Leroy Shield
Leroy Shield was an American film score and radio composer.-Career:A native of Waseca, Minnesota, Shield was an employee of RCA Victor's National Broadcasting Company, for which he composed and conducted on-air musical pieces...
, will play the first radio performance of Maria del Carmen (Granados)
María del Carmen (opera)
María del Carmen is an opera in three acts composed by Enrique Granados to a Spanish libretto by José Feliú i Codina based on his 1896 play of the same name. It was Granados's first operatic success and although largely forgotten today, he considered it to be his best opera...
and Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra by Nathaniel Shilkret, with Neal di Biase, formerly first trombonist with the NBC Symphony, as soloist.” Granados biographer Walter A. Clark confirms that the concert was broadcast.
Shilkret was a guest on the July 3, 1956 broadcast of The Classical Disc Jockey, hosted by Tom Baxter, on the Los Angeles radio station KABC AM/FM, and the broadcast ended with an excerpt of the third movement of the concerto. A copy of the broadcast is in the Shilkret archives.
Shilkret continued to write new arrangements of the concerto into the early 1960s. An April 19, 1961 letter from noted trombonist Davis Schulman, to whom Shilkret had given a copy of the original version of the concerto to check, before sending it to Dorsey, that the piece was playable, asks whether a band arrangement had been published. Shilkret's handwritten note drafting a reply indicated that a band arrangement was written, but not yet published. The premier performance of the second and third movements of the band arrangement was in July 2003, and the full three movements of the band arrangement was first played in October 2004.
Other arrangements and derivative works include Monkey Junction,
another popular arrangement of the third movement, Blue Tint, a cornet solo based on the second movement, and Carnival, a banjo solo arrangement of the third movement. None of these works have been performed as of 2010.
Shilkret's son Arthur, the publisher for the concerto did not pursue further exploitation of the concerto, nor did his wife Barbara Shilkret, who became publisher upon Arthur's death in 1982. Thus, the concerto languished in total anonymity for over forty years.
Recent history
In 1995 Bryan Free, a trombonist with the Royal Scottish National OrchestraRoyal Scottish National Orchestra
The Royal Scottish National Orchestra is Scotland's national symphony orchestra. Based in Glasgow, the 89-member professional orchestra also regularly performs in Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee, and abroad. Formed in 1891 as the Scottish Orchestra, the company has performed full-time since 1950,...
for many years, read about the Stokowski-Dorsey performance of the concerto and set about discovering its history, trying to obtain a sound recording and written music that would make it available for orchestras to play, and publicizing its history. From the early history of the piece, it is clear that information about the concerto was difficult to find, and an audio copy of the concerto was even more difficult to obtain. When Free obtained contact information for and wrote to and called Barbara Shilkret, her responses were slow, but finally resulted in her giving the Library of Congress permission to send Free a copy of the trombone solo and a piano reduction. Free also did obtain a copy of the WNYC recording of the Stokowski-Dorsey performance. In 1999 the results of his research to that date were published in the official magazine of the British Trombone Society.
The year 2000 brought two significant advances to Free's effort to revive the concerto. First, Nathaniel Shilkret's grandson, Niel Shell, had begun organizing the Shilkret archives and eventually was able to make all the written music available to Free, who transcribed over a period of several years the full orchestra, band and chamber orchestra arrangements using Sibelius music notation software
Music notation software
Music notation software are computer programs that are used to create and print sheet music. Also known as "score writers".Traditional classical music from Western culture is extremely complex and music notation software is a challenging application...
. Free's progress in reviving the concerto was the subject of a cover story in the quarterly magazine of the International Trombone Association
International Trombone Association
The International Trombone Association is a non-profit organisation of trombonists that is dedicated to supporting trombone-related activities. Founded in 1972, it has a membership of 4,500 members from 50 countries....
.
Second, Free's 1999 article attracted the attention of the prominent trombonist Jim Pugh
James E. Pugh
James Edward Pugh is a trombonist, composer, and educator. He is noted as the lead trombonist with Woody Herman's Thundering Herd and Chick Corea's Return to Forever Band . For 25 years, he worked as a freelance trombonist in New York City...
, who had long been aware of the concerto and had wanted to obtain the music in order to perform it, but, as he had said in a WNYC radio interview, Bryan Free "had more tenacity and perseverance." Pugh contacted Free and from Free and the Shilkret family was also given access to the written music. Pugh immediately started looking for venues to perform and or record the concerto and provided material assistance in proofreading the transcribed scores. His first success came when he convinced Skitch Henderson
Skitch Henderson
Lyle Russell Cedric “Skitch” Henderson was a pianist, conductor, and composer. His nickname reportedly derived from his ability to quickly "re-sketch" a song in a different key.- Biography :...
to direct the 21st century “re-premier” of the concerto, with his New York Pops Orchestra, featuring Pugh as soloist, at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
. The performance was on January 17, 2003. Pugh followed this with the world premier of the second and third movements of the band arrangement in July 2003, the first 21st century performance of the chamber orchestra arrangement in March 2004, the first 21st century recording of the concerto, with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra
Colorado Symphony Orchestra
Colorado’s only full-time professional orchestra, the Colorado Symphony embraces a tradition of musical excellence by presenting a diverse array of symphonic performances throughout the year...
directed by Jeff Tyzik
Jeff Tyzik
Jeff Tyzik is an American conductor, arranger, and trumpeter from Rochester, New York, working primarily with orchestral and jazz styles.-Education:Tyzik, born in Hyde Park, New York, started playing cornet at age 9...
, in July 2004 (a recording by Swedish trombone virtuoso Christian Lindberg
Christian Lindberg
Christian Lindberg is a Swedish trombonist, conductor and composer.As a youth, Lindberg learned to play the trumpet, and subsequently began to learn the trombone at age 17. He originally borrowed a trombone to join his friends' Dixieland jazz group, inspired by records of Jack Teagarden...
was to follow four weeks later), and the world premier of the complete band arrangement in October 2004.
Pugh has continued to perform the concerto.
Recordings
Format: Recording Date: Ensemble, director, soloist(s); Album Title, Recording Company and number. (Comments)- November 12 and 17, 1947: Chamber Orchestra, directed Nathaniel Shilkret, trombone soloist Will BradleyWill BradleyWilbur Schwictenberg was an American trombonist and bandleader who also performed under the name Will Bradley...
, piano soloist Leonard PennarioLeonard PennarioLeonard Pennario was an American classical pianist and composer.He was born in Buffalo, New York, and grew up in Los Angeles, attending Los Angeles High School remaining in L.A. for his entire career. He first came to notice when he performed Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto at age 12, with the...
; Concerto for Trombone, Aztec 248. (Never issued.) - December 1948: Phil Moore Orchestra, directed Phil Moore, trombone soloist Murray McEachernMurray McEachernMurray McEachern was a Canadian jazz trombonist and alto saxophonist born in Toronto, perhaps best-known for having played trombone for Benny Goodman from 1936-1937...
; Concerto for Trombone, Parts 1 and 2, Discovery 1200. (Dance arrangement of third movement.) - July 8, 2004: Colorado Symphony OrchestraColorado Symphony OrchestraColorado’s only full-time professional orchestra, the Colorado Symphony embraces a tradition of musical excellence by presenting a diverse array of symphonic performances throughout the year...
, directed Jeff TyzikJeff TyzikJeff Tyzik is an American conductor, arranger, and trumpeter from Rochester, New York, working primarily with orchestral and jazz styles.-Education:Tyzik, born in Hyde Park, New York, started playing cornet at age 9...
, trombone soloist Jim PughJames E. PughJames Edward Pugh is a trombonist, composer, and educator. He is noted as the lead trombonist with Woody Herman's Thundering Herd and Chick Corea's Return to Forever Band . For 25 years, he worked as a freelance trombonist in New York City...
; X Over Trombone, Albany TROY926. (Issued 2007.) - August 4 and 5, 2004: São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, directed John NeschlingJohn NeschlingJohn Neschling is a Brazilian orchestral and operatic conductor.He has been member of the Brazilian Academy of Music since 2003 and lives in São Paulo....
, trombone soloist Christian LindbergChristian LindbergChristian Lindberg is a Swedish trombonist, conductor and composer.As a youth, Lindberg learned to play the trumpet, and subsequently began to learn the trombone at age 17. He originally borrowed a trombone to join his friends' Dixieland jazz group, inspired by records of Jack Teagarden...
; Christian Lindberg Plays Nathaniel Shilkret and Works by Christian Lindberg and Fredrik Höberg, BIS BIS-SACD-1448. - October 23, 2008: United States Air Force Academy Band, directed Lt. Col. Larry H. Lang, trombone soloist Master Sergeant Randy Schneider; Windscapes, United States Air Force Academy Band (unnumbered). (Movements 2 and 3 only; issued in CD format for Department of the Air Force use only; licensed for digital downloads by Altissimo! with song titles "Concerto for Trombone I, Andante con moto" and "Concerto for Trombone II, Allegro", respectively.)