Concerto by William Bolcom

[ttf_djdekok]

At long last, it happened (I just found out, I know the information has been out there, bear with me)!!!

William Bolcom, one of my favorite modern composers, finally wrote a trombone concerto for Joe Alessi!

I understand that it's being premiered tomorrow, at 7pm in David Geffen Hall (formerly Avery Fisher Hall).

Would one of the forum members who's attending the concert PLEASE let us know how it was?

From the information I've been able to glean from various sources, it's in three movements, about 21 minutes long, and being published by Edward B. Marks.

This is from the program notes: "Bolcom’s new work explores the trombone’s diverse capabilities through an opening movement (Quasi una fantasia) that interweaves episodes of mysticism and vivacity; a slow movement (Blues) with a relaxed rhythm-and-blues swing; and a finale (Charade) in which the soloist’s rhythmically liberated phrases earn forceful responses from the orchestra".

Not that I'd ever accuse Mr. Bolcom of being derivative, but that description is strongly reminiscent of the Nathaniel Shilkret Concerto. I can't wait to hear it--or get to work on it when it's finally published.

[ttf_Ellrod]

"David Geffen" Hall ?

[ttf_HouBassTrombone]

I love Bolcom as well. Hopefully the piece is well received and then oft performed!

[ttf_Rockymountaintrombone]

Quote from: Ellrod on Jun 09, 2016, 07:09PM"David Geffen" Hall ?

David Geffen made a very significant donation for the naming rights of the NY Phil's hall at Lincoln Center. The name changed recently.

Wish I could catch the concert. I'm sure Joe will do his usual spectacular job, with an audience full of trombonists (the ITF is in NYC, and I believe that tickets for the concert are part of the package for participants).

Jim Scott

[ttf_Peter Eiden]

Here's a link to the story of the renaming of the hall:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/05/arts/david-geffen-captures-naming-rights-to-avery-fisher-hall-with-donation.html?_r=0

And the name on the building features prominently in these videos of the mass trombone choir on Wednesday:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JPh1zMSYLo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_K71HlwSV0

I'm looking forward to going to the performance tonight. There will be more performance of it later this year as well.   A friend of mine was involved in the commissioning, and when he invited me to join him at the performance tonight, he mentioned that there would be additional performance dates during the upcoming subscription season as well (I seem to recall him saying December).

I will try to post some thoughts over the weekend, once I get my daughter home from college and the madness that will entail.

[ttf_BGuttman]

That's impressive.  Never seen the Square filled with so many trombones.

It's interesting that the hall was originally supposed to be Philharmonic Hall.  It had abominable acoustics when it opened.  Quite a letdown for the Philharmonic from Carnegie Hall.  Avery Fisher, who made a fortune in high end stereo components, paid for an acoustic rebuild and that was why the hall was named for him.  And it seems that they still need another rebuild.

Lincoln Center had a few problems.  The State Theater was designed for ballet so when the New York City Opera came in they had all kinds of problems being heard.

The Metropolitan Opera was designed for opera (no surprise) so when visiting ballet companies would come in you would hear all kinds of clomping as they danced across the stage.

Peter, be sure to give us the lowdown on the Bolcom concerto.  I'm sure Alessi will give it the best performance it could have.

[ttf_Peter Eiden]

Below are two reviews of the concert -- the Classical Review one is a bit more in depth, and to save some of my own typing, I will just say that I generally agree with the reviewer's comments.

New York Classical Review: http://newyorkclassicalreview.com/2016/06/two-american-concertos-given-strong-advocacy-at-philharmonic-biennial/

NY Times:  http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/13/arts/music/review-ny-phil-biennials-ambitious-wrap-up-from-boulez-to-bolcom.html?_r=0

The concert was terrific.  Aside from having great seats, sharing in the my friend Ed's excitement over the commission and the heavily weighted trombonist audience just added to the festive atmosphere.

It was the first piece on the program, and Alan Gilbert brought Bolcom out to discuss the piece briefly before the performance (and did the same with Corigliano after intermission for the percussion concerto).  Their comments are pretty well summarized in the two reviews I pasted in.

Not surprisingly, Alessi played brilliantly.  It was very listenable and melodic, and wasn't full of crazy tricks.  In fact, at the post-concert gathering in the Geffen Hall lobby bar, Alessi and Bolcom each spoke for a bit.  Joe (and I'm paraphrasing heavily here) seemed to be pleased that this was an accessible work for both the audience and soloist, and hoped that those factors would bode well for it receiving lots of future performance opportunities. 

The concert closed with Corigliano's percussion concerto "Conjurer", which was its NY premiere.  Wow.  The soloist was incredible, and it was just a ton of fun. 

Glad I got to be part of the evening, and I will likely go back for one of the December performances.

[ttf_Peter Eiden]

Later this month Alessi and the NYP will be performing the Bolcom again.

http://nyphil.org/concerts-tickets/1617/copland-and-marsalis

I'm going in Friday night and am looking forward to hearing the rest of the program as wel

I also learned that a wind band version and piano reduction of the Bolcom are in the works.  If I learn more about timing I will pass it along. 

Happy Holidays all!

[ttf_djdekok]

UPDATE: Evan Hause of E.B. Marks music publishers has informed me of the following regarding the Trombone Concerto of William Bolcom:  "It is in production and will be published by Hal Leonard in a few months."

[ttf_harrison.t.reed]

I was so confused until I saw this was from last year!

[ttf_harrison.t.reed]

I was so confused until I saw this was from last year!