"As it were a trumpet talking..."

for solo trombone by William Osborne

Table of Contents

1. General Description

2. PDF Score

3. Video of a performance, and three different video scores

1. General Description

For solo trombone. (5-6 minutes)  Premiere: Saporro Japan, 1987.

"As it were a trumpet talking..." was composed in 1987 as the second movement of a work called "Music for the End of Time" written for the Munich Philharmonic Soloists for a concert in Sapporo, Japan.  

"As it were..." is strongly influenced by the music of the shakuhachi, and end blown Japanese bamboo flute.  We were especially influenced by the work of the Zen shakuhachi master Goro Yamaguchi, and his 1969 recording entitled “A Bell Ringing In the Empty Sky.” 

To create sounds similar to the shakuhachi, we removed the trombone's F-valve tuning slide so that when the F trigger is pushed, a soft, muted sound goes out the back of the instrument. We also focused on a meditative use of the breath as used by Zen monks when playing the shakuhachi. The goal was to create a keening lament.

To create the work, we used a system William had formulated over a decade before to reduce the structures of Beethoven piano sonatas to quasi-algebraic formulas. (We discuss these techniques in detail on the page for our solo trombone work Pond.) 

2. PDF Score

To download the score click here.  

(The score and performance rights are free.  We'd love to hear from you if you perform the work.)

3. The Video Scores

Below are three videos of "As it were a trumpet talking..."

A.  A video score using a studio recording Abbie made in 2016.

B.  A video score using the performance of Abbie's premiere of the work in 1987.

C.  A video score using a live performance by Michael Buttler whose date we do not know. 

A. A video score with the 2016 studio recording by Abbie.

B. A video score with sound from the premiere of the work by Abbie in Sapporo, Japan in 1987.  

This performance was in a large hall with around 1500 people in attendance.  The tempos are more flexible and the keening qualities more apparent.  (We prefer this general direction of performance.)

C. A video score using a recording by Michael Buttler, date unknown.  

Micahel's performance uses much faster tempos and rhythmic dynamism.  It is interesting and a valid way of interpreting the work.  Michael is a former student of Abbie's. This was performed by memory in live performance.  There are some small errors, but they are immaterial to the over-all effect of the interpretation.