[Trombone-l] from Roger Hecht, Malcolm Arnold Fantasy

[Wayne Dyess]

Howdy from Texas, folks.  Roger Hecht has been having problems in  
posting the following message.  I thought I'd give it a try.  Good  
stuff.

Wayne Dyess

====

I've decided to take on this solo as a summer project (probably to
perform on a recital next year).  It's going to stretch my technique
quite a bit, so I'm taking a slow approach to working on it (sort of
as the reward at the end of all my technical routines).  I'd be
interested to hear suggestions from the group on how to tackle this
difficult work.

Nick Mahon

I thought someone else would answer this better than I can, but no  
one has answered at all, so here goes--though my comments are really  
pretty general. Either you have the technique for this thing or you  
don't. I've been struggling with it for a long time.

Malcolm Arnold was a very interesting, emotional man, who suffered  
from melancholy and drinking issues that you can hear in his music  
under, alongside, etc. passages of jocularity. Some of his later  
works were almost entirely sad and angry. The Ninth Symphony makes  
Mahler sound cheerful. The Trombone Fantasy (one of a series written  
for all or most of the orchestral instruments) sounds like a kind of  
"bipolar" work. It was written in 1969, when Arnold was living on  
Cornwall and away from a city, which was unusual for him. His life at  
Cornwall was a mixed bag. Toward the end of the decade while he was  
there, he was dealing with his own depression and the autism of his son.

Obviously, the outer parts of the Fantasy are humorous, even jolly.  
But there is certainly a mournful quality to the slow section, and  
that needs to be brought out. Difficult as all these fantasiers are,  
Arnold was for a while principal trumpet of the London Philharmonic,  
so he knew what great brass players were capable of--and these pieces  
were intended to be played by very strong players. There are three  
recordings I know of. Mark Lawrence, which I have not heard, and two  
I do know and recommend: Katy Pryce on a disc devoted to Arnold brass  
music, and Daniel Stettner on an old recording made when he was in  
the Oklahoma Symphony Symphony and featuring the players from that  
trombone section.

It's pretty clear what is going on musically. The first part is  
jocular, like circus music. It can be played bumptuously or  
gracefully. It doesn't have to be fast--the given 112 marking works,  
or maybe a little slower--and it pays to exaggerate the dynamics.  
There are a lot of approachs you can take with phrases, emphasizing  
downbeats (my choice) or sometimes upbeats, being aware of accents,  
that sort of thing. I've always found the measures 7-9 after B  
interesting as far as phrasing is concerned. I think of the Bb-G at  
the end of bar 7 as an echo to the phrase just concluded, the next  
measure-and-a-half as a kind of transition where you can get a little  
seasick if you want, and what follows as a new phrase. Stettner plays  
it that way. With Pryce there's a problem. Either she plays right  
through the quarter rest at measure 8, or there's a bad edit there.  
You might try throwing a gliss in between the F# and G between the  
6th and 7th measures after A. It's hard to describe the effect you  
want at four before C. You should pick up on it easily enough. After  
a long crescendo, it is kind of a recap--with a long decrescedo.

The slow section is rather mournful and sad and should be played that  
way. Arnold's tempo is slow and it works, as do his soft dynamics-- 
you can't be soft enough at the end--like a whispering wind  
dissipating over the sea at night. Indeed, you can hear the seascape  
off Cornwall and Arnold's melancholy, as well, in this movement.  
Listen to one of his first six symphonies' slow movements to get an  
idea of the style. One interpretive stroke that's typical of Arnold  
occurs with those dropping full-step half notes. Weigh on the first  
one each time just a bit, like a sigh or sob. That same effect occurs  
in the octave drop 9 after D,. Also slightly bring out the Ab 7 after  
D, same with the flats three after E. Think of 5 after E as a sad  
echo. Stettner's good here, but Pryce's more rounded sound catches  
the Cornwall mist even better, though I think the phrasing can be  
even more mournful than either plays it.

As I understand it, the tempo of the last section, 126, is  
controversial. I've always been glad to hear that because that's  
hard! In this area, I'm no help. I don't know how fast Lawrence is  
here. Dan Stettner is about about 104-108 and seems to be single  
tonguing; Katy Pryce comes in at 120, but speeds up at the Piu Mosso,  
and seems to be double-tonguing (and very well). Both approaches and  
speeds work. Beyond that, this movement is all about lightness,  
agility, and dynamic contrast. Think of the FFs as fanfares, the pps  
(very soft) as mocking reflections. I take a break before H. Stettner  
does too. Pryce does not, but where does she breathe? Good question.  
Finally, the transition from the high Db to the D. The notes are  
slurred. Stettner breathes between the two, Pryce does not. Both  
work. And Pryce's speed really creates the tumbling down effect of  
the final arpeggios. Count carefully on those low half notes and  
don't hurry them.







Roger Hecht