TROMBONE CONCERTO NO. 2 by Todd Goodman

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TOTAL TIME [18'00"]

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PROGRAM NOTES
by the composer

When I started writing concerti, I always said that I would never write more than one concerto for an instrument. I didn’t want to write a second Bass Clarinet Concerto until I gave the English horn some love. I also felt that by writing a second concerto, I was subconsciously saying that the first one wasn’t good, so I had to do it again. But that whole philosophy goes right out the window when someone you’ve looked up to your whole life asks you to write a second concerto.

My first Trombone Concerto was finished in 2010, and personally it was a monumental piece for me. Writing it forced me to grow tremendously and it forced me to step way outside my comfort zone­—both wonderful things as an artist. So when Bruce Tychinski, one of my mentors from high school, asked me to write a second trombone concerto, I of course had to say yes. But, the task made me nervous. Would I be able to do it again? Will this piece fall short of what I said in the first one? All questions that I think every writer asks themselves.

So for this second concerto, I approached it as a continuation of the first. I wanted to keep telling the same sonic story of using the trombone in its wide range of styles, timbres, and abilities. This concerto is a sequel, of sorts. It’s organized into three movements. The first, Luminous, arcs back to the first movement of the first concerto, which is based on a majestic phrase that centers on the pitch, middle C. The music goes far away from there, but it keeps returning back to that middle C. Luminous does a similar thing. It opens with a playful figure centered around the D above middle C. That playful gesture is juxtaposed by a bright, vibrant figure in the accompaniment.

The second movement is called Letter to Gretchen. Gretchen is the daughter of Bruce Tychinski and hornist, Heidi Lucas­ for whom I wrote the chamber piece Wanderlust. I wrote this movement as a message from a parent who is telling their newborn about their future. A message that life is beautiful and that even though we all face trials and tribulations, the love of a parent is with you forever. And the last movement, Perpetuum Mobile, is the fireworks of the piece. Like the last movement of the first concerto, it’s full of energy and excitement!

Trombone Concerto No. 2 was recorded on the album Interplay by Bruce Tychinski and the University of Delaware Wind Ensemble. The piano reduction was recorded by Hugo Assunção and pianist Bernardo Pinhal.

ADDITIONAL PROGRAM NOTES
by Dr. Bruce Tychinski

Pittsburgh-based composer Todd Goodman's works have received notable acclaim in recent years. His first Trombone Concerto won the 2012 British Trombone Society's Composition Competition and his bass clarinet concerto won Third Place in the American Prize for Composition in 2001. His opera, Night of the Living Dead, won the American Prize for Theater Composition in 2014.

I’ve known Todd since he was a high school student, followed his career, and have performed some of his other works. When I had the opportunity to commission another piece for trombone and band, he was at the top of my list. In the collaboration to create Trombone Concerto No.2, Todd and I spoke about his compositional style as being impressionistic. Lines are blurry and sections morph into one another. Themes return, but never quite exactly the same. It is organic and always changing. The first movement's primary theme is based around a recurring note that expands as it develops throughout the movement. Todd also came to our home in winter 2016 and he decided to make the second movement a lullaby to our daughter. As sketches of the movement took shape, we spoke about the fact that the movement had more depth than a simple lullaby and was more like me offering her advice many years from now and the title Letter to Gretchen came to be. The final movement is titled Perpetuum mobile and it is an energetic, high-spirited adventure for the soloist, band, and listener.

COMMERCIAL RECORDINGS

Interplay with Dr. Bruce Tychinski, trombone and the University of Delaware Wind Ensemble--conducted by Dr. Michael Knight.

Ars Laurteate

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