Holodomor for trombone quintet

A trombone quintet work. The basic 'motive' is the 3-4-3-1-0. In this and in its inversion. In the opening trb 1 and 2 have the regular form, and trb 4 and 5 the inversion, resulting in a kind of symmetrical harmony. This reappears in a smaller scale in for example ms 10 in trb 1 and 3 (with trb as the exact middle). The harmonies in the opening can be As it in ms 10 and in ms 1 the opening chords are quartal. Furthermore I have made use of the octatonic scale, and a wholetone motive. Nonetheless the piece has many tonal implications. About the title. the holodomor is the Ukraine word for the famine in 1932/33, organised by stalin. Several governments have recognized the actions of the Soviet government as an act of genocide. When I was in Kiev I went to the holodomor-monument and it made a profound impression. Although I usually do not write topical music, for this I made an exception.

Holodomor for trombone quintet

John. You are right in the structure ABABA. The piece comes close to what I intended, but is a little more complex. For example the epilogue tuplets are taken from ms 10, but the notes later on (trb4 and bass) are the more vivid rendering of 'B' but then in a slower rate (adding to the morendo).

So, structure ABABA says more about the texture, than about the actual notes, because almost anything can be derived from the cell 3-4-3-1-0 or its inversion. So: all is 'A'.

This explains why the second iteration of B has no literal couterpart. Although motives can be recognised (cf ms 29 and ms 12/3 for the bass) I think this is both an explanation for the brevity and the coda.

Nice work... I especially like the harmonic textures of the intro; also, throughout the piece, your harmonic approach is treated really well. I have a particular affinity for those types of chords - nice church-chords, with a weird note thrown in ;)

What an interesting ensemble. I can't think of another piece for five trombones. I hope the bass part is alright to play but if the bass trombone has F and Eb triggers it should not be a problem. This piece would also sound good arranged for tubas and euphoniums.

I don't know if it was because of the Soviet connection, or the harmonies and counterpoint you use, but I got a flavour of Shostakovich in this music. It reminded me of the slow movement of his Seventh Symphony or the first movement of the Tenth.

There was a lot I really liked, especially how the two first sections were combined at 46-50. Actually both the main ideas in this piece are of good quality; the chorale theme works really well with the third trombone providing rhythmic interest but not spoiling the mood. The more rhythmic idea was also well thought out and you use hocketing very cleverly to get around technical problems. Counterpoint was well used based on both ideas as was the changing bar lengths. The ensemble was also carefully used: although there are few times where less than four players play, you give them all different material so it never feels like a constant wall of sound. Bar 39 is a particularly clever effect with the staggered fps that will work very well.

Really the only thing I can say about improving this is the links between sections. I think the introduction of the second section at 19 was too abrupt; the introduction of the rhythmic motif should flow more naturally out of the first section. I might be wrong and this will be an effective contrast in live performance. But I think you should also make the transition back into the first section at 39-40 smoother as it seems to stop and start again with the bar rest. Also I think it would be very helpful to the players to add more barlines - dotted barlines if you still want to show phrases - where there is hocketing and more complex counterpoint, as the lengths of bars changes frequently. (I assume there is no conductor for this piece).

So yeah, very good work!

PS. you could arrange this for organ too, it would also work well.

Robin: Glad you liked it. The church chords I often hear are rather dull and boring. That started my interest in added 7ths 2nds and 6ths in the first place. I guess this is what you mean with "with a weird note thrown in". But that leaves me with the question. Do you think behind those weird notes is a traditional church-like harmony? If you think that is the case I have failed, because that was not my intent. I am hoping now that you called it this because of the choralesque texture ;)

Simon: Thanks for your nice review. Being compared with shos 10 really made my day. While this has not been my intent (to sound Russian) I can imagine it does. It is an idiom I really adore. Hell. I hope that I have done more than just copy a style, though.

I am glad you mention ms 46-50, something similar happens in ms29ff, followed by an octatonic scale. I think this is my favorite moment of the piece.

Your remark of sections changing a little too abrupt I take serious. The deadline of the piece was 1mar. But if a jury was to select my work, the ensemble gives time to polish things like this. Personally I think ms19 will work. From ms 50 onward I get a little unsure, whether it is connected enough and not the fragmented.

More barlines is a good suggestion. I removed all the time signatures, but with no conductor that is no easy piece. Maybe more barlines or dotted ones make more clear.

Nice, short piece!

I liked the textures you used and the fact that each phrase was structured harmonically to give some foundation. That made it very easy to follow even while the motives were being developed. Watch out in measure 46 in trombone 3. That's really difficult to do... the range switches... just cautioning you. A professional wouldn't have any problem with it. I felt like this piece had just the right amount of stasis vs. motion, so good job on that.

Keep writing :)

Hi ananth,

Thanks for pointing out that difficult leap. I will try to fix that, but I don't see redistribution of the voices as an option.

I think I will just go for giving trb 3 a rest. The other sffz will cover that up

Robin: Glad you liked it. The church chords I often hear are rather dull and boring. That started my interest in added 7ths 2nds and 6ths in the first place. I guess this is what you mean with "with a weird note thrown in". But that leaves me with the question. Do you think behind those weird notes is a traditional church-like harmony? If you think that is the case I have failed, because that was not my intent. I am hoping now that you called it this because of the choralesque texture ;)

The texture, yes. But - especially in the intro, your harmonic language/voicings are simply 1-3-5-7 type voicings. The counterpoint and motion throw in some interesting passing notes, but as far as the vertical harmony goes, you tend towards simple and effective voicings of basic 7th chords.

Obviously - and this is part of what appeals to me - as the piece progresses, the voicings get closer and the harmony branches out along with the rhythmic content. But, what I particularly liked about the first part in general was the simplicity of the harmony. There's a lot of energy and power in simple chords.

What were you aiming at?

Well, the opening idea just was there when I was toying with 4th and 5th, the quartal harmony can be seen in first quarter of ms1 and the two eights of ms 2. But I am intrigued by exact parallel movement resulting in somewhat tonal-ish sounds. The result was rather serious and full of tension, and that is why I used this as the base for this piece. The subject title is rather heavy stuff...

I find it interesting you hear mainly 7th chords. I especially wonder if this is the case in the 2nb beat of ms 2. I hear that as Ab minor with an added minor 6th. I use the E7 sound in ms 41, but there I chose the other enharmonic spelling.

I love the simplicity too, and even think that is why there is so much energy too.

As I said I started with a F minor like quartal chord. I really like this particular voicing, since it consists of 5 stacked 5ths, but the upper 3 reversed so that it sounds tertian as well. In construction I see trb 1 and 2 as an inverted 5th. Together with the 5th of trb 4 and 5 they move in inverted direction. To get a full idea of the possibilities of the moving 5ths I started with the first chord FC with GD, in contrary motion at a semitone distance both become F#C#. Moved a semitone in the other direction we get EB-G#D#, one semitone further is EbBb-AE.

Again, one step further we get DA-BbF which is a 'tritone inversion of EB-G#D#'

So as the picture below showed there are 4 different chords, and the two can be 'inverted' to result in a different tonal implication.

Well, the opening idea just was there when I was toying with 4th and 5th, the quartal harmony can be seen in first quarter of ms1 and the two eights of ms 2. But I am intrigued by exact parallel movement resulting in somewhat tonal-ish sounds. The result was rather serious and full of tension, and that is why I used this as the base for this piece.

I find it interesting you hear mainly 7th chords.

I see.

It's the held chords - the long notes that are really just simple 7th chords. Your quartal/quintal stuff (to me) sounds like passing chords and approach tone suspensions, resolving the the more basic harmony.

I definitely get the effect of your serious tension and do think it's very effective.

Wow! This is definitely my favorite work of yours so far. The 7th chords at the beginning are so cool... you voiced them quite well, I think. (Though I am a sucker for 7th chords. BUT NOT DOMINANT 7th CHORDS!!!!! :angry: )

I do agree, the changes were a bit abrupt and I didn't know why you changed the part the "melody" was in. I'd do something like that so that everyone got the melody, but tell me why you did that.

It was definitely ABABA form, which I like, especially here, because you can keep the ideas and bring them back without them being boring.

Nice work here! I don't know of any works for 5 trombones, but you certainly opened that up!

Heckel

It's the held chords - the long notes that are really just simple 7th chords. Your quartal/quintal stuff (to me) sounds like passing chords and approach tone suspensions, resolving the the more basic harmony.

I definitely get the effect of your serious tension and do think it's very effective.

I see. Agreed, it the long notes that get more attention, and the second beat is rather strong in this work, as if the 1 beat is actually an anacrusis.

Good to hear that you think it is effective too.

I do agree, the changes were a bit abrupt and I didn't know why you changed the part the "melody" was in. I'd do something like that so that everyone got the melody, but tell me why you did that.

Can you point out what measure you mean? Where did *you* think the changes were too abrupt? And what melody are you talking about exactly?

And thanks for the positive review, Graham!

Some nice stuff in here. Lacked a little bit of drive, to me, and some of the ostinato stuff got too repetitive.

Enjoyable though, and nice exploration of harmony.

Why did you use a tuba sound for the bass trombone?

Some nice stuff in here. Lacked a little bit of drive, to me, and some of the ostinato stuff got too repetitive.

Enjoyable though, and nice exploration of harmony.

Why did you use a tuba sound for the bass trombone?

The intent was not to driven, but more to starve to death...

I have no (good) trombone sample going lower then the low E, so I had to use tuba :(