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ensemble: two trombones
duration: 10 minutes
written: summer 2025
premiere: winter 2026

PLEASE NOTIFY rrankinmusic@gmail.com OF ALL PERFORMANCES
 

Movements:

I. Braid 1
II. Churn
III. Braid 2 (Interlude)
IV. Snarl
V. Landscape

PROGRAM NOTE:

My first instrument, and the only one that I really studied with any real seriousness, was the trombone. Either for that reason or some other Freudian happenstance, I never wrote anything for the instrument in a solo capacity. Alas, the time has come.

This work, Duo, is my attempt at writing “true” chamber music for trombones, an instrument which is often relegated to ensemble playing or, forgive me, cutesy solo pieces. The main obsession of the piece is the idea of the two trombonists functioning either as a singular unit, or morphing into intricate lines that weave and bob in and out of focus. The two “Braid” movements do just that in a lyrical sense. “Churn” and “Snarl” do the same, only now with rhythm and register respectively. The final movement, “Landscape,” is a broad, meditative doxology.