Trombone Concerto (Rouse)

The Trombone Concerto is a concerto for trombone and orchestra by the American composer Christopher Rouse. The work was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic for its principal trombonist Joseph Alessi. It was completed on April 5, 1991, and was first performed by Alessi and the New York Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Slatkin on December 30, 1992, in Avery Fisher Hall, New York City. The concerto is dedicated to the composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein, who died suddenly October 14, 1990. In 1993, the work was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music.

The concerto, lasting approximately half an hour in performance, is written in three movements played without pause:

The third movement, which Rouse especially intended as a tribute to Bernstein, quotes a theme from Bernstein's Symphony No. 3, Kaddish. On dedicating the concerto to Bernstein, Rouse wrote:

I got the opportunity to know Mr. Bernstein only in the summer of 1989, although I had admired his work as composer, conductor, and musical evangelist for most of my life. He remains for me a figure of inestimable importance in the history of music, one whose passion for and commitment to his art was insurpassable, and his sudden death in October 1990 robbed us all of an almost superhuman musical giant. The third movement of my concerto is, in particular, a memorial to Mr. Bernstein, and the quotation of what I call the 'Credo' theme from his Symphony No. 3 ('Kaddish') a gesture of the most profound affection and gratitude, mingled with sorrow at his passing.

The concerto is scored for a solo trombone and orchestra, comprising two bassoons, contrabassoon, four French horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, harp, timpani, xylophone, glockenspiel, chimes, marimba, two suspended cymbals, snare drum, tenor drum, five tom-toms, two bongo drums, bass drum, a pair of crash cymbals, two tamtams, and strings (violins I & II, violas, violoncellos, and double basses).

...
Wikipedia