14 Duets for Trumpet Compiled and Edited by Michael Sachs and Joseph Alessi

Item Number: CF.WF75

ISBN 9780825865701. 9 x 12 inches.

This unique duet collection of Classical Repertoire by Michael Sachs, Principal Trumpet of The Cleveland Orchestra, and Joseph Alessi, Principal Trombone of The New York Philharmonic, offers students and professionals the opportunity to hone their ensemble skills in a variety of ways. The duos can be played by trumpet and trombone, two trumpets, or by two trombones with either instrument able to play top or bottom parts the ultimate in ensemble flexibility for study or performance. Edited in detail and fleshed out for easy reading, these duets should be a part of every brass players library.
Throughout history, the trumpet and trombone have always enjoyed a close partnership. From the days of cornettos and sackbuts to the modern instruments we play today, trumpeters and trombonists continue to share a special musical bond. In the orchestral literature, there is a great deal of interplay between the trumpet and trombone, and the resulting texture is always distinctive. Our inspiration for this collaboration was a mutual agreement that there was, however, a lack of fine music available for trumpet and trombone. Performing duets is probably one of the best ways for you as a musician to listen and work on your intonation and phrasing as you interact with the colleague playing next to you. This will also sharpen your ability to identify who has the melody and, therefore, to determine when to yield to that player while remembering the maxim that melody always leads. One unique aspect of this collection is our duet format, which provides for a variety of instrumental combinations. The duos can be played with two trumpets, two trombones, or one of each. In addition, the trumpet or the trombone can play either the top or the bottom part of each piece. This mix-and-match flexibility offers a wide range of technical challenges that should give each player the maximum benefit of playing in a range of keys, registers, and difficulty levels, providing an equal musical challenge in each part so that both players are stretched and engaged. You may even want to record yourself playing one part and perform duets with yourself. Throughout these pieces, there are a number of passages where brackets are shown next to the staff. These brackets indicate the option of taking a particular passage up or down an octave depending on the trumpet/trombone combination being used. This is meant to assist in the blend of textures and enhance both the facility and the voicing in each different instrumental scenario. One can also switch the line being played in repeated sections for added interest. Dynamics and articulation markings were typically sparse in most original manuscripts of the pieces included in this book. Because of this, we added little in the way of musical editing and opted to leave dynamic and phrasing choices primarily to the performer. We have been good friends for many years and have often wished that there were more literature for trumpet and trombone for study, performance, or just for casual reading. We had a great time assembling this collection and hope that this will help create many future trumpet and trombone partnerships!

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