Hill Country Miniatures for 8-part Trombone Ensemble was written by Richard J. Lawn in 2002 for the Trombone Choir at the University of Texas and its director Nathaniel Brickens. The work is dedicated to Donald Knaub its former director. It has become a staple in the American Trombone Ensemble repertoire since its original release. Mr. Lawn explains in the notes, his deep emotional connection to the Hill Country land and to his days at the Eastman School of Music, hearing the legendary Trombone Choir led by Emory Remington and following through to his days at the University of Texas with Knaub and Brickens, all of which inspired him to compose this work.

This music is about 15 minutes in length and is for advanced performers.

The four movements of the work are:

Hickory Cove - September 2001 - a lyrical, somber and solemn introductory movement.

Smithwick - a jaunty piece reflecting the Scottish and English heritage of this tiny Texas spot.

The Narrows - As part of the Colorado River narrows, it twists and turns its way through the Texas Hill Country. You can hear the gentle waters winding through the cliffs and slopes.

Blue Bonnet Boogie - The springtime brings a profusion of the Blue Bonnet, the Texas state flower. A sea of these swaying in the breeze brings out the good old down-home boogie-woogie! A jazz solo featuring Bass Trombone (written for Bill Reichenbach in mind) with solo written out or improvised using chord symbols adds a festive finish.

Cherry Classics is proud to be the new distributor of this great work.

From his acclaimed album Djesse Vol. 3, this is Jacob's favourite track and lends itself beautifully to a trombone ensemble. With a hymn-like chorale and a bluesy solo, along with half the ensemble being bass trombones, this is a great showcase of your ensembles warmth and sensitive playing.

This is an advanced work scored for soloist, six tenor trombones, four bass trombones and a contrabass trombone (playable by a bass trombonist with extreme range). If you are lacking extra bass trombonists, you can substitute tenor trombonists for the top three bass trombone parts.
The soloist part is mostly improvisational and would suit a jazz player. Top two tenor trombones carry more of the melody, with the 2nd playing a higher range. The next four tenor trombones add a lot of colour to the mix with different mutes, and the background effects you can hear on the track, and require agile trombonists.

As played by Super Bone on YouTube.

Beautifully laid out in A4 size, the score and parts are easy to read and available NOW for digital download. We suggest you print on 80gsm paper, to ensure that the copies last longer in your bands library. If you're printing on letter size paper, please fit to page when sending to the printer.