These TWO SUITES were composed in response to a request form Heini Schneebeli, the musical director of ?TROMBONANZA 2017?. Santa Fe in Argentina is the backdrop for this exciting annual event involving many hundreds of student and professional players.

The FIRST SUITE has three movements and is intended for a trio of younger tenor trombonists working with a teacher on bass trombone who will add richness and depth to the ensemble sound.

It is my hope that this piece will encourage, entertain and challenge student players and provide useful concert material for use in the promotion of this unique and versatile instrument.

John Frith - 2017

This work is appropriate for younger performers at an intermediate level all in bass clef. The three movements total about 5 1/2 minutes in length and have the following titles:

1. Totem Tango

2. Full Steam Ahead

3. Clowning Around

Here is a description of the TRITONE Sonata for Trumpet and Piano by the composer, John Frith:

"One of my most enjoyable roles in music was conducting the Herefordshire Young People?s Orchestras (UK) in the late 1980s. Stuart Essenhigh was a very talented young trumpeter who toured Belgium with the orchestra as a soloist in 1989.

Encouraged by this experience Stuart went on to study in London graduating as a fine professional trumpeter working firstly in Hong Kong and then as a freelancer with major U.K. orchestras.

My TRITONE Sonata for Trumpet and Piano of 2016 was written specifically for Stuart. Each of its three movements uses the interval of a tritone in different ways. We hear it initially as a ?benign? element of the first movement; ?ironic? in the second and even ?playful? in the last.

I - Moderato

The use of a ?straight? mute to open and close this movement greatly enlarged my palate of sound colours and, together with some unconventional ?flutter- tonguing? techniques, it allowed me to emphasize the declamatory and strident possibilities of this powerful instrument?... I call for ?ffff? (fortissississimo) at one point! The muted coda creates an otherworldly? atmosphere - distant and questioning at the close.

II ? Andante espressivo ? piu mosso ? Tempo primo

The opening austere and angular melody (which demands great lip flexibility and control) leads to a relaxed and flowing ?piu mosso? with quasi baroque idioms. This builds towards florid, technical passages for the soloist which are matched by more assertive piano lines heralding the return of the opening material and a soulful resolution.

III ? Maestoso ? rondo

A traditional martial ?fanfare? opens the final movement by answering phrases from both instruments. There is something of a power struggle in progress here which is momentarily resolved at the ?rondo? where the piano accepts a supportive ?um-pa-pa? accompanimental role. The trumpet melody is dominant and confident but the piano gradually asserts itself propelling the music with a powerful ?boogie-woogie? style bass line. This encourages both instruments to climb ever higher in, what I trust will be, a thrilling race for the final bar." John Frith 2020

This work is about 12 minutes in length and is appropriate for advanced to virtuoso performers.

My Bonny Lad is an old Northumbrian folk song first seen in a publication in 1922. The first verse of the lyrics are:

Have you seen ought of my bonny lad?

Are you sure he's well-o?

He's gone o'er lang wi' a stick in his hand,

He's gone to row the keel-o.

Composer, John Frith has taken this beautiful melody and expertly crafted a "Theme and 8 Variations" of it for Tuba and Piano about 6 minutes in length and appropriate for advanced performers.



Tubists now have a high quality solo in their repertoire of this style.

John Frith's new work One Nation for Trombone and Piano is written in A-B-A format, beginning with a dramatic and declamatory section which leads into a more somber, lyrical section and then returning to the A section to finish off this fine work of about 4 minutes in length, appropriate for moderately advanced performers (all in bass clef). This work would work very well for young performers looking to find a challenging contemporary work with lots of contrasts.

This work is dedicated to Gordon Cherry.