Boutade
for trombone, piano and percussion

When approached by the Flederman Trio to write a work for them my first reaction was a very mixed one. Naturally, I was pleased to be asked to write for such an accomplished group of musicians, but I was also fearful of my ability to accomplish a satisfactory ensemble between the three instruments. As I had already written a suite for trombone and piano in 1976, the major problem was focussed on the percussion – how to accommodate it where appropriate, either as a foreground or background element in the ensemble: this became the pertinent compositional determinant. The result is a three movement work in a mildly jazz idiom with the first movement in a simple ternary form, the second a set of variations and the third a fugue.

© 2001 Philip Bracanin