Sonata for Trombone and Piano - David Gillingham [DIGITAL]

Sonata for Trombone and Piano is a rousing 18-minute tour de force. Set in three contrasting movements, this impressive work showcases Gillingham's compositional prowess and command over writing idiomatic yet challenging passages for both instruments.

Genre: Duet for Trombone & Piano | # of Players: 2
Level: Advanced | Duration: 18:00

Instrumentation
Trombone
Piano

Program Notes
Sonata for Trombone and Piano was commissioned by Timothy Higgins (Chicago Symphony Orchestra), David Binder (Detroit Symphony Orchestra), and Timothy Owner (University of North Texas). The work is cast in three contrasting movements.

The first movement opens in traditional sonata form with an aggressive main theme built upon an ascending, modified F minor scale. Providing a complete about-face, the lyrical second theme enters in A-flat major. The development section tightly reworks both ideas before a formal recapitulation, which brings the second theme back in the parallel key of F major. An extended coda then draws the movement to an assertive conclusion.

The second movement shifts into an ethereal, expressive, and lush atmosphere. Structured in a modified sonata-rondo design, it introduces a flowing first theme in G-flat major set to an asymmetric 7/4 meter. The second theme shares a similar character but introduces faster rhythmic values and shifting tonalities before the primary theme returns. After a harmonically wandering development section, the main theme returns once more in G-flat major—this time featuring a muted trombone against the piano, which continues a thread of thematic material from the development. The movement concludes peacefully after compressing the final themes into a brief coda.

The final movement recaptures the aggressive energy of the first and also utilizes traditional sonata form. Its F minor first theme is a strict canon at the unison, with the trombone and piano chasing each other just one beat apart. The second theme shifts to F major in a driving 12/8 meter, launching a soaring lyrical melody over cascading piano sextuplets. Following an extensive development that heavily transforms the rhythm and harmony, the recapitulation flips the script: the piano now leads the opening canon, and later plays contrary-motion sixteenth notes against the trombone’s second theme, now reframed in 4/4 time. The coda begins as a satirical march before exploding into concerto-like piano passages and ascending trombone lines that push the absolute limits of the instrument's high register. Together, both instruments race to a rousing finale in F major.