Sonata for Trombone and Piano
Opus 13 – 1951
The first movement of “Sonata for Trombone and Piano” was written specifically for performance at Boston University by Robert Corley and Edith Sterns, and the work was completed for recitals at Florida State University by William Cramer and Robert Glotzbach. The Sonata has since been widely performed throughout the country, and in 1960 was the recipient of the first annual Arthur Shepherd Prize, offered in memory of that composer by the Ohio Music Teachers Association (O.M.T.A.).
The Sonata is influenced, both in its structure and in its polyphonic texture, by the music of Walter Piston and Paul Hindemith, Mr. Roy’s major stylistic guides at the time. The first movement, and aria, explore the lyrical potential of the trombone. The second, an interlude, is a brief scherzo, not untouched by elements of jazz. The third, a passacaglia with 25 variations, is unusual and perhaps unique in that the 5-measure theme recurs not on the same notes, but a fourth higher on each appearance. The music goes through the cycle of fourths twice before returning to the tonic E-flat.