TromboneChat

Hey folks,

I’m looking to start a trombone quartet library.

What are your 10 best basic “must have” pieces for trombone quartet?

Depends on the style you're into. Check Slokar Quartet for great classical stuff. We have a ton of stuff. Some of it is home grown.

In no particular order:

- Drei Equali - Beethoven
- Sonata - Speer
- Achieved Is The Glorious Work
- Stars and Stripes Forever - arr Holcombe
- Pastime with Good Company - arr Matt Smith
- On a Hymnsong by Philip Bliss - arr Harbinson
- Scarborough Fair - Bill Reichenbach
- Christus Factus Est - Bruckner/arr Williams




- Aint Misbehavin - arr Bob Morris
- Alexander's Ragtime Band - Arr Jack Gale
- Georgia On My Mind - arr Ingo Luis
- Somewhere Over the Rainbow - arr Elkjer
- Stardust - arr Robert Hughes
- Maple Leaf Rag - arr Tomas Hillebrant
- Be Cool - Jeff Bauer
- Blue Skies - Bob Morris
- St Louis Blues - Arr Bill Holcombe
- Jump In The Line - home grown arrangement
- Puttin On The Ritz - based on Berlin Brass Quintet version


Many transcriptions are possible from TTBB choral works, string quartets, sax quartets, and random stuff you find on Musescore.

Two of my favorites:
Three Swedish Tunes (arranged by Mogens Andresen)
Bourgeois Quartet

Some more ideas:
Maniacal Four quartet had some very nice arrangements, however I am not sure if they are publicly available
Slide Monsters pieces/arrangements are great, but quite hard

Debussy Trois Chansons
Ray Premru, both In Memoriam and Tissington Variations
Saskia Apon First Quartet
Bach, arr. Richard Myers (I think) Fugue in d minor
Bruckner, arr. Ralph Sauer Three Motets
Daniel Speer Sonata for 4 trombones

A newer one: David Faleris City of Arts & Sciences


Listen to lots of trombone quartet recordings and pick what you like!
LA Philharmonic Trombone Troupe
Four of a Kind
High Anxiety Bones
Slokar Trombone Quartet
Aries Quartet
Westfalische Trombone Quartet
Bones Apart

I know there are more I'm not thinking of...

Good list Gabe.

I'd add the Triton Trombone Quartet recordings aa well as the Vienna Trombone Quartet recordings to the list of ensembles.

Jim Scott

The Trombones de Costa Rica have some fantastic recordings and arrangements of Mexican music and music from Latin America in addition to some arrangements of classical works. Their albums are on Spotify, but I'm not sure where one could find their arrangements!

A great place to buy quartets and other music and music related gear is Hickey's in Ithaca NY. I visited the shop this summer and barely escaped with my credit card intact. They have instruments and parts and everything. I walked out with a couple quartets, a duet book, and some slide-o-mix. Very nice to walk in to an actual shop with actual people and pick out actual stuff.

Wondering if any of you knows who did the arrangements for the Vienna Trombone Quartet, specifically the Shostakovich Preludes Opus 34. Off of Russian Melodies, 1999. Love the charts but can't find any information on who did the arrangements. I know about Doug Yeo's duet arrangements of those pieces, these are done for quartet. Thanks in advance.

Hans Peter Gaiswinkler arranged the Shostakovich Preludes on the Vienna Trombone Quartet "Russian Melodies" recording.

PE