Once upon a time, in
the middle of the 18th century,
in Austria, there lived an alto trombonist
named Thomas Gschladt. His prowess on
his instrument was unsurpassed, and
between 1750 and 1780 his virtuosity
inspired the greatest composers of the
Austrian courts. Indeed, in Salzburg
Gschladt had works written for him by
Leopold and W.A. Mozart, and Michael
Haydn (the brother of Franz Joseph Haydn,
and a very notable composer in his own
right). When some of these works were
later discovered, specifically the work
of Johnann Albrechtsberger (who was
one of Beethoven’s teachers), it was
decided that the part could not actually
have been written for trombone. They
were simply far too virtuosic to have
been written for the instrument.
Due to the difficulty
of these pieces, they were largely lost
to history until very recently. It was
with great difficulty that Christian
Lindberg (b. 1958) and his assembled
cast of musicologists reconstructed
these works from hand-copied parts.
Often the original scores no longer
exist in any form, and in some cases
even the authorship is debatable. Some
of the works available here are recorded
for the first time.
As for the performances
by Christian Lindberg and the Australian
Chamber Orchestra, they could not be
better. Lindberg is an incomparable
virtuoso on the alto trombone. Having
heard countless trombonists perform
both symphonic and jazz, the only names
which come readily to mind as technically
comparable would be players such as
Bill Watrous or J.J. Johnson. As these
masters were working in fundamentally
different musical styles (jazz-rock
fusion and bebop respectively) it must
be noted that Lindberg is unique. The
pieces demand countless lip trills,
a soaring range, make use of a dizzying
number of fast-tongued passages, and
are simply among the most demanding
ever written for trombone.
As for the Australian
Chamber Orchestra, they do a marvelous
job. The performances seem flawless,
even upon repeated listening. They bring
to life music that one would have thought
dead and buried centuries ago, but marvelously
reanimated for the modern listener.
At the end of this
album there are two bonus tracks written,
not for Gschladt, but included for Lindberg
to display his hand as a conductor.
The first was even penned by the virtuosic
trombonist himself, and Dreams of
Arkandia is an enchanting work for
flute and orchestra, performed by the
Swedish Chamber Orchestra with Sharon
Bezaly on flute and alto flute. It is
definitely an enjoyable piece, and does
a good job of inciting the listener
to find the larger work, known as The
World of Monteugretta. The second
bonus track is with the same instrumentation,
and hearkens to Stravinsky works written
between 1900 and World War I. Indeed
it bears a considerable resemblance
to the Rite of Spring. These tracks
serve as pre-releases for albums that
will be issued in the next few months.
It is this reviewer’s hope that I will
be granted the pleasure of these recordings
when they become available.
As for this disc, anyone
who has ever played a trombone will
be delighted at these recordings. Any
lover of rarely recorded works, who
enjoys the discovery of unfamiliar music
rather than collections of Beethoven
and Haydn symphonies will doubtlessly
enjoy this album as well. It cannot
be more highly recommended.
Patrick Gary
Christian Lindberg, alto trombone 