The Voice of the Carnyx
Trombone Sonata - David Horne
movement 2 (5'53")
movement 3 (4'34")
movement 4 (5'22")
with David Horne, piano
Skyelines for trombone and organ - John Purser
movement 2 (4'13")
with John Kitchen, organ
Bone Tone Pome (5'22") - Tom Bancroft - with Tom Bancroft, drums
Leo Dreaming (8'14") for tenor trombone doubling Alto and Tape - John Maxwell Geddes - with John Whiting, sound projection
John Kenny (trombone and carnyx)
This recording is the first in a series on the British Music Label representing a cross-section of my work as a performer and composer. An ancient and until recently neglected instrument, the trombone has been undergoing something of a renaissance in the past 40 years. John Cage wrote his Solo for Sliding Trombone in 1955 and Luciano Berio his Sequenza 5 in 1966. These pieces were the start of an explosion of composition for the trombone which has led to the possibility for trombonists to seriously contemplate careers as soloists. Even at the time I left the Royal Academy of Music in 1978 this was still considered a ridiculous idea.
In spite of the staggering virtuosity of jazz trombonists like Frank Rossolino, and though Stewart Dempster in the USA and Vinko Globokar in Europe were recognised leaders in the Avant-Garde, the instrument still didn't register with the concert going public and promoters. However these great players inspired my own generation and trombonists the world over have been tempting composers into writing for our instrument in even greater numbers.
These CD issues represent my own efforts to generate new repertoire which I am now passing on to players of the next generation. It is very appropriate that the first of the series should be by Scottish composers.
John Kenny
Acknowledgements for assistance with this project are due to:
The National Museums of Scotland Charitable Trust
Listen to a sample from this cd (requires quicktime plugin)
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