di Marino Mora

Mixtures of sounds, surprising and unpredictable, unusual atmospheres and instrumental colours, prospects and new solutions arranging themes and popular melodies, as those written by Mozart, by Rossini, by Gershwin, by the Beatles and many others that now, in the instrumental versions recreated by the vibrant transcriptions or the quartet Trombone Attraction, appear to be entirely new, fresh, often as beautiful as the original score. Power of music. How many ways are there of listening to a composition, of recognizing it, of living it, of tasting it? Many, very many, infinite ways, we shall answer. This is one of the presents of the art of producing sounds: it presents itself at the appointment with listeners able to regenerate itself and able to bring them each time nearer to the sense of beauty. Certainly interpretation, for this extremely original group made up by four trombones, we have the occasion of reorganizing our musical universe with new, unexpected points of view, always fresh and captivating, stimulated by the deployment of an organic with rich potentials in technique and with surprising interpretative solutions. Let’s close our eyes and taste the beauty of these sounds. Here appears the floating Ouverture from the Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. After the solemn opening theme, we know that in the original version the orchestra begins chasing after a magic vortex of intertwined themes. But how will the trombones manage, considering that they have always been academically seen – incorrectly – as goofy and slow instruments? The result is shiny, entertained and entertaining, lashing. In the same way also the Pizzicato Polka by Johann and Josef Strauss, a light and floating page that plays in the original version, on the resonances and sonorous alliterations between strings, gives us a picture of surprising freshness. Now comes A portrait by George Gershwin, a medley of popular compositions by the American composer arranged for trombones; a choice full of value, as a collection of precious pearls. Here flows, in an unforgettable sequence, themes as An American in Paris or Rhapsody in Blue. Let’s enter now in the classical Viennese world with a choral page from the Creation by Franz Joseph Haydn (Vollendet ist das grosse werk), while ancient echoes, redundant fanfares evidenced by the solemn gait of the for soloists differentiate the mysterious French dances by Michael Prätorius. A jump of four centuries and here we are in the mobile, plastic melody of the Pink Panther by Henry Mancini, well realized by the athletically version for trombones, while the popular Hey Jude, hymn of a generation in the Sixties/Seventies, echoes in its massive solemnity, over the following variations offered by the beautiful and very free arrangement by Ingo Luis. The jazz-like swing in It’s only a Paper Moon by Harold Arlen, a refined composition whose melody is mobile and rhythmic, is enchanting; it is followed by the captivating Suite for trombones by Richards. But our trip in the “new world” of wind quartet continues, without a pause. We go back now to the world of classical sound, with the intangible La Fille Aux Cheveux De Lin from the Preludes by Claude Debussy, a composition that plays on transparency and that is centred on the shiny crystals that make up its poetic climax, while a little afterwards we will here the “Old Vienna” sounds of the impressive quick polka Leichtes Blut (Leight of heart) by Johann Strauss, one of his masterpieces. After the Sonata for four Trombone slides by Plunser, our original musical collage of Trombone Attraction confronts itself with the playful music from the soundtrack of James Bond 007 arranged by B. Ryser, followed then, in sequence, by Apartett by L. Paul and Take Five by Paul Desmond, first jazz music composition whose recording has been in sold more than one million copies: a true historical model that today is an authentic evergreen. Emblematically the trip of our quartet ends with another unforgettable composition, from Gioachino Rossini’s Guglielmo Tell, masterpiece of composition in which the orchestra gives the maximum of its expression in an involving expression of musical vitality. If in the original version, momentum and rhythmic brilliance were determinant traits; now, in the shiny version offered by the mobile instrumental quartet Trombone Attraction, authentic musical gems are granted.