Showcase the Obscure: Forgotten Trombone Solos from the Paris Conservatory

Abstract

The trombone contest solos commissioned by the Paris Conservatory provide a vast repertoire from which trombonists can perform. Since 1897, more than fifty-one composers have been commissioned to write over fifty-eight solo pieces for trombone. Many trombone students and teachers, however, seem unaware of a majority of the high-quality repertoire available. Trombone recital programs frequently feature the same solo works by Castérède, Bozza, Defaye, Dutilleux, Gabaye, Gaubert, Guilmant, Martin, Milhaud, Ropartz, Saint-Saëns, and Tomasi. Even within this short list of select composers, typically only a single solo is known and performed regularly, but in many cases the composers above have written multiple trombone solo works. Additionally, this handful of composers represents less than one-third of the potential composers to choose from, many of whom also contributed multiple works to the trombone solo repertoire.

This recital series highlights selected works commissioned by the Paris Conservatory that have become obscure. For all of the proposed repertoire, no recordings were found beyond a handful of amateur recordings online; most works had no recordings available at all. The selected solos range from the first piece commissioned in 1897, Solo de Concert by Paul Vidal, to Rhapsodie by Jeanine Rueff for the 1962 contest. Interaction with a more comprehensive and diverse solo repertoire provides students and teachers with direct exposure to the complex French cultural and political history inexorably linked with its art. This dissertation showcases this forgotten solo repertoire and advocates each composition’s significance through formal analysis, pedagogical relevance, and historical context.