Denson Paul Pollard's video: Elegy for Bass Trombone and Piano by Joe Buono

Denson Paul Pollard, bass trombone Kimberly Carballo, piano Stefan Wiebe, recording engineer Recorded in February 2020 in Ford Hall at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. Commissioned by a consortium of trombone players that included Dr. Denson Paul Pollard and premiered in 2016 by Dr. Cory Mixdorf, “Elegy for Bass Trombone and Piano” is set in a neo-romantic style centered around soaring bel canto melodies and lamenting lyricism. This elegy presents a terraced melancholy melody that builds to a climax and withdraws; not unlike a romantic-era Chopin nocturne. The phrase is then repeated and ornamented with even more building energy, only to transform into a joyful yet nostalgic moderato waltz before building to a climactic burst of mourning. The music then gradually settles to a place of turbulent peace, never quite resolving until the final notes. Joe Buono received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in bass trombone, and master’s degree in music education from the Peabody Conservatory at Johns Hopkins University. Mr. Buono is co-founder of the internet music-duo sensation the “Melodica Men,” and has shared the stage with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Jacksonville Symphony, and performed on both ABC and NBC television. As a composer, Mr. Buono won the 2012 Eastern Trombone Workshop Composition Competition. Written by Ben Garcia