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Thank you for taking the time to view and listen. The Eastman Trombone Choir and its leaders, Larry Zalkind and Mark Kellogg, are marvelous, gifted artists.

I appreciate the thoughtful review! Perhaps the re-tooling will engage the interest of a soloist or two.

Thanks for the kind words! Two previous works "Trilogy I" and "Trilogy II" were both in G minor and major, though that was not planned. When I started this one, my ear and thoughts went to the same tonality before I realized I was doing it again. That made want to differentiate this work somehow, so I'm pleased it sounds different! (BTW I've started a "Trilogy III", which will definitely not be in G) The story on "Caprice": I started with thoughts of a prelude and fugue, but decided to pursue a continuously evolving piece tied together by thematic elements. As a result, the slow minor theme becomes a direct outline for the contrasting major waltz.The fugal section starts with the repeated staccatos used in both the slow theme and the waltz. After the fugue exposition and some episodes, it too flows into a dance (page 10) based on a snippets of the fugue, including the repeated staccatos. Finally, the dance flows right back into a fugue recap, stretto, and conclusion. All I can plead is that it seemed like a good idea at the time. In music, a caprice is usually lively and fairly free in form.That definition seemed to come close, hence the title. And you are correct about the Chevy Caprice. A 1966 silver coupe.

Thank you! Hope you also like the next one, coming up in a moment...

It was a tough time to navigate. I thought Eastman did a brilliant job getting through it all.

Having a medical background and playing trombone through college, a bell cover is not stitched with a tight enough weave to capture any virus. The masks were the exact same.

Thank you for viewing. I hope you'll find find some of the other works worth your time, as well!

Thank you! Peter Ellefson, for whom the piece was written, will be premiering it this month. He's a fantastic player with excellent solo albums you can hear on Spotify, Apple Music and other sources.

Thanks for watching, and I'm glad you enjoyed the work and their great performance. The bell covers (which definitely affect overtones and overall choir sound) were owing to COVID protocols at Eastman during that time. The sound of the piece with open bells should be really fun--I hope to hear it in person that way sometime.

Thank you for the kind review, Mitch. I've wondered why Baroque and Classical composers didn't write more for the only fully chromatic brass instrument at the time. These three-voice Bach collections really sound and are fun to play. Not easy, but fun!

@@petestrohm You're welcome, Pete! I've wondered the same thing too--to my ears, full brass seems more of a Renaissance texture?

Thanks for the critique @michaelfox3259 -- can't say I disagree. I just haven't transitioned from loading Finale and GPO-generated .wavs into my DAW, to the next level of playing or hiring demo players to play in the individual parts. Guess I thought the Finale .wavs with some DAW EQ and reverb might give people enough of an idea of the works to consider them. That position allowed me to focus on writing and arranging. Frankly, it's been a trade-off against the time and $ for more realistic production. I take your comment to mean I should revisit that notion. --PFS

@PorterBrass, thanks and all the more so, given COVID protocols at the time still dictated bell covers and restricted rehearsals. I hope to hear them do it unconstrained someday!

Glad you enjoyed the performance and the piece! Thanks for viewing! Pete Strohm

I always appreciate your thoughts. Thanks!

Thanks for the kind review! I'm indebted to Larry Zalkind, Mark Kellogg and the Eastman trombonists for the wonderful job of bringing it to life.

@@petestrohm I like that it wasn’t a direct cover of the piece, but you added your own composition to it. Is the score available for other trombone choirs?

@@Arthur-hg7ny @James Decker It's available as performed from JW Pepper at www.jwpepper.com/11132312.item#/submit. I'm just finishing an updated edition. You can reach me at info@petestrohm.com for details.

@@petestrohm Much appreciated. Did you ever consider adding percussion? I do see that trombone 5 and 6 have the percussive rhythm.

Interesting you say that. The early drafts did include percussion, but ultimately I decided to do everything with the trombones. The rhythmic figures that occur in all eight parts throughout the work are just enough to give the necessary momentum, I think.

Thanks for listening! Life speaks through music.

Thanks, mikey8088. I'm glad the work resonated with you. Prof. Larry Zalkind and the Eastman Trombone Choir did an incredible job with that world premiere performance. For my part, it was a joy to create the piece for them from that terrific score. If you're interested, all Eastman Trombone Choir concerts are livestreamed at www.esm.rochester.edu/live/. --PFS

Masie, thanks for viewing and taking time to comment. I'm not sure what you're seeing, but as I recall there were either six or eight players on bass. The work has eight parts (six tenor, two bass), with multiple players on each part. They even added a contrabass (downstage right). Thanks, again, and I hope you enjoyed the piece!

Thank you, Jay. For more great sounds, you can watch the Eastman Trombone Choir this Friday at 7:30 EST on Eastman Live, their performance streaming site (www.esm.rochester.edu/live/)!

Thank you!

The Running Shark: Thanks for the comments. The Eastman Trombone Choir and Professors Zalkind and Kellogg are fantastic to work with. You also might check out Larry Zalkind's channel at czcams.com/users/lrbmaz1. My personal favorite is the "Lost in the Stars" album he did with Deborah Shulman. Soooo smooth.

Kelley Shannon: Perfect!

Italia Bionda: Thank you!

Jim, but other than that it was OK?

@@petestrohm Was very impressed. Excellent!

Thanks, Don. Great to hear from you!

Agree, Scott. Credit to Larry Zalkind for using the contra to reinforce the bass trombone parts. Brilliant!

Jack: I was honored to have this storied group take interest in performing the piece. Check out their other videos as well.