Nineteen Skeletal Duets for Trombones is a set of duets of easy to moderately difficult specifically for teachers and students in private lessons. The first 15 duets are arranged from Fifteen Safari Duets for Tubas which was composed in 1989 for playing with my tuba students at Berklee College of Music. They are at different levels of difficulty and in various styles so that we always had duets to play no matter what was the ability of the student. The additional four duets were added in 2020 for trombones for this set. The title of each duet is also a name for a bone in the human body, hence the name Skeletal Duets. There is something in each duet for students to learn: the basics of tone production, rhythms, melodic phrasing, jazz, graphic notation, etc. Most are sight readable and some have been performed in concerts. Nineteen Skeletal Duets for Euphoniums are the same duets but in treble clef. Twenty-two Skeletal Duets for Hornsuses the first 19 of the trombone set with three additional duets added. Some of the trombone and horn duets are in the same key so they can be played together.

1. Cranium
This duet presents the cantabile ?singing? style as studied for playing the trombone. I find that this duet helps the student much like the melodies of Borgodni (Rochet) etudes.

2. Stirrup
This duet provides an opportunity to read basic rhythms and articulations. I find that the more advanced students can read in a faster tempo while the less skilled students work best in the slower tempos ? a common choice for all of the duets.
3. Humerus
This waltz helps the student match phrasing in a cantabile setting. There are a few instances where the teacher (playing the first part) plays a phrase then the student plays a similar phrase.
4. Vertebra
This is in a ?rock? style with syncopated rhythms with cantabile melodies. Articulations are especially important in this duet.
5. Axis
Legato scales and syncopated rhythms are the features of this duet. This is a good exercise for legato playing on trombone, especially when the legato tongue is needed versus when the trombonist does not need to tongue when moving across partials.
6. Tibia
This duet alternates in rock style and swing. Articulations and manipulation of ?swing? rhythms are important.
7. Clavicle
The key of A for this duet provides variation for the students.
8. Fibula nd
This duet uses the easiest of rhythms and range, especially for the 2
9. Scapula
This duet is non-metric and uses graphic notation. This was a favorite duet of my students as many had never experienced this notation before.
10. Atlas ndThis is an Invention in the Bach style. This is probably the best duet to play when the 2 part is played by bass trombone.

(student) part.

11. Radius
This duet is in a ?Medium Swing? jazz style. Each part has a chance to play a little bit of a ?walking? bass line. Articulations and manipulation of ?swing? rhythms are important in this duet.
12. Femur
This duet works on double time and half time tempo changes.
13. Patella
This is another duet that includes graphic notation. In this duet ?Free rapid legato lines? are used.
14. Anvil
This gallop displays different types of articulation.
15. Hammer
This duet is in the style of a fanfare.
16. Rib
This duet is a melody, ?Magallon Blues?, that I originally composed when I taught at a summer music camp in Magallon, Spain. In that camp each of the students would practice playing a jazz solo. This duet also has jazz chord changes so you can add piano or guitar. The use of drums is also an added option.
17. Sacrum
This duet is a short arrangement of Mozart?s ?Eine Kleine Nachtmusic?.
18. Ulna
This duet is a short arrangement of the traditional Irish folk song ?Londonderry Air?, more commonly known as ?Danny Boy?.
19. Ilium
This duet is a short arrangement of the Beethoven?s song ?Ode to Joy? which represents the triumph of universal brotherhood against war and desperation.

Gregory Fritze is a prize-winning composer and Fulbright Scholar, as well as an active performer. He recently retired from Berklee College of Music where he was Tuba Professor and Chair of Composition, serving on the faculty from 1979 to 2016. He has written over one hundred compositions for orchestra, band, chamber ensembles and soloists. He has won over sixty composition awards both nationally and internationally including First Prize in the 1991 TUBA Etude Contest for Twenty Characteristic Etudes for Tuba, an award from The American Prize for his Petite Suite for Brass Quintet and others. His compositions include works published by several publishers in the United States, South America and Europe that have been performed extensively throughout the world. Many of his compositions are available on ITunes, Youtube and Soundcloud.
His compositions are recorded on Albany Records, MSR Classics, Crystal Records, Mark Records and others. He has been a guest lecturer, conductor and performer at many colleges, universities and music festivals in the United States, Canada, Japan, South America and Europe. He was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania in 1954 and has Composition degrees from the Boston Conservatory and Indiana University. He now resides in Daytona Beach Shores, Florida.

This collection features a selection of classical pieces by the world's most renowned composers: Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, George Frideric Handel, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Antonio Lucio Vivaldi, Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Johann Strauss II, Edvard Grieg, Johann Pachelbel, Giuseppe Verdi, Edward Elgar, Richard Wagner and Johannes Brahms.

All the pieces are presented in simplified version for the beginner.

Includes:

1812 Overture, Op. 49
An der sch�nen blauen Donau, Op. 314
Bourr�e, BWV 996
Dance of the Flowers, Op. 71a
Eine kleine Nachtmusik, K.525
F�r Elise, WoO 59
Greensleeves
Guten Abend, gut? Nacht
I Dovregubbens hall
Jesus bleibet meine Freude, BWV 147
Kanon in D-Dur
La Donna � Mobile
la Primavera, RV. 269
Menuett, BWV Anh 114
Ode an die Freude, Op. 125
Pomp and Circumstance March N�1, Op. 39
Treulich gef�hrt
Water Music, HWV 349

Petros Shoujounian, an Armenian/Canadian composer has written Twelve Duos for Trombones based on the folksong collection of the Armenian priest Komitas, known as the founder of the Armenian national school of music and one of the pioneers of ethnomusicology. Below are comments from the composer about his inspiration in writing these Twelve Duos for Trombones.

My interest in the collected works of Komitas's ethnographical songs was aroused when I was introduced to Bela Bartok's similar works followed by Alan Hovhaness's huge creative world. Bartok completed his project having at his disposal a large collection of ethnographic music, while Hovhannes studied the wealth of Komitas's music with great interest. It is difficult to say to what extent the Armenian underpinning of Hovhannes's works is nurtured by Komitas's musical world, but his classical interpretation of the Armenian ethnographical music created a huge interest in the listener. Needless to say, there is also Aram Katchaturian's legacy, which at its core has the ardent presence of the Armenian spirit, nurtured by Komitas's very existence.

Komitas has left a collection of about 3,000 cleaned versions of the ethnographic song and dance pieces, of which 1,700 have reaches us, about 400 of which have been activated. I believe that in those beautiful musical fragments reside the power to be revived, once we enrich them with colorful musical instruments and unbounded polyphonic imagination.

This is the motivation behind my own work and these Twelve Duos for Trombones: to make the essence of our ethnographic music accessible through Komitas.

These Twelve Duos are appropriate for advanced performers and may be performed on Alto, Tenor, and Bass Trombones.

Ciacona (original key of F minor for organ) has been beautifully arranged for trombone quartet in C minor by Mark LaFratta. It is probably Pachelbel?s second most famous work, after the Kanon in D. As is typical for a Ciacona (Chaconne), there is a short simple tune in triple meter over a repeating bass ostinato that provides a vehicle for variation, ornamentation, and melodic invention. It is somewhat similar to a passacaglia. There is a passage or two that even have hints of Bach's great Passacaglia, which didn't appear for many years in the future.



Pachelbel's Ciacona states an opening theme followed by 22 variations, the last of which is an almost exact repeat of the opening theme.



This fantastic 8-minute arrangement is appropriate for advanced performers and is scored for: alto trombone, 2 tenor trombones, and a bass trombone

Diversions is a work by Canadian composer Elizabeth Raum for Trombone quartet written in 1998 for the Aurora Trombone Quartet. Elizabeth Raum's writing is influenced by the school of the tone poem in that her music seems often to tell a story.

Diversions consists of several sections, each with its own personality. It opens with a signal call from the first trombone that is answered in turn by each of the others. This leads to the first rather contrapuntal theme combining the Baroque with the Romantic; then a bridge consisting of variations on the signal brings us to the second theme of three muted trombones playing a lively dance-like accompaniment to the open sound of the first trombone. The continuity of the dance is interrupted by occasional asides or "diversions."

Finally, all four instruments, unmuted, join together bringing the piece to a rousing finish. This work of about 6 1/2 minutes in length is appropriate for advanced performers.

Dimensi�n is a tango that wascomposed based on two simple piano pieces destined to young pianists: the firsttheme is "Langostango" andthe second one "Continuando".When joining to build up "Dimensi�n",additional elements came into the game, such as an important secondary melodyand a few transitions.

Dimensi�n is therefore a clearexample of a successful composition: a couple of good ideas and a lot of workto achieve that nobody notices how much work lies behind it.

About the title, it obeys to my (slightly excessive) concerntowards finding names that can be understood in any language of the places Iusually am related to (i.e. in Spanish, English and German). In the case of "dimensi�n"it is a transparent word, understandingas such the words that are practically identical in any language while keepingtheir meaning (there exist words that are quite similar in different languages,but mean different things, in Linguistics these are called false friends.) Among my titles one finds several of such transparent words.

In September 2002 I began to conductthe Orquesta No T�pica at theUniversity of Bremen, Germany, a chamber group of variable instrumentationdevoted to tango music. Dimensi�n wasthe first piece that I composed especially for this group, in January /February 2003. The original version of Dimensi�nis therefore for Sextet: flute, clarinet, violin, guitar, bass,piano.

Sincethat first version (performed several times in Germany and Argentina) I wrote along dozen of arrangements for different instrumental groups.



Dimensi�n for trombone octet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8Uq4_PSlPI

1. Pomp and Circumstance Edward Elgar

2. Andante (Surprise Symphony) Franz Joseph Haydn

3. Arioso Daniel Gottlob Turk

4. Lullaby Johannes Brahms

5. Melody Robert Schumann

6. Sarabande George Frideric Handel

7. Silent Night Franz Xaver Gruber

8. A Little Piece Robert Schumann

9. Carnival Of Venice Julius Benedict

10. La Donna E Mobile Giuseppe Verdi

11. Largo (The New World) Antonin Dvorak

12. Old French Song Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

13. Waltz (Sleeping Beauty) Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

14. We Wish You A Merry Christmas EnglishFolk Song

15. Air Henry Purcell

16. Ode To Joy LudwigVan Beethoven

17. Italian Polka SergeiRachmaninoff

18. Minuet (In F Major) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

19. Solveig`s Song EdvardGrieg

20. Sonatina (In C Major) Muzio Clementi

21. Waltz DmitriKabalevsky

22. Alouette FrenchFolk Song

23. Gaudeamus Igitur Johannes Brahms

24. Green Sleeves English Folk Song

25. Hongroise Adolphe-Charles Adam

26. Minuet (In F Major) Franz Joseph Haydn

27. Serenade (Eine Kleine Nachtmusik) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

28. Soldier's March Robert Schumann

29. Arietta MuzioClementi

30. Emperor Waltz JohannStrauss Jr.

31. Grand March (Aida) Giuseppe Verdi

32. Happy Birthday To You Patty & Mildred J. Hill

33. Minuet (In D Minor) Johann Sebastian Bach

34. Santa Lucia Italian Folk Song

35. The Emperor's Hymn Franz Joseph Haydn

36. La Paloma Sebastian Yradier

37. Dance Of The Hours Amilcare Ponchielli

38. Fur Elise Ludwig Van Beethoven

39. Humoresque Antonin Dvorak

40. Minuet (In G Major) Johann Sebastian Bach

41. Toreador Song Georges Bizet

42. Turkish March Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

43. Ave Maria FranzSchubert

44. Barcarolle Jacques Offenbach

45. In The Hall Of The Mountain King Edvard Grieg

46. Melody In FAnton Rubinstein

47. None But The Lonely Heart Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

48. Polovtsian Dance Alexander Borodin

49. Spanish Romance

50. Liebestraum (Dream Of Love) Franz Liszt

51. Arioso George Frideric Handel

52. O Mio Babbino Caro Giacomo Puccini

53. O Sole Mio Eduardo Di Capua

54. To A Wild Rose&nbs.

Arioso (Daniel Gottlob Turk)

A Little Piece (Robert Schumann)

Italian Polka (Sergei Rachmaninoff)

Gaudeamus Igitur (Johannes Brahms)

Arietta (Muzio Clementi)

Sobre Las Olas (Over The Waves) (Juventino Rosas)

None But The Lonely Heart (Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky)

Liebestraum (Dream Of Love) (Franz Liszt)

Gavotte (Jean-Baptiste Lully)

Theme From Symphony No.40 (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)

1. Pomp and Circumstance Edward Elgar

2. Andante (Surprise Symphony) Franz Joseph Haydn

3. Arioso Daniel Gottlob Turk

4. Lullaby Johannes Brahms

5. Melody Robert Schumann

6. Sarabande George Frideric Handel

7. Silent Night Franz Xaver Gruber

8. A Little Piece Robert Schumann

9. Carnival Of Venice Julius Benedict

10. La Donna E Mobile Giuseppe Verdi

11. Largo (The New World) Antonin Dvorak

12. Old French Song Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

13. Waltz (Sleeping Beauty) Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

14. We Wish You A Merry Christmas EnglishFolk Song

15. Air Henry Purcell

16. Ode To Joy LudwigVan Beethoven

17. Italian Polka SergeiRachmaninoff

18. Minuet (In F Major) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

19. Solveig`s Song EdvardGrieg

20. Sonatina (In C Major) Muzio Clementi

21. Waltz DmitriKabalevsky

22. Alouette FrenchFolk Song

23. Gaudeamus Igitur Johannes Brahms

24. Green Sleeves English Folk Song

25. Hongroise Adolphe-Charles Adam

26. Minuet (In F Major) Franz Joseph Haydn

27. Serenade (Eine Kleine Nachtmusik) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

28. Soldier's March Robert Schumann

29. Arietta MuzioClementi

30. Emperor Waltz JohannStrauss Jr.

31. Grand March (Aida) Giuseppe Verdi

32. Happy Birthday To You Patty & Mildred J. Hill

33. Minuet (In D Minor) Johann Sebastian Bach

34. Santa Lucia Italian Folk Song

35. The Emperor's Hymn Franz Joseph Haydn

36. La Paloma Sebastian Yradier

37. Dance Of The Hours Amilcare Ponchielli

38. Fur Elise Ludwig Van Beethoven

39. Humoresque Antonin Dvorak

40. Minuet (In G Major) Johann Sebastian Bach

41. Toreador Song Georges Bizet

42. Turkish March Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

43. Ave Maria FranzSchubert

44. Barcarolle Jacques Offenbach

45. In The Hall Of The Mountain King Edvard Grieg

46. Melody In FAnton Rubinstein

47. None But The Lonely Heart Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

48. Polovtsian Dance Alexander Borodin

49. Spanish Romance

50. Liebestraum (Dream Of Love) Franz Liszt

51. Arioso George Frideric Handel

52. O Mio Babbino Caro Giacomo Puccini

53. O Sole Mio Eduardo Di Capua

54. To A Wild Rose Edward.

1. Pomp and Circumstance Edward Elgar

2. Andante (Surprise Symphony) Franz Joseph Haydn

3. Arioso Daniel Gottlob Turk

4. Lullaby Johannes Brahms

5. Melody Robert Schumann

6. Sarabande George Frideric Handel

7. Silent Night Franz Xaver Gruber

8. A Little Piece Robert Schumann

9. Carnival Of Venice Julius Benedict

10. La Donna E Mobile Giuseppe Verdi

11. Largo (The New World) Antonin Dvorak

12. Old French Song Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

13. Waltz (Sleeping Beauty) Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

14. We Wish You A Merry Christmas EnglishFolk Song

15. Air Henry Purcell

16. Ode To Joy LudwigVan Beethoven

17. Italian Polka SergeiRachmaninoff

18. Minuet (In F Major) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

19. Solveig`s Song EdvardGrieg

20. Sonatina (In C Major) Muzio Clementi

21. Waltz DmitriKabalevsky

22. Alouette FrenchFolk Song

23. Gaudeamus Igitur Johannes Brahms

24. Green Sleeves English Folk Song

25. Hongroise Adolphe-Charles Adam

26. Minuet (In F Major) Franz Joseph Haydn

27. Serenade (Eine Kleine Nachtmusik) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

28. Soldier's March Robert Schumann

29. Arietta MuzioClementi

30. Emperor Waltz JohannStrauss Jr.

31. Grand March (Aida) Giuseppe Verdi

32. Happy Birthday To You Patty & Mildred J. Hill

33. Minuet (In D Minor) Johann Sebastian Bach

34. Santa Lucia Italian Folk Song

35. The Emperor's Hymn Franz Joseph Haydn

36. La Paloma Sebastian Yradier

37. Dance Of The Hours Amilcare Ponchielli

38. Fur Elise Ludwig Van Beethoven

39. Humoresque Antonin Dvorak

40. Minuet (In G Major) Johann Sebastian Bach

41. Toreador Song Georges Bizet

42. Turkish March Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

43. Ave Maria FranzSchubert

44. Barcarolle Jacques Offenbach

45. In The Hall Of The Mountain King Edvard Grieg

46. Melody In FAnton Rubinstein

47. None But The Lonely Heart Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

48. Polovtsian Dance Alexander Borodin

49. Spanish Romance

50. Liebestraum (Dream Of Love) Franz Liszt

51. Arioso George Frideric Handel

52. O Mio Babbino Caro Giacomo Puccini

53. O Sole Mio Eduardo Di Capua

54. To A Wild Rose Edward.

Earth Summoner for Unaccompanied Bass Trombone by Jason Beghtol is a 7-minute work for moderately advanced performers in one complete movement in seven contrasting sections of alternating slow and fast.

This work is a very good vehicle for learning rhythmic solidity in the fast sections and developing an expressive singing legato in the slow sections.

Beethoven's great chamber music is second to none, however, there are very few instances where the Trombone as an instrument can fit into the style of the music. With the Scherzo from String Quartet, Op. 18, No. 4, arranger Kevin Dombrowski has found the perfect fit. A quartet of trombonists at the advanced level will love performing this wonderful five minutes of music.

My first season with the Oregon Symphony was 1962-1963. I was so excited when I was told that I was accepted into the Portland Symphony (now Oregon Symphony), I danced and jumped up and down. I can still see myself. Its was like winning the Powerball. I was only 17 years old. What is equally amazing is that 45 years later I retired from a career that very few people can ever experience. I was bass trombonist my first year in the Oregon Symphony and was principal trombonist my third year. I also traveled with the New York Metropolitan Opera National company for 84 weeks as principal trombonist and was bass trombonist of the Portland Opera for 18 years. I played in the Peter Britt Orchestra for two seasons and also in the Anchorage, AK. music festival. I was a scholarship winner to Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass. and the National Music Camp in Interlochen, Michigan. I was privileged to perform with Leopold Stowkowski and Erik Leinsdorf. None of this would have been possible without my early training with the Portland, Youth Philharmonic under the leadership of maestro Jacob Avshalomov.

I have met many famous people and have played the world's greatest music. The Oregon Symphony music directors and conductors have been magnificent and have each brought many special talents to the orchestra. I remember special concerts featuring Jack Benny, Danny Kaye, Isaac Stern, Leonard Rose, and many others.

During my time in the Oregon Symphony I developed a hobby of making batons for some of the conductors who visited our orchestra. Most recently, I made batons for Itzhak Perlman, James DePreist, Carlos Kalmar, Riccardo Mutti, Murry Sidlin, Hannu Lintu, Karel Mark Chichon,

Andre Watts, and many others.

Since establishing the Alan Pierce Piano Service in 1976, I have tuned pianos for the Oregon Symphony, Andre Watts, Lawrence Leighton Smith, James DePreist, Murry Sidlin, Norman Leyden as well as for many churches, schools and prominent piano teachers. Most recently I tuned the piano in the home of world famous Janet Guggenheim. One of my most special memories was an all expense paid trip to Scottsdale, Arizona to tune the piano of a prominent surgeon. While in Arizona, I had the chance to spend time with the late James DePreist who had a home in the area. For two summers, I also served as piano technician for the Sunriver Music Festival I am currently the president of the Reno chapter of the Piano Technicians Guild.

Most recently I got to meet Geoge Curran, bass trombonist of the New York Philharmonic. My wife and I traveled two times to hear him perform my Romanza and Scherzo for bass trombone and piano. What a thrill to hear a world famous trombonist perform my music. I am very honored that George Curran recorded my music on his latest CD. (Vital Signs)

This is a book of popular pieces arranged for duet; it comprises both volumes from the '15 Duets for Fun' series, plus the '21 Christmas Duets for Fun' as well, making a total of 51 duets in this set. The difficulty levels range from early-intermediate to advanced, and should provide something for everyone to enjoy. The pieces have been arranged so that both parts are interesting throughout - they often interweave and take on many roles within the music. A duet score is provided for each piece, and the repertoire covers wedding music, slow melodies, traditional Welsh melodies, baroque classics, famous symphonic melodies, piano works, Christmas classics and other popular pieces. Parts are provided in B flat treble and concert pitch bass clefs. This is the full list:


1. Jingle Bells v1
2. Jingle Bells v2
3. Ding Dong Merrily On High v1
4. Ding Dong Merrily On High v2
5. Ding Dong Merrily On High v3
6. Joy To The World v1
7. Joy To The World v2
8. Joy To The World v3
9. Deck The Halls v1
10. Deck The Halls v2
11. Deck The Halls v3
12. O Christmas Tree v1
13. O Christmas Tree v2
14. Silent Night v1
15. Silent Night v2
16. Silent Night v3
17. O Little Town Of Bethlehem v1
18. O Little Town Of Bethlehem v2
19. O Little Town Of Bethlehem v3
20. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen v1
21. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen v2
22. All Through The Night (Welsh trad.)
23. Amazing Grace (Newton)
24. American Patrol (Meacham)
25. David of the White Rock (Welsh trad.)
26. Fanfare from ?Water Music? (Handel)
27. Happy Birthday
28. Largo from ?Xerxes? (Handel)
29. Myfanwy (Welsh trad.)
30. Pizzicati from ?Sylvia? (Delibes)
31. Prelude in C (Bach)
32. La R�jouissance from ?Music for the Royal Fireworks? (Handel)
33. Rondo from ?Abdelazer? (Purcell)
34. Scherzo from Symphony No. 2 (Beethoven)
35. Suo Gan (Welsh trad.)
36. Concerto for Mandolin and Strings (Ugolino)
37. The Entertainer (Scott Joplin)
38. Highlights from Rhapsody In Blue (Gershwin)
39. The Blue Danube Waltz (Johann Strauss II)
40. Six Christmas Pieces, No.5 (Mendelssohn)
41. F�r Elise (Beethoven)
42. In The Hall Of The Mountain King (Grieg)
43. Trumpet Voluntary (Jeremiah Clarke)
44. Eine Kleine Nachtmusik No.1 (Mozart)
45. The Londonderry Air / Danny Boy (trad.)
46. Symphony No.5, Mvt.1 (Beethoven)
47. Rondo Alla Turca (Mozart)
48. ?Autumn? from ?The Four Seasons? (Vivaldi)
49. ?Ode to Joy? from Symphony No.9 (Beethoven)
50. March of the Toy Soldiers from ?The Nutcracker? (Tchaikovsky)
51. Prelude from ?Te Deum? (Charpentier)

Jeff Reynolds has done a gorgeous job arranging Three Early Sacred Pieces for 4-part Trombone Ensemble:

I. The Passion Chorale, O Sacred Head Now Wounded - Hassler/Graun

II. Cum esset desponsata - Isaac

III. Tu solus qui facis mirabilis - Des Prez

The Passion Chorale is performed during Holy Week. Cum esset is performed during the Christmas season and Tu solus is a Sacred Motet from 1503.

The top part is available in tenor and alto clef parts and all parts are of moderate difficulty in this 7-minute work.