Concert Etudes 1-5

These are the first five in a projected series of concert etudes for trombone solo in which each piece focuses on a certain few aspects of playing the trombone. With these compositions I am searching for a balance between a pedagogical purpose and an artistic merit. When all 20 or so short pieces are finished, it should not only be possible but also make sense to perform them all in a concert setting. And at the same time, the pieces should open advanced young trombone players to a world of new technical possibilities on their in- strument, preparing them for works of the 20th and 21st century, such as compositions by Berio, Cage, N.A. Huber, Scelsi, Stockhausen, and Xenakis.
The five concert etudes here were commissioned by the Sparda-Bank Baden-Württemberg to be played as the compulsory piece at the trombone competition "Weingartner Musiktage Junger Künstler" in the fall of 2008.