ABSTRACT
Title of Dissertation: SHOWCASE THE OBSCURE:
FORGOTTEN TROMBONE SOLOS FROM
THE PARIS CONSERVATORY
Joshua Michael Wolfe, Doctor of Musical Arts, 2019
Dissertation Directed by: Professor Chris Gekker, University of Maryland School of Music
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. SHOWCASE THE OBSURE:
FORGOTTEN TROMBONE SOLOS FROM THE PARIS CONSERVATORY
by
Joshua Michael Wolfe
Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts 2019
Advisory Committee: Professor Chris Gekker, Chair Professor Joseph Brami, Dean’s Representative Professor Matthew Guilford Professor Gregory Miller Professor William Robin © Copyright by
Joshua Michael Wolfe
2019 Preface
The Conservatoire de Paris (Paris Conservatory) was founded on August 3, 1795 with the intent to raise the standards of French music through the intense training of performers and composers. The formation of the Paris Conservatory was the combination of two prominent music schools; the École royale de chant (Royal School of
Singing) and Institut national de musique, responsible for training musicians for the
French National Guard bands. With governmental reformations taking place as a result of the French Revolution, the growing importance of a strong military presence created opportunities for musicians to play an integral part in large outdoor gatherings organized by the government. This need for highly-skilled musicians incentivized the development of strong, centralized music training. The formal academic structure established at the
Paris Conservatory provided a prototype that became highly regarded throughout the world of western art music. This structure presently continues to be emulated and varied by the vast majority of college and university music training programs.
An integral part of the Paris Conservatory curriculum comprises the annual solo competition for each instrument taught at the music school. In this competition, students of each instrument are allowed one month to prepare an assigned piece of music to be performed in front of a faculty committee. The assigned music is typically written for solo instrument with piano accompaniment and typically composed by current or former
Paris Conservatory teachers or students. Winners of the competition become eligible to