Discovering Two New Solo Works for Trombone: a History, Summary, and Preparation of Frank Gulino’S Sonata No
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The University of Southern Mississippi The Aquila Digital Community Doctoral Projects Spring 5-1-2021 Discovering Two New Solo Works for Trombone: A History, Summary, and Preparation of Frank Gulino’s Sonata No. 1: The Journey, and Joseph Buono’s Elegy for Trombone and Piano John Mark Whitfield Jr University of Southern Mississippi Follow this and additional works at: https://aquila.usm.edu/dnp_capstone Part of the Music Pedagogy Commons, Music Performance Commons, and the Music Practice Commons Recommended Citation Whitfield, John Mark Jr, "Discovering Two New Solo Works for Trombone: A History, Summary, and Preparation of Frank Gulino’s Sonata No. 1: The Journey, and Joseph Buono’s Elegy for Trombone and Piano" (2021). Doctoral Projects. 152. https://aquila.usm.edu/dnp_capstone/152 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by The Aquila Digital Community. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Projects by an authorized administrator of The Aquila Digital Community. For more information, please contact [email protected]. DISCOVERING TWO NEW SOLO WORKS FOR TROMBONE: A HISTORY, SUMMARY, AND PREPARATION OF FRANK GULINO’S SONATA NO. 1: THE JOURNEY, AND JOSEPH BUONO’S ELEGY FOR TROMBONE AND PIANO by John Mark Whitfield, Jr. A Doctoral Project Submitted to the Graduate School, the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Music at The University of Southern Mississippi in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Musical Arts Approved by: Ben McIlwain, Committee Chair Joseph Brumbeloe Edward Hafer Larry Panella Richard Perry May 2021 COPYRIGHT BY John Mark Whitfield, Jr. 2021 Published by the Graduate School ABSTRACT This paper will serve as a guide to musicians for the preparation and performance of two recent solo compositions for trombone worthy of study and performance: Frank Gulino’s Sonata No. 1: The Journey (2019) and Joseph Buono’s Elegy for Trombone and Piano (2016). Included will be sections or chapters on the history and background of each work, biographical information about each composer, a detailed performer’s analysis of each work, exclusive interviews with the composers, and interviews with the trombonists who commissioned and/or premiered each work. Each individual interview will provide insight into the music, including information on personal inspirations and compositional processes, a focus on emotional content, thematic elements, and recommendations on preparing each piece. Recital programming suggestions have also been included. The pieces examined warrant serious study and performance, and this paper will inform future preparations of these two works. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my graduate committee chair, Dr. Ben McIlwain, and committee members, Dr. Joseph Brumbeloe, Dr. Ed Hafer, Dr. Richard Perry, and Mr. Larry Panella for their cooperation throughout this project. Dr. Ben McIlwain deserves a special thank you for his continued support, invaluable advice, and for his willingness to help with whatever was needed. I would also like to thank all who were contributed to the research portion of this project: Joseph Buono, Frank Gulino, Matt Vaughn, Dr. Cory Mixdorf, Sam Woodhead, and Dr. Dave Perkel for their time and willingness to be interviewed, and to the survey respondents, as well. All of the information that I have collected would not have been possible without all the collective generosity of all involved. I would like to thank several friends and colleagues personally: Dr. Ann Gabrielle Henning, a fabulous proofreader, for her advice and guidance throughout the writing process; Steven Dixon, for being my sounding board and a source of Zen in moments of frustration; also Kennith Watts and Ross Werner for helping with graphic generation. I would especially like to thank Dr. Wes Parker for his friendship, mentorship, and continued influence on my career, and John Ilika for his support and candor. Finally, I would like to thank my family for their love and support, for putting up with the late nights of practicing, writing, and for driving all over the country in support of my endeavors. iii DEDICATION I would like to dedicate this document to my grandmother, Jean Hawkins, for being a constant source of positivity and encouragement throughout the process of finishing my doctorate. She has been a tremendous model of perseverance amid her own battle with cancer, and has served as my inspiration to finish strong. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iii DEDICATION ................................................................................................................... iv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ............................................................................................ vii LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES .................................................................................. viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................. x INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1 Statement of Purpose .................................................................................................. 1 State of Research......................................................................................................... 1 Methodology ............................................................................................................... 2 CHAPTER I - FRANK GULINO ....................................................................................... 3 Biography ................................................................................................................ 3 SONATA NO. 1: THE JOURNEY ............................................................................... 5 Historical Background ............................................................................................ 5 Performance Considerations ................................................................................... 6 Movement Two ................................................................................................... 6 Movement Three ................................................................................................. 9 Movement One.................................................................................................. 13 Final Recommendations........................................................................................ 17 v CHAPTER II - JOSEPH BUONO .................................................................................... 19 Biography .............................................................................................................. 19 ELEGY FOR TROMBONE AND PIANO ................................................................. 21 Historical Background .......................................................................................... 21 Performance Considerations ................................................................................. 25 Final Recommendations........................................................................................ 38 CONCLUSIONS............................................................................................................... 40 APPENDIX A INTERVIEW WITH FRANK GULINO, JULY 13, 2020 ....................... 41 APPENDIX B INTERVIEW WITH JOSEPH BUONO, JULY 15, 2020 ....................... 56 APPENDIX C INTERVIEW WITH JOSEPH BUONO, OCTOBER 13, 2020............... 68 APPENDIX D INTERVIEW WITH CORY MIXDORF, JULY 9, 2020 ........................ 70 APPENDIX E INTERVIEW WITH MATT VAUGHN, JULY 18, 2020 ....................... 78 END OF INTERVIEW ..................................................................................................... 83 APPENDIX F INTERVIEW WITH SAM WOODHEAD, JULY 15, 2020 .................... 84 APPENDIX G - BUONO’S NOTES ON ELEGY FOR TROMBONE AND PIANO .... 91 APPENDIX H IRB APPROVAL LETTER ..................................................................... 94 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................. 95 vi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1. Thematic map of Gulino Sonata, Mvt. 2 ............................................................. 6 Figure 2. Elegy Emotional Intensity Graph (original included in Appendix G) .............. 26 Figure 3. Figure 13: Buono’s Emotional Intensity graph, overlaid with rehearsal letters and Mixdorf’s emotional ‘columns of structure.’ ............................................................. 28 vii LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES Musical Example 1 Gulino Sonata No. 1, Movement 2, mm. 1-9 ...................................... 7 Musical Example 2 Gulino Sonata No. 1, Movement 2, mm. 18-24 .................................. 8 Musical Example 3 Gulino Sonata No. 1, Movement 3, mm. 1-8 ...................................... 9 Musical Example 4 Gulino Sonata No. 1, Movement 3, mm. 13-16 ................................ 10 Musical Example 5 Gulino Sonata No. 1, Movement 3, mm. 21-33 ................................ 10 Musical Example 6 Gulino Sonata No. 1, Movement 3, mm. 43-56 ................................ 11 Musical Example 7 Gulino Sonata No. 1, Movement 3, mm. 55-62 ...............................