Sonata for Bass Trombone and Piano "Call of the Opera" (2019) by Christopher Alan Schmitz

Sonata for Bass Trombone and Piano “Call of the Opera” (2019) was composed by Christopher Alan Schmitz (b. 1972) and is dedicated to Dr. Denson Paul Pollard, with whom Schmitz had formerly studied trombone. Schmitz is Professor of Music Theory and Composition at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. This is a three-movement work that directly calls on themes, harmonies and textures from various operas. Over a dozen well-known themes make their appearance, occasionally rising to the musical surface, but more often disguised, transformed, or dismantled and woven directly into the texture. An attentive listener may discern references to the dramatic works of Wagner, Verdi, Puccini, Bizet, Strauss, and others. It was premiered at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University by Dr. Pollard in the Fall of 2019. This recording was made in late February, 2020 in Ford Hall at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. Denson Paul Pollard, bass trombone Kimberly Carballo, piano Stefan Wiebe, recording engineer