PEARL (HA Vandercook, pub. Rubank 1938) for Trombone

PEARL, by HA Vandercook (pub. Rubank, 1938) is one of his gem-stoned titled pieces and is a great trombone solo. It is one of the more challenging compositions in the series and should be accessible to most advanced 3rd or 4th year players. That said, there is no reason a young trombonist can’t learn to play it musically!!! PEARL (along with DIAMOND) looks longer than the other gem-stone works because Vandercook rewrites the Moderato after the Trio instead of DS’ing back to it. This also eliminates seeing the coda, although it’s very much still there. (THE DS AND CODA STILL EXIST IN THE PIANO ACCOMPANIMENT!!!) To play this piece well, follow the articulation and dynamic markings. Vandercook is very specific about what he wants and you’ll sound good if you “listen to him”. Some alternate positions were used in my performance because they made the sections easier to play and also made them sound better. Here are the ones I used, along with a couple of other notes… ANDANTE- 6th measure- BEWARE!!!! The C# accidental occurs twice- it’s the first note AND it’s also the fourth note. DO NOT play C-natural for the second one! MODERATO- 3rd & 11th measures- the first D is in 1st position, the second D is in 4th position. 7th measure- the D is in 4th position. TRIO- 3rd measure- the F is in 6th position. 5th measure- the D is in 4th position. 6th measure- the A-Bb-B natural are in 6th-5th-4th positions. 7th & 8th measures- the F’s are in 6th position. 11th measure- the first F in in 6th position, the second F is in 1st position 15th measure- the fourth-line F is in 6th position, the high F is in 4th position. CADENZA- the last D is in 4th position. ALLEGRO (or CODA) 6th measure- It’s a B-Natural, NOT Bb that may be on the solo part. (It’s correct in the piano part.) 9th measure- the F is in 6th position. YouTube allows you to view videos at slower speeds, which may help you if you’d like to play along with me. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment or email me at [email protected].