The Old Chevalier

Piano reduction and solo Trombone part for The Old Chevalier (2005) - A Gothic Tale for Tenor Trombone and Ensemble.

Full score: WH30941

Version for Bass Trombone: WH30942

Programme note

The Old Chevalier for Trombone and Ensemble is the second of a series of seven compositions named after Karen Blixen's collection of short stories Seven GothicTales.

My musical gothic tales are written for very different ensembles - THE SUPPER AT ELSINORE is a saxophone quartet - but they all share musical material in a criss-cross of contextualreferencesreminiscent of Blixen's narrative complexity: Themes and motivs
from one piece appears in others in new and surprising shapes and combinations.

Karen Blixens The Old Chevalier begins with an old man talkingto a youth about obl igation and passion. The old man tells a story about a beautiful woman who wanted tomake her husband jealous and cheated on him with a young man who admired him. After
discovering the truth the young manmeets a prostitute on her very first job. The girl is an innocent, trading favors for shelter. The young man falls in love, but she remains oblivious
to his passion. She leaves after their encounter, without emotionalinvolvement. Many years later the young man - the old man telling the tale - recognizes the girl in a beautifulskull he's holding in his hand.

The Old Chevalier isn't 'about' anything. The music is inspiredby the artistic content of Blixen's short story - it's emotionalism, dramatic construction, atmosphere, period and setting - but unfolds in time and musical space in ways that are completely
independent of the story'snarrative progression... except one might say that the trombone makes love to the piano and at the very end - just like the old man in the story is left contemplating its remains.

The piece is written for the trombonistJens