Brass

with Piano

Like his elder brother Alessandro Marcello, Benedetto was principally a Venetian official, serving as a magistrate for some 20 years. A more prolific composer than his brother, Benedetto left little indication as to when any of his works were composed. A pupil of Lotti and Gasperini, Marcello was held in high regard throughout much of the 18th and 19th centuries. Chief amongst his works are the Salmi, highly characteristic works incorporating quotations from Greek and Hebrew interpretations of the Psalms of David. The Concerto for Oboe was written originally in D minor, but was lowered to C minor and edited for content by Patrick Stuckemeyer.

with Piano

These settings for bass trombone of the Marcello sonatas for cello follow my similar arrangements of the bassoon sonatas by Johann Ernst Galliard (1687-1747), which were published by Potenza Music in 2014. The impetus for these projects was a perceived need for more "intermediate-early advanced" solo literature for the bass trombone, as well as more settings of Baroque-period works for that instrument. While the sonatas are playable on the bass trombone in their original keys, by setting them in lower keys I have endeavored to make them useful for developing tone quality and technique in the low and valve registers, while not going so low that clarity and facility might be compromised. The new keys for each of the sonatas are closely related to the original ones, in every case down a perfect fourth or perfect fifth, so something of the "sound" of the original keys is maintained. These new keys are also quite suitable for the bass tuba and might be especially useful for players just learning the F or E-flat instrument.

- Micah Everett

with Piano

Benedetto Marcello’s Sonata in G minor is originally part of a set of six sonatas for cello. It is arranged here for euphonium or tuba by Gretchen Renshaw. The part contains recommended playing suggestions for the various Baroque ornamentations.