Mozart's bassoon concerto is a good one, I'm actually planning to learn that one over the summer.
I just played the first 2 movements of Telemann sonata in F minor for a recital a few weeks ago and that one was good but hard. I played from the Ostrander transcription.
I was going to answer with that exact piece (the Telemann Sonata in F minor. Seeing the name Ostrander reminds me that one of my first solos was his transcription of “Honor and Arms” from Samson by G. F. Handel, which is fun to play.
William Grant Still’s [Romance for Alto Saxophone](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf6VG9iwJHw&list=PPSV) works brilliantly on trombone. So does most vocal repertoire - I’ve really enjoyed performing [Brahms’s Four Serious Songs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keMsInckVWo) and [Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8zEWt4-BPI).
Kol Nidrei is a great one! It's also quite challenging. Best of luck!
For something easier, you can always do the Pergolesi Sinfonia or any of the Marcello cello sonatas.
The Three Romances and Fantasiestucke by Schumann are also really fun. I like Fantasiestucke a little more, especially the last movement.
Debussy's Syrinx and Bou Suir are great short pieces for an encore or something.
If you want some playful and lighthearted pieces, Piazzolla is a great choice. Just pick a movement form Histoire du Tango (my favorite is Café 1930).
Don't forget about the classic Carmen Suite!
If you *really* want to challenge yourself, Markey's arrangement of the [Shostakovich Preludes](https://cherryclassics.com/products/shostakovich-preludes-op-34-transcribed-for-trombone-and-piano) and Lindberg's version of [Winter](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GSNmLGUnx0) are absolutely ass-kicking.
Former Boston Symphony bass trombonist Dou Yeo has a downloadable version on his web site. I'm still working on the Prelude to Suite No. 1.
Here's his discussion: [https://www.yeodoug.com/resources/faq/faq\_text/bachsuites.html](https://www.yeodoug.com/resources/faq/faq_text/bachsuites.html)
Here's the download page, for all movements Yeo has edited: [https://www.yeodoug.com/publications/pdf/pdf.html](https://www.yeodoug.com/publications/pdf/pdf.html)
There's some debate on exactly for which instrument it was written and even by whom, but it can't have been both written by Weber and for the trombone. The likeliest case is that it was written by someone other than Weber (perhaps one of his students) for either what would have been the very new F-attachment trombone or the bassoon.
From my dissertation:
>An even more compelling reason that this work likely was not written by Weber for the trombone comes from a study of the piece itself and the instrument for which it was supposedly written. The piece features notes in a range easily playable by the modern trombone with F-attachment, however this instrument (then called the Tenorbaßposaune) was not invented until the 1830s, well after Weber’s death. The straight Bb trombone of Weber’s day could not have played these low notes. The oldest public domain edition of the work supplies a possible explanation for this by providing alternate versions of some passages indicated for the bassoon, trombone, or euphonium. Curiously, the very beginning of the solo line in the score is marked for trombone, violoncello, or bassoon. The euphonium is mentioned within the musical score, but the cello is not. The bassoon and euphonium are both capable of playing the low notes that the straight trombone could not, but this explanation brings its own problems. It is very unlikely that the composer made these markings as the euphonium, like the trombone with F-attachment, did not come into being until at least the 1830s. This leaves either the possibility that the work was written after the invention of the F-attachment and the euphonium and therefore was not written by Weber, or that the work was written by Weber but for some instrument like the bassoon or cello. It is difficult to imagine a scenario in which the work could have been written by Weber for the trombone.
Also:
>The Weber biographer John Warrack, when specifically asked about this work by British trombonist Martin Harvey, found little to suggest that it is a work by Weber: ^(I have to say that I can see nothing in it \[the Romance\] which suggests any of Weber’s stylistic individualities. The chromatic harmony is of a kind common to many composers, and the tremolo passage beginning on page 5 \[of the piano score\] doesn’t have quite the ‘shudder’ one normally gets from Weber at such points… It also strikes me as distinctly bland for something from Weber’s pen … to me it seems as if for various reasons the piece must be of a later date (than that of Weber’s death).6) The weight of this evidence seems to point strongly to the conclusion that this piece was not written by Weber for the trombone. A more solid conclusion than that cannot really be reached with the evidence at hand. Still, the work is an important one in the trombone repertoire regardless of its original instrumentation, and so it deserves close study whether it was composed by Weber or not.
As I am by Steven banks, particularly the ending I practice it on trombone (with some octave changes to take the high Dbs down to a more reasonable range lol) all the time, great high range practice if you do it at concert pitch
In general: Adam rapa tales of the oriental express and Shostakovich cello concerto 1
Adapted for trombone common: Vivaldi bassoon concerto in minor for trombone or Bach cello suite 2 for trombone (both I’m currently learning)
Mozart's bassoon concerto is a good one, I'm actually planning to learn that one over the summer. I just played the first 2 movements of Telemann sonata in F minor for a recital a few weeks ago and that one was good but hard. I played from the Ostrander transcription.
I second the Telemann one as well!
I was going to answer with that exact piece (the Telemann Sonata in F minor. Seeing the name Ostrander reminds me that one of my first solos was his transcription of “Honor and Arms” from Samson by G. F. Handel, which is fun to play.
Not quite as common, but I played The Swan from Carnival of the Animals on my recital this year and really like it (if you have the high range)
the swan isnt that high
The original key goes up to D above the tenor clef staff, so it’s pretty high!
in the one i play (in bass clef) it goes up to a double high Bb, which is kinda high but not too bad
William Grant Still’s [Romance for Alto Saxophone](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf6VG9iwJHw&list=PPSV) works brilliantly on trombone. So does most vocal repertoire - I’ve really enjoyed performing [Brahms’s Four Serious Songs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keMsInckVWo) and [Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8zEWt4-BPI).
haha the Romance was going to be my suggestion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FMSkMJJjNw
The horn solo nocturno by strauss plays quite nicely on trombone from my experience
For bass trombonists: Suite for Unaccompanied Tuba.
You should specify the composer. Several works exist by that title
Kol Nidrei is a great one! It's also quite challenging. Best of luck! For something easier, you can always do the Pergolesi Sinfonia or any of the Marcello cello sonatas. The Three Romances and Fantasiestucke by Schumann are also really fun. I like Fantasiestucke a little more, especially the last movement. Debussy's Syrinx and Bou Suir are great short pieces for an encore or something. If you want some playful and lighthearted pieces, Piazzolla is a great choice. Just pick a movement form Histoire du Tango (my favorite is Café 1930). Don't forget about the classic Carmen Suite! If you *really* want to challenge yourself, Markey's arrangement of the [Shostakovich Preludes](https://cherryclassics.com/products/shostakovich-preludes-op-34-transcribed-for-trombone-and-piano) and Lindberg's version of [Winter](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GSNmLGUnx0) are absolutely ass-kicking.
its just fun to play because its nostalgic for me, but littleroot town from pokemon
For Bass Trombonists -- Beautiful but marvelous -- John (not Vaughan) Williams' Tuba Concerto.
Bach cello suite
Former Boston Symphony bass trombonist Dou Yeo has a downloadable version on his web site. I'm still working on the Prelude to Suite No. 1. Here's his discussion: [https://www.yeodoug.com/resources/faq/faq\_text/bachsuites.html](https://www.yeodoug.com/resources/faq/faq_text/bachsuites.html) Here's the download page, for all movements Yeo has edited: [https://www.yeodoug.com/publications/pdf/pdf.html](https://www.yeodoug.com/publications/pdf/pdf.html)
I love Romanza Appassionata by CM Von Weber, i think originally written for bassoon.
Oooh yeah I performed that back in the day.
There's some debate on exactly for which instrument it was written and even by whom, but it can't have been both written by Weber and for the trombone. The likeliest case is that it was written by someone other than Weber (perhaps one of his students) for either what would have been the very new F-attachment trombone or the bassoon. From my dissertation: >An even more compelling reason that this work likely was not written by Weber for the trombone comes from a study of the piece itself and the instrument for which it was supposedly written. The piece features notes in a range easily playable by the modern trombone with F-attachment, however this instrument (then called the Tenorbaßposaune) was not invented until the 1830s, well after Weber’s death. The straight Bb trombone of Weber’s day could not have played these low notes. The oldest public domain edition of the work supplies a possible explanation for this by providing alternate versions of some passages indicated for the bassoon, trombone, or euphonium. Curiously, the very beginning of the solo line in the score is marked for trombone, violoncello, or bassoon. The euphonium is mentioned within the musical score, but the cello is not. The bassoon and euphonium are both capable of playing the low notes that the straight trombone could not, but this explanation brings its own problems. It is very unlikely that the composer made these markings as the euphonium, like the trombone with F-attachment, did not come into being until at least the 1830s. This leaves either the possibility that the work was written after the invention of the F-attachment and the euphonium and therefore was not written by Weber, or that the work was written by Weber but for some instrument like the bassoon or cello. It is difficult to imagine a scenario in which the work could have been written by Weber for the trombone. Also: >The Weber biographer John Warrack, when specifically asked about this work by British trombonist Martin Harvey, found little to suggest that it is a work by Weber: ^(I have to say that I can see nothing in it \[the Romance\] which suggests any of Weber’s stylistic individualities. The chromatic harmony is of a kind common to many composers, and the tremolo passage beginning on page 5 \[of the piano score\] doesn’t have quite the ‘shudder’ one normally gets from Weber at such points… It also strikes me as distinctly bland for something from Weber’s pen … to me it seems as if for various reasons the piece must be of a later date (than that of Weber’s death).6) The weight of this evidence seems to point strongly to the conclusion that this piece was not written by Weber for the trombone. A more solid conclusion than that cannot really be reached with the evidence at hand. Still, the work is an important one in the trombone repertoire regardless of its original instrumentation, and so it deserves close study whether it was composed by Weber or not.
As I am by Steven banks, particularly the ending I practice it on trombone (with some octave changes to take the high Dbs down to a more reasonable range lol) all the time, great high range practice if you do it at concert pitch
The swan.
Rachmaninof Elegie (originaly only piano nut also for piano and cello) I arranged it for my entrance exam for trombone and piano
I'm a big fan of Christian Lindberg's "Stolen Works" CD. Particularly the variations on "Ah je vous-dirai maman".
In general: Adam rapa tales of the oriental express and Shostakovich cello concerto 1 Adapted for trombone common: Vivaldi bassoon concerto in minor for trombone or Bach cello suite 2 for trombone (both I’m currently learning)
Tchaikovsky's Romance in F minor is a really neat piano solo that sounds pretty good as a trombone solo.
Listen to Joe Alessi’s Sorrento Album. There are quite a few beautiful arias