COVER STORY
During Arthur Pryor’s career, he was often featured in duets with a cornetist; staying true to common practice of the day, where the musicians took operatic pieces written for soprano and tenor and recreated them with cornet and trombone. The music chosen for this project were pieces that Pryor not only performed, but also recorded. Home to the Mountain was one of Pryor’s first duets recorded with the cornet virtuoso, Herbert L. Clarke. Pryor also regularly recorded with cornetists, Emil Keneke and Henry Higgins. Those who have never performed operatic pieces before may be surprised at the great endurance and control required to play them effectively. A particularly noteworthy piece in the collection is Nearer My God to Thee, which was originally recorded with Henry Higgins around 1898. It features four bars of piano introduction followed by acappella cornet and trombone; the piece concludes with the final ‘Amen’ by the piano. The duets were performed with Philip Smith. A little-known fact is that Arthur Pryor had a trombone quartet twice during his career. The first time was in 1902, when he was still with the Sousa Band. The quartet recorded three different pieces for the Victor Phonograph Company; one of the pieces recorded was Sweet and Low, which we have reproduced on this CD. The second time the Arthur Pryor Trombone Quartet resurfaced was in 1916 in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Every time it played it was ‘encored’ multiple times; the unfortunate thing about these performances was that the concert programmes never published what the Quartet would be playing. The only reference to a composition was in
an article about the Quartet in which Arthur Pryor states: “Before the season is over they (the Quartet) will be playing pieces like the Hungarian Rhapsody.” Whether or not they ever performed this is unknown, but we thought it would be an excellent addition to this CD. The trombone quartet was performed by former and current members of the New York Philharmonic. The age-old question: What did Arthur Pryor really sound like? We have recordings of Pryor, but they were done in an era before the invention of the microphone; thus, they do not represent his true sound quality. In this project, we originally intended to bring Pryor into the 21st century, where he would ‘play’ a duet with Joe Alessi. The producer, Adam Abeshouse, however, had the idea of sending Alessi into the past. Abeshouse suggested having Alessi record on equipment similar to
what Pryor would have used 100 years ago, employing Peter Dilg’s expertise and equipment. Dilg is an expert in the use of early recording equipment and also owns an Edison Studio Machine. We selected two pieces that Pryor had recorded and had a second part written for Alessi. The second parts were recorded onto a cylinder (with Alessi using Pryor’s trombone) and then spliced together with the original Pryor recording. The result? One would think that these two were playing right next to each other. The answer to the age-old question? Arthur Pryor sounded like Joe Alessi! Or, Joe Alessi sounds like Arthur Pryor, minus Pryor’s heavy vibrato. More information, photos, and video can be found at www.ArthurPryor.com UK distribution of Slide Partners CD and music available at Michael Rath Brass Musical Instruments Limited and can also be found at www.rathtrombones.com
THE TROMBONIST | SPRING 2012 | PAGE 19