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 Gothic Tales. 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 contextual referencesreminiscent of Blixen's narrative complexity: Themes and motivsfrom one piece appears in others in new and surprising shapes and combinations. Karen Blixens The Old Chevalier begins with an old man talking to 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. Afterdiscovering the truth the young man meets 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 obliviousto his passion. She leaves after their encounter without emotional involvement. 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 inspired by 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 completelyindependent of the story's narrative 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 trombonist Jens
