Description
From the arranger:
In early 20th-century Russian choral music, few figures loom as large as Pavel Chesnokov (1877-1944). Trained at both the Moscow Conservatory (where he later taught choral conducting) and the Moscow Synodal School before their merger, his compositions number around five hundred. Do Not Reject Me in My Old Age (Opus 40, No. 5) is somewhat unusual among this output. Rather than being a traditional SATB choral work, it is a sacred concerto for oktavist (a term for a male voice with an extreme low range, sometimes used interchangeably with the term basso profundo) and chorus. It is based on a passage from Psalm 71, in which the psalmist begs God not to abandon him in his old age. While some of the text is rather bleak, the passage Chesnokov uses ends with “But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more.”
This arrangement preserves Chesnokov’s original key. The solo bass trombone part follows the original vocal solo line, showing the range Chesnokov expected of his singer. Breath marks in the score and parts are designed to line up with the original text in most cases. Tempo makings may be adjusted by the performers to suit needs of breathing while playing brass instruments. Throughout, the piece benefits most from a dark, singing sound from the sensemble.
- Chad Arnow
Score and parts included: solo bass trombone 1, bass trombone 2, trombone 1-4
