Romance by William Grant Still

Solo Title: Romance
Composer and Arranger: Williams Grant Still (1895-1978), trans. Douglas Yeo
Publisher Code: International Music Company, IM.3292
Date Published: 1990
Clef: Bass
Purchase Link: Sheet Music Plus
Recording: YouTube

Romance, originally written for the saxophone, is a beautiful, 5-minute work that takes a simple melodic line and freely allows the soloist to expand their lyrical playing. While the beginning phrase occurs three times throughout the solo, other moments in the work will push the performer to use musical techniques that are not common on the trombone, such as trills. Range should not be an issue on this solo, allowing the performer to focus more on middle-range lyricism. Since this solo is scored at 2.5, I have bumped the work to a Level 3 given the two trills on the second page as well as the occasional sixteenth note measures also on the second page.

Movements and Tempo MarkingsDuration
Slowly (q=60)5'
Organization’s Class and Grade Levels FMEAISSMAITANYSSMAOMEAPMEAUIL
(What is This?)4NLNLNLNLNLNL
Grading Points ScaleLevelTotal PointsRangeRhythmTempoDurationBonus
(What is This?)--Bb2 to G416th60 bpm5'ornamentation
3 (2.5)12.51.54151