James Meador

Reciprocity

Reciprocity is a duet for tenor trombone and contrabass tuba (or bass trombone), and was written for and dedicated to Tim and Jessica Buzbee. The tessitura of the trombone part is extremely high while the tuba part is extremely low, and in some places the difference between the two voices is as much as four octaves. Endurance is also tested, as there is very little rest for either instrument. Another characteristic of the piece, as suggested in the title, is the reciprocal relationship between the two voices, at times acting separately, while at other times actually sharing the same line one or two octaves apart. The piece opens with a somewhat angular fanfare before settling into a sinister sounding march-like passage. The two voices then come together and transition to a disjunct rhythmic figure in unison octaves. This section segues into a hard funk rock section that morphs back to the rhythmic octaves again before leading into a dark chorale where both voices battle for the melody. As things get more intense we come back to a slightly more aggravated octave figure, then on to an elaborated version of the opening fanfare. One more time the octave figure returns briefly, then the piece closes with an explosive continuation of the fanfare section. James Meador