“LIED for Trombone solo and orchestra was written in the years 2006/2007, commissioned by the Performing Arts Fund NL and the Royal Concertgebouworkest. One striking feature of the trombone is the way the instrument combines the range of both the high and low male voice. My original intention was therefore to write songs for a kind of “super male voice”, which I would later rewrite for trombone. As a point of departure, I took a number of poems from such poets as Rilke, e.e. cummings, and Borges, and I tried to imagine what they would sound like if they were read aloud and translated into a totally unfamiliar idiom. I imagined the solo trombonist as a singer who does his utmost to make something understandable without ever succeding. The soloist never loses sight of the cantabile tone, even in moments of virtuosity. That also means that the soloist is accompanied sparingly and never drowned out. Another feature of the trombone is its enormous dynamic range. The instrument can play increadibly loud but also very soft. I made little use the most extreme loudness , because even in quieter dynamics, the tone still has great impact. To me, it’s more like a powerhouse rocking a baby. Most of the music is quiet in character. Structurally, the work is in line with some earlier concertante works I wrote in recent years: Clarinet Concerto (2005) and Piano Concerto (2006). There are four movements: slow-fast-slow-fast, which follow each other without a break. The slow movements each strongly resembles a monologue, and both conclude with a solo cadenza above a long low note.”

– Theo Verbey