A Tribute Of Gratitude

A Tribute of Gratitude was commissioned by a trombone friend who wanted to have a special arrangement written to celebrate his father's 90th birthday and to celebrate another friend's legacy; both trombonists. I thought it was ironic that he was asking me, another trombonist, to write this piece for him.

The theme of the piece is thanksgiving, which he felt for both of these men. His request was that all of the songs be tied to thanksgiving. The hymns that are included are all traditional thanksgiving hymns that we think of more in connection with the Thanksgiving holiday, but they truly represent the spirit we should have year round.

The medley includes "Come Ye Thankful People Come", "For The Beauty Of The Earth", "We Gather Together", and "Now Thank We All Our God".

I don't think I have ever had as much direction by someone commissioning me to create an arrangement. My friend had very detailed ideas of which songs to include and the style that should be used for the arrangement. This was not a hindrance, in fact it was actually helpful and saved me a lot of time!

He suggested that he would like the opening to have sounds from the movie E.T., a Latin style version of "We Gather Together", and to include two short statements from the Doxology towards the end of the arrangement. Since he was honoring trombonists, he asked that several of the big statements in the arrangement be played by the trombone section.

My friend was very happy with the arrangement and has actually asked me to create a concert band version as well. I think you'll like this one!