»to Ian Bousfield«

For solo trombone
Duration: ca. 5 minutes

Published by Edition Contemp Art (Verlagsgruppe Hermann),
Obtainable via www.schott-music.com
Product number: VGH 1988

The composition ... in lichten Fernen ... ein traumhaft Glänzen op. 22k bis was conceived in 2011 as a movement for a future trombone concerto for Ian Bousfield and the Küchlquartett, and was inspired by a poem Gustav Mahler wrote for his wife Alma.
This piece, which exists in two versions (the first for trombone and string quartet, the second for trombone and string orchestra), begins with an agitated monologue for trombone and leads repeatedly to formal sections where the trombone either dominates or plays on its own. It was thus hard to resist Bousfield's suggestion to rearrange the musical material into a piece for solo trombone. Compared to its original form with string quartet, however, the piece appears completely different, because the emphasis now lies in the ironic parody of the trombone's nervous solo sections—which therefore also explains the title of this short solo piece.