This lecture-recital investigated the music of Richard A. Monaco, especially the two sonatas for trombone (1958 and 1985). Monaco (1930-1987) was a composer, trombonist and conductor whose instrumental works are largely unpublished and relatively little known. In the lecture, a fairly extensive biographical chapter is followed by an examination of some of Monaco's early influences, particularly those in the music of Hunter Johnson and Robert Palmer, professors of Monaco's at Cornell University. Later style characteristics are discussed in a chapter which examines the Divertimento for Brass Quintet (1977), the Duo for Trumpet and Piano (1982), and the Second Sonata for Trombone and Piano (1985). The two sonatas for trombone are compared stylistically and for their position of importance in the composer's total output. The program included a performance of both sonatas in their entirety.

The three recitals consisted of performances of original twentieth century solo works for trombone with the exception of two trombone quartets, Adagio, by C. Saint-Saëns, arranged by Ken Murley, and Sonata by Daniel Speer. The lecture recital establishes the position of Kazimierz Serocki (1922-1981) as a major composer not only in Poland but in the rest of the world as well. His many works cover a wide spectrum of styles and genres. The solo trombone works, in particular, are among his most often performed works from his early neoclassic period. The lecture is also an attempt to illuminate the role of neoclassicism in Poland through a brief discussion of Polish neoclassicists, Grażyna Bacewicz and Michael Spisak, and other composers before and after World War II including Constantin Regamey and Roman Haubenstock-Ramati. An analysis of the two solo trombone works, Sonatina and Concerto, shows the technique of composition used by Serocki and the demands placed upon the performer by the music. These works were among the first in a growing list of works for solo trombone composed in response to the notable lack of large scale works of quality for solo trombone during the early twentieth century. The high quality of …