Commissions and Arrangements
My teacher at CCM, Timothy Anderson, has been extremely active in his career, creating and advocating for new music. He continues to leave his mark on the trombone community, and has shown me the importance of collaborating and creating new music for one’s instrument. On this page, I have listed my own commissioned works and arrangements that I have made so far in my musical career. I hope to have many more works to share soon.
Drew Bonner - Reveries (2021)
Drew Bonner is a composer, arranger, performer, teacher and all around talented musician. Drew is a founding member of FivE Euphonium Quartet, frequently performing in recital around the country. Louis has known Drew for a decade now, dating back to when they were both students at The Pennsylvania State University.
“A reverie is a dreamy meditation, much like a day dream. When I picture a reverie, I picture something fantastic or enchanting. So I created 3 fantasy scenarios that a child might imagine during a daydream after watching films such as The Princess Bride or Lord of the Rings.
The first movement, Quest, pits the trombone against the piano as the journey begins. The soloist acts as an adventurer as the accompaniment exposes the trail. The two bob and weave around and around for most of the movement as the day turns into evening and our traveller retires to bed.
The second movement, The Love and Lore, explores the legend and romance of an old tale. This movement most clearly depicts the dreamy haze of a reverie. The middle of this movement features a melody, presented in 4 keys, each becoming more passionate as the love story unfolds. The mythos behind that love bookends the movement, ultimately ending in sorrow.
The third movement, Trip the Light Fantastic, brings the adventurer to a crowded pub where they find locals taking part in a celebration of sorts. Suddenly, after the slow, grand introduction, the band sweeps into a rollicking tune and the entire place gets up and starts line dancing. The adventurer smiles and laughs and eventually joins in as the tune comes to a raucous conclusion.”
Reveries was commissioned by Dr. Louis Setzer, Lecturer of Low Brass at Northern Kentucky University.
For more information on Drew’s music - visit his website: https://www.drewbonner.com
Taylor Roland - Concert Piece No. 1 for trombone (2021)
steven darling - worn thin (2020)
Worn Thin, for trombone and piano was completed on March 8th, 2020. The initial conception of the work was inspired by Murayama Ōkyo’s tea screen painting Cracked Ice. The text provided below is meant to serve as program notes. Worn Thin was composed for Louis Setzer’s Faculty Recital at Marian University in the Spring of 2020.
white upon white, upon grey,
stillness, unrelenting, hangs over this place,
only the wind, and half-obscured
echoes of far off birds pierce the silence, until... cracks form,
revealing the black depths
which patiently wait and call beneath the surface,
imploring for company pleading!
...lingering
For more information on Dr. Darling, visit his University of Tennessee at Martin Tuba/Euphonium studio page.
TAyLOR ROLAND - THE STORY GATHERERS FOR TROMBONE AND HARP (2020)
JOLO Duo first encountered Taylor Roland’s music when they were preparing for their debut album. “The Bounds of Spring” composed by Taylor Roland served as the title track for JOLO Duo’s first CD. They loved the work so much, they selected it for a performance on the guest artist recital concert at the International Trombone Festival in 2019. Louis approached Taylor about writing a new work for their duo, and The Story Gatherers was the result. The work is programmatic and evokes many different shades of music utilizing this unique combination of instruments and sounds.
NATHAN VOGES - CHALLENGE ACCEPTED! (2020)
Nathan Voges is the assistant conductor for the Indiana Wind Symphony, a horn player, and a composer. Louis approached Nathan about writing him a piece for an upcoming recital of new works and his response was simple: Challenge Accepted!
Sy brandon - negotiations for trombone and harp (2018)
Negotiations is a 3 movement solo for trombone and harp that was commissioned for the JOLO duo. It can be heard on JOLO Duo’s CD: The Bounds of Spring.
For more information about Sy Brandon’s music visit: http://cooppress.net
jacob elkin - 5 meditations for isamu noguchi (2018)
This work is for trombone, harp and electronic track. It is a sonic exploration that utilizes microtones, nontraditional effects, extended techniques, and unique color combinations.
mack lamont - endless for trombone and harp (2017)
Endless is a 5 movement continuous work for trombone and harp. It was commissioned while I was completing my annotated bibliography on solos for trombone and harp. During that process it became obvious there was a lack of accessible solos for this genre of music. Endless was the first of many solos commissioned specifically to create more interesting and playable works for the intermediate/advanced players.
For more information about Endless and other works by Mack LaMont visit: https://mackenziejacoblamont.com/endless-2017/
Arrangements
bizet: au fond du temple saint for trombone arr. setzer (2018)
Bizet’s Pearl Fishers’ duet is a wonderful aria originally for tenor and baritone voice. I wanted a piece of beautiful music to close out my recitals on an upcoming recital tour, so I arranged this duet for two trombones.
schumann: four songs from dichterliebe arr. setzer (2016)
Trombones and vocal music have been linked from its inception, with the trombone playing a vital role in sacred music. It is no coincidence that certain vocal works have become standards in the trombone repertoire (Mahler Songs of a Wayfarer, Vaughan Williams Songs of Travel). I heard a performance of Michael Mulcahy performing Dichterliebe with piano at the Mulcahy seminar and I absolutely loved it, but I wanted something a little different. I arranged four songs from Dichterliebe (Im Wunderschönen Monat Mai, Ich Grolle Nicht, Ein Jüngling liebt ein Mädchen, and Am Leuchtenden Sommermorgen) for trombone solo with trombone quartet accompaniment.
This arrangement is available for purchase from CherryClassics.