Published 2023-03-19
The Magic of a Trumpet
There is a magic to the trumpet. When employed by a skillful player its range and tone can connect with our hearts. Its sound can dance, sing and deliver drama.
Concerto 1
The first concerto, composed by Joseph Haydn, is gentle, in the style of music composed for the Viennese aristocracy. The Venezuelan soloist Pacho Flores floats beautifully.
As usual, ignore the video. Download the music and listen. [yt-dlp -x <url>]
Concerto 2
I am informed by my brother, a celloist and trombonist, that a favourite composition of trumpet players is that by Johann Hummel. One can understand why. The piece enables a very skilled player to demonstrate the capability, the range, the beauty and drama which the instrument can provide.
I once tried to play a trumpet and failed utterly to make any useful sound. If you listen to the magnificent piece you may connect with the expertise demonstrated by Håkan Hardenberger, the soloist; the mastery of his use of his lips, tongue, mouth, airways, diaphram, arms and fingers, his body.
The curious may notice that the two pieces were written within a decade of each other at the time of the introduction of valves into the modern trumpet. Additionally, Haydn was a contemporary of Hummel. Haydn was also a mentor of Mozart and a tutor of Beethoven all of whom were exploring the capabilities of the instruments of their time.
If one listens carefully to the Hummel piece one can hear a beautiful moment in which the flutists enter. They provide such delicate support.
Enjoy.
Sources
Haydn: Trumpet Concerto - Pacho Flores and the Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra - Live Concert HD, featuring soloist Pacho Flores, published by AVROTROS Klassiek, 2018-11-13
Johann Nepomuk Hummel - Trumpet Concerto, featuring soloist Håkan Hardenberger, published by olla-vogala, 2015-10-10
Notification
Subscription is optional. Subscribers can expect notifications for most articles. Better is to use RSS, or bookmark the Archive page and visit at leisure. If you use Twitter, following @YesXorNo1 is also an effective notifications strategy.
Copyright and Licensing
This work is copyright to the blog's author with CC BY-SA 4.0 licensing. Have fun, reuse, remix etc. but give credit and place no further restrictions. Let’s build culture.