Post by erik on May 27, 2023 19:20:47 GMT -5
Arguably the most famous trumpet concerto in the repertoire, the Haydn Trumpet Concerto is in this week's Classical Works Spotlight in a hugely popular 1993 recording of said piece.
Haydn: TRUMPET CONCERTO IN E FLAT MAJOR
With the twelve London symphonies, the final twelve essays in that form, behind him, Franz Joseph Haydn returned to Vienna a hugely successful composer in 1796. Though he still grieved at the untimely death of his much younger contemporary Mozart five years earlier, Haydn still carried on the traditions that he and Mozart set forth. What is believed to be the final purely orchestral work in Haydn’s output, aside from the Sinfonia-Concertante for oboe, cello, violin, and bassoon that was written during his last few weeks in London, came about as the result of a good friend of his, the trumpet player Anton Weidinger, who was trying to innovate his chosen instrument. Up to this time, the trumpet had no valves on it and could only play a limited range of harmonic notes by alternating the vibration of the player’s lips. This was the natural trumpet, which had been a part of many trumpet concertos of the high Baroque period. Weidinger’s idea of drilling holes and covering them with flute-like keys, however, was not a success; and as a result, even with the concerto that Haydn had composed for his good friend (Johann Hummel would compose a concerto for the instrument for Weidinger seven years later), it wouldn’t be until the 1820’s that valved trumpets would come to the fore for players of the instrument. Nevertheless, the E Flat Major Trumpet Concerto of Haydn, structured in the traditional three-movement concerto form and containing a famous rondo finale, remains arguably the most popular of its kind, with virtually every trumpet player since Weidinger making it a part of his or her repertoire. The work’s popularity was further enhanced when noted New Orleans-based jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis begin crossing over into the Classical realm in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s with his famous London concert recordings of the major trumpet concerto repertoire from the Baroque to the Classical.
Trumpet: WYNTON MARSALIS
English Chamber Orchestra/RAYMOND LEPPARD (CBS/Sony)
Included:
Hummel: TRUMPET CONCERTO IN E FLAT MAJOR
Leopold Mozart: TRUMPET CONCERTO IN D MAJOR
Haydn: TRUMPET CONCERTO IN E FLAT MAJOR
With the twelve London symphonies, the final twelve essays in that form, behind him, Franz Joseph Haydn returned to Vienna a hugely successful composer in 1796. Though he still grieved at the untimely death of his much younger contemporary Mozart five years earlier, Haydn still carried on the traditions that he and Mozart set forth. What is believed to be the final purely orchestral work in Haydn’s output, aside from the Sinfonia-Concertante for oboe, cello, violin, and bassoon that was written during his last few weeks in London, came about as the result of a good friend of his, the trumpet player Anton Weidinger, who was trying to innovate his chosen instrument. Up to this time, the trumpet had no valves on it and could only play a limited range of harmonic notes by alternating the vibration of the player’s lips. This was the natural trumpet, which had been a part of many trumpet concertos of the high Baroque period. Weidinger’s idea of drilling holes and covering them with flute-like keys, however, was not a success; and as a result, even with the concerto that Haydn had composed for his good friend (Johann Hummel would compose a concerto for the instrument for Weidinger seven years later), it wouldn’t be until the 1820’s that valved trumpets would come to the fore for players of the instrument. Nevertheless, the E Flat Major Trumpet Concerto of Haydn, structured in the traditional three-movement concerto form and containing a famous rondo finale, remains arguably the most popular of its kind, with virtually every trumpet player since Weidinger making it a part of his or her repertoire. The work’s popularity was further enhanced when noted New Orleans-based jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis begin crossing over into the Classical realm in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s with his famous London concert recordings of the major trumpet concerto repertoire from the Baroque to the Classical.
Trumpet: WYNTON MARSALIS
English Chamber Orchestra/RAYMOND LEPPARD (CBS/Sony)
Included:
Hummel: TRUMPET CONCERTO IN E FLAT MAJOR
Leopold Mozart: TRUMPET CONCERTO IN D MAJOR