Trumpet Concerto Piano

[Frida Kosofsky]

Theconcerto was premiered on 15 October 1933 in the season opening concerts of the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra with Shostakovich at the piano, Fritz Stiedry conducting, and Alexander Schmidt playing the trumpet solos. "By all accounts, Shostakovich played brilliantly"[1] and the concerto was well received. The performance was repeated on 17 October.

Despite the title, the work might be classified as a double concerto rather than a piano concerto, in which the trumpet and piano command equal prominence. The trumpet parts assume equal importance during the conclusion of the last movement, immediately after the cadenza for piano solo. Years after he wrote the work, Shostakovich recalled that he had initially planned to write a concerto for trumpet and orchestra and then added the piano to make it a double concerto.[1] As he continued writing, it became a piano concerto with a solo trumpet.

After writing the orchestral version, Shostakovich wrote an arrangement for two pianos (without orchestra or trumpet). In the two-piano version, the solo piano part is more elaborate. The metronome indications and tempo markings of the two-piano arrangement differ from those of the orchestral version.[1]

With such a polyglot collection of quotations and influences, only a composer of genius could have moulded this variety into a cohesive whole. The miracle is that Shostakovich succeeded, and constructed a distinctive and indestructible work...[2]

He also noted that the concerto contains a strong element of parody, beginning with a reference to Beethoven's "Appassionata" Sonata, and ending with "an uproarious quotation" of Beethoven's "Rage Over a Lost Penny" and a slice of Haydn's D major Piano Sonata. The last movement's final cadenza is introduced with exactly the same trill as in the final bars of Beethoven's cadenza for his Piano Concerto No. 3. The work also includes quotations from Shostakovich's own Hamlet incidental music, Op. 32a, and from a revue, Hypothetically Murdered, Op. 31.[2]

The second movement is written to display what almost every audience member is seeking when first hearing a concerto: technical virtuosity. Knowing the technical and musical abilities of Mr.Work, as well as his love for the cornet solos of the early 20th century, the movement is composed to highlight what is available to the modern trumpet, though often not exposed. After a few minutes of pure energy, the music finally relaxes, drawing upon various motifs already heard. Again the piece builds up to a climax in the dominant key of E Major, only to settle again to a false coda. A demanding cadenza follows, highlighting some musical effects written especially for the dedicatee. Now beginning the true coda, the virtuosic music returns, and many

motifs are again tossed into the mix to bring us to our denouement, again decidedly in our true home key of A Major.

Dmitri Dmitrievich Shostakovich was born in St.Petersburg, Russia, on September 25, 1906, and died in Moscow on August 9,1975. The Piano Concerto No. 1 in C minor, Op.35, was composed between March 6and July 20, 1933. Shostakovich played the solo piano part in the premiere onOctober 15, 1933, in Leningrad, with trumpeter Alexander Schmidt and theLeningrad Philharmonic conducted by Fritz Stiedry.

For all of its irreverence, the First Piano Concerto observesmany of the rules of the genre. The opening movement, firmly in C minor, usestraditional sonata-form structure, contrasting a reflective first theme(announced at the outset by the almost unaccompanied piano soloist) with adance-like second one. A slow waltz (sometimes called a waltz-Boston) dominatesthe second movement, in ABA form; the return of the lovely main theme in themuted trumpet is a stroke of simple genius. After a tiny third movement(opening with an extended piano solo passage) that serves as little more thanan interlude, the rambunctious fourth movement somersaults home to C minor.

To understand how ahead Weidinger was, note that that there is a trumpet part in this concerto for orchestral players using valveless trumpets. Those other trumpet players must have been green with envy.

I gave the world premiere of the trumpet concerto with the Thames Youth Orchestra in Croatia, on my final summer tour in August 2011. We then gave the piece its second outing, and the UK Premiere, in Kingston Upon Thames in September 2011 with Stephen and Jane in attendance. That was a very special occasion indeed and my last concert as a member of TYO.

Performing the concerto with the piano is certainly a different feeling to performing it with an orchestra. For instance, there are moments of shimmering strings and long sustained notes in the original score which are more difficult to recreate on the piano. The second movement also feels much more like a solo piece than chamber music in this arrangement. The timbre of the woodwind instruments blends so beautifully with the trumpet and it is can be challenging to match the sound as easily with the piano.

I am hoping to find funding to record the concerto in the not-too-distant future. I think it would be a brilliant way to spread the word about the concerto and to hopefully inspire other trumpeters to want to learn it and perform it themselves.

For a composer who comes from a performance background, writing a concerto was a particularly appealing project. I love the clear, brilliant sound of the trumpet, and of course it works wonderfully as a solo instrument against the combined forces of the orchestra. I was also well aware of the relative lack of "meaty" concertos for trumpet -- this piece hassince been described as a substantial contribution to the repertory and has been performed widely in the United States as well as internationally.

Concerto for Trumpet is available in a piano reduction from Carl Fischer and major music retailers. The orchestral version is available for rental from Theodore Presser, and the orchestral score is viewable from this page.

This piece was originally orchestrated for a classical-size orchestra with double winds and brass, and a piano reduction was later commissioned by Mary L. Thornton as part of her doctoral dissertation project at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The piece was also written up in the International Trumpet Guild Journal.

Written in the symphonic form of four movements, the opening offstage solo provides motivic material for the entire piece. The original for trumpet and brass ensemble is now available for trumpet and piano.

The first part, which lasts 7 minutes, Allegro and Cadenza, begins with a trumpet cadenza and a quiet snare drum background. The Nocturne follows as the second part of this Concerto, and the Finale, the shortest part of the concerto, ends up with a cheerful cartoon-music theme.

His immense oeuvre documents the profound changes in music history during the second half of the eighteenth century, leading to the emancipation of instrumental music. His most important genres are the symphony and the string quartet, where he cultivated the technique of motivic-thematic development; he made significant contributions to the instrumental concerto and to piano music; during the last years of his life, he composed his great oratorios. Opera and art song take on a rather subordinate significance.

Modern trumpet players use the E flat trumpet to play the Haydn Trumpet Concerto, since it most properly represents the timbre that Haydn had in mind when he wrote his concerto. Furthermore, the concerto was written in the key of E flat. For trumpet students unacquainted with the E flat trumpet, though, scores of the concerto in B flat are available (learning to play on the E flat is well worth the effort, though!).

The Haydn Trumpet Concerto is perhaps the most well-known and influential piece for trumpet since its composition, and virtually every major trumpet player has performed the work. Here are some recordings of modern virtuosos who have developed their own unique approach to the timeless work:

Adam G. is a freelance copywriter and journalist who double-majored with piano pedagogy and euphonium during undergrad before pursuing performance in graduate school. He is a former runner-up for the US Army Band National Collegiate Solo Contest and silver medalist at the Young Texas Artists competition. He is a general contributor to the Musika Blog.

Joseph Haydn was an Austrian musician who spent most of his career in the service of an aristocratic family in Hungary but became one of the most famous and well-respected composers of his time. As well as symphonies, string quartets and piano trios, Haydn wrote a vast number of solo piano pieces, songs, choral works, operas and concertos.

One of Haydn's most popular works today is a concerto for trumpet, which he wrote in 1796 for a his good friend, Anton Weidinger, who had invented a new kind of trumpet with five keys, which allowed the instrument to produce more notes of the scale.

Haydn's Concerto for Trumpet in E flat was a ground-breaking addition to the trumpet repertoire, although it is a typical example of a concerto from the Classical period. It has three movements, and uses many of the popular musical conventions of the time, including balance and symmetry.

Haydn is the father of classical music. He invented the sonata, the symphony, the concerto and many of the rules used to create these pieces that composers have followed for hundreds of years. He wrote a lot of music - 104 symphonies, over 20 concertos, 60 piano sonatas and 83 string quartets! He taught both Mozart (the two were great friends) and Beethoven (they didn't get along, Beethoven thought Haydn was 'boring') and he helped both of them in their careers afterwards by telling everyone how great they were. He was a thoroughly nice man!

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