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Festival of Trumpets John Irish, Reporter
Fanfare by Stravinsky featured a trio comprised of Stephen Jones, Cliff Newton, and William Pfund. In an instant, the audience was transported over time and distance to the twentieth century, and sounds of Stravinsky. Open chords, reminiscent of bagpipe drones, began the Scottish Fantasy of Dennis Horton. The piece, calling for eight trumpets, featured cascading entrances, a pretty, lyrical middle section, and a sparkling ending, replete with Scottish snap flair. The players gave a wonderful performance of this very approachable work. Staying in this same vein, The Rakes of Mallow arranged for trumpets by Leroy Anderson was a technical tour-de-force performed with abandon and gusto by the seven fine participants. An electronic accompaniment taking the place of a normal rhythm section of drums and bass highlighted the opening of Brent Edstrom’s The Tempest, for four trumpets. Modern harmonies, evocative sounds, and a jazz solo for trumpet made for a winning addition to the trumpet ensemble repertoire.
Fanfare for Four Trumpets by Garth Molyneaux blended a work familiar to many in the audience with the new material on the program. The piece was performed with flawless technique and precision. The Ascension by Paul Basler followed. This work was originally commissioned by Brad Ulrich for his group at Western Carolina University. It featured rhythmic vitality at fast tempos, meter changes (including some odd meters), and a variety of articulation demands. The group played the piece with a great deal of attention to detail. One of two large-scale works followed, Wagner’s Invocation of Alberich as arranged by Scott Schlup. This arrangement, involving more than 30 participants, opened with the driving sounds of percussion and featured choirs of trumpets on flugelhorns, B-flat trumpets, C trumpets, and piccolo trumpets. As one would expect of Wagner’s music, the work grew in an organic fashion to a peak of intensity and dark power. Two Trumpets in C by Duane Schulthess is a contemporary piece with many extended techniques. This difficult work included such techniques as blowing air through the horn, slap tonguing, glissandi, and microtonal passages. The many chromatic dissonances in the first section made for a very effective new work. The second section had both players answering back and forth constantly in a driving compound meter. The ending culminated in a crescendo of high energy, high tessitura exchanges demonstrating a true virtuosity from both performers (David Baldwin and Ramon Vasquez). Flourish for ITG by Joseph Kreines for five trumpets provided the concert with a short, technically satisfying work that was performed with precision and accuracy. John Prescott’s, Idioms, covered many styles (Idioms) for the twelve trumpeters. Full sonorous sounds with a combination of mutes and accompaniment styles were performed very well. Piccolo trumpet and flugelhorn further added to the diversity of sounds available. A jazzy section led into a full-sounding contemporary section closing out this lively work. Kayee Fanfare by Jack Stamp provided perfect prelude music to the final selection of the concert, the Finale from Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 arranged for the massed ensemble by Joseph Kreines. This outstanding arrangement, conducted by Kreines, contained all the splendor of Mahler’s original score and left the audience breathless and fulfilled. John Almeida must have felt an enormous sense of relief and gratification in witnessing such a grand spectacle through to its successful completion. |
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As always, this year’s Festival of Trumpets offered an extensive array of music for the width and breadth of all things trumpet. The concert began with a prelude comprised of the 8:00 am Trumpet Ensemble Reading session participants. They performed the Symphony from Purcell’s Fairy Queen, Act IV, as arranged by ITG President James Olcott. The group gave a polished performance with good precision and tone. All their early morning efforts paid off with a vigorous start. The glorious sound of natural trumpets filled the chapel with music of Biber’s Sonata Sancti Polycarpi. Two choirs of four trumpets sounded off each other antiphonally in this multi-section piece. The work also included timpani and organ. The performers captured the spirit of our trumpet ancestors in this magnificent performance.
The concert continued with Tribute by William Harbison. This work displayed outstanding precision, blend, and balance from the performers. Britton Theurer’s original composition Ryoko, for trumpet and pre-recorded tape called forth images of Japan. The tape included various sounds and techniques typical of Japanese music. Included on the tape was another melodic voice allowing Theurer to play his trumpet line in harmony. Many acrobatic leaps and wide intervals added to the complexity of the piece which was performed brilliantly by the composer. Donna Lee met Back Home in Indiana in the next jazz oriented piece. As arranged by Paul Butcher, Donna Lee is Back in Indiana for eight trumpets is a combination of these two standards. A single soloist played the tune of Back Home with four-voice accompaniment to begin the work. A tutti rendition ensued while Donna Lee was played on top. Clean ensemble playing of fast-moving passages was impressive. The piece was warmly received following its exciting upper register ending.
