Trumpet Concerto in E-flat major

Times change, and musical instruments change with them. In the case of the trumpet, original instruments could only play notes of the natural overtone series. In the Baroque era, air speed and embouchure pressure were used to make the most of this situation, but in the Classical period, composers and performers sought to fill the gaps in the instrument’s range and provide it with a full chromatic scale.

Several methods were devised to accomplish this, but none were entirely satisfactory until the first valve trumpets were constructed in the early 19th century. A transitional stage in the instrument’s evolution was represented by the keyed trumpet, championed by the Austrian virtuoso Anton Weidinger (1767–1852). Musicologist Reine Dahlqvist explains: “The keys are brought together on one side of the instrument so as to be operated by one hand only; the other hand merely holds the instrument. … The keys cover soundholes, and when opened, raised the pitch: the key nearest the bell a semitone, the next by a tone, etc.” (See page 33 for a picture of a keyed trumpet.)

Weidinger had been a member of the court opera in Vienna since 1792. He probably met Franz Joseph Haydn when the latter returned from his second trip to London, by which time the first model of Weidinger’s keyed trumpet was ready. Haydn soon agreed to write a concerto for this instrument and produced a work that stands as a splendid example of his late style.

Trumpet players are certainly not oversupplied with concertos by major composers; it is therefore all the more curious that Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto remained virtually unknown until the 20th century. First published in 1931, it did not enter the repertoire until some years later, when English trumpeter George Eskdale recorded the second and third movements. It was only in the 1950s that the concerto attained the popularity it has enjoyed ever since.

Classical concertos usually start with an orchestral exposition during which the soloist is silent. In this case, however, the soloist plays a single loud note and two short fanfare motives during the tutti section. As composer and author Jonathan Kramer suggested, “Perhaps the composer is providing the soloist with an opportunity to warm up during the performance, so that the instrument is not cold (and hence out of tune) by the time of the thematic entry.”

The eventual solo exposition gave Weidinger the opportunity to demon­strate what his new-fangled instrument could do. But Haydn was evidently concerned with more than demonstrat­ing. He used the chromatic notes of the keyed trumpet to shape melodies of great sensitivity that alternate with more typical, fanfare-like trumpet writing.

The second-movement Andante features a gentle lyrical tune that the solo trumpet takes over from the violins and flute. The chromatic notes of the trumpet, as well as its ability to play fast-moving ornaments, are put to good use in this brief but memorable movement.

The last movement is a typical Haydnesque finale, with buoyant themes woven into a brilliant rondo that displays the virtuosity of the soloist along with (one more time) the instrument’s sensational chromatic capacity.

— Peter Laki