Hummel the Trumpet: Balance & Change

Transcription

1

2 Hummel the Trumpet: Balance & Change Tracks and clips Duration 1. Introduction 4:59 a. Wagner, Richard, Parsifal, Philadelphia Orchestra, Christian Thielemann, Deutsche Grammophon recorded 4/4/1997. b. Philidor, André Danican, l aîné, La Gavotte de festin, Les trompettes de la cavalerie de Paris, Pierre Bréard, Erato STU 7410 released c. Haydn, Michael, Trumpet Concerto, The King s Consort, Crispian Steele-Perkins, Robert King, Hyperion CDA67266 recorded 10/18/2001. d. Hummel, Johann Nepomuk (JNH), Trumpet Concerto, Boston Chamber Ensemble, Armando Ghitalla, Pierre Monteux, Cambridge CRS 1819 recorded December Hummel, His Life 17:28 a. Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, Piano Sonata in D, K. 576, Mitsuko Uchida, Philips pb5, recorded 10/22/2001. b. JNH, Piano Sonata in C, Op. 2 No. 3, Ian Hobson, Arabesque Z6564 released c. JNH, Rondo in E, Op. 11, Earl Wild, Vanguard VSD released d. JNH, Mass in E, Op. 80, Collegium Musicum, Richard Hickox, Chandos CHAN 0712 recorded 9/8/2003. e. JNH, Mathilde von Guise, Solamente Naturali, Kristine Gailite, Didier Talpain, Brilliant Classics recorded September f. JNH, Piano Concerto in b, Op. 89, English Chamber Orchestra, Stephen Hough, Bryden Thomson, Musical Heritage Society MHS K recorded 9/22/1986. g. JNH, Le retour à Londres, Op. 127, London Mozart Players, Shelley Howard, Chandos CHAN recorded 7/27/2005. g. Diabelli, Anton, Waltz, Andreas Staier, Harmonia Mundi HMC released h. JNH, Variation on a Waltz by Diabelli, S. 161, Andreas Staier, Harmonia Mundi HMC released i. Beethoven, Ludwig van, Diabelli Variations, Op. 120, Andreas Staier, Harmonia Mundi HMC released 2012.

3 3. Hummel & the Piano Trio 23:20 a. Vivaldi, Antonio, Trio Sonata, RV 83, Trio di Trieste, Deutsche Grammophon GOM 5 recorded April b. Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel, Sonata in C, Wq. 90 No. 3, Trio 1790, CPO recorded 6/28/1993. c. Kozeluch, Leopold, Piano Trio in g, P. IX:15, Trio 1790, CPO recorded 4/8/1994. d. Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, Piano Trio in G, K. 564, Beaux Arts Trio, Philips released e. JNH, Piano Trio in E, Op. 12, Beaux Arts Trio, Philips PHI released f. Haydn, Franz Joseph, Piano Trio in E, H. XV:28, Trio di Trieste, Deutsche Grammophon D GOM 5 recorded October g. Beethoven, Ludwig van, Piano Trio No. 1 in E, Op. 1 No. 1, Wilhelm Kempff, Henryk Szeryng, Pierre Fournier, Deutsche Grammophon recorded April h. Beethoven, Ludwig van, Piano Trio No. 7 in B, Op. 97, 1807 & Friends, Direct-to-Tape DTR6003 recorded 4/12/1999. i. JNH, Piano Trio in G, Op. 65, Trio Parnassus, MDG released j. Glinka, Mikhail Ivanovich, Kamarinskaya, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski, Music & Arts CD-847 recorded 6/15/1969. k. Schubert, Franz, Piano Trio in B, D. 898, Alfred Cortot, Jacques Thibaud, Pablo Casals, HMV DB recorded 7/5/1926, available as a paid download from l. JNH, Piano Trio in E, Op. 96, Borodin Trio, Chandos CHAN 9529 recorded 8/12/1996. m. Brahms, Johannes, Piano Trio No. 3 in c, Op. 101, Copenhagen Trio, Kontrapunkt 32090/1 released n. Ravel, Maurice, Piano Trio, Mar. 67, Trio di Trieste, Deutsche Grammophon D GOM 5 recorded March o. Shostakovich, Dmitry, Piano Trio No. 2 in e, Op. 67, Olli Mustonen, Joshua Bell, Steven Isserlis, Decca B recorded 8/28/1994. p. Volans, Kevin, Piano Trio, Fidelio Trio, New Music Council NMC D147 recorded 6/7/2007.

4 4. Hummel, the Trumpet & the Performer 9:03 a-g. Trumpet h. Haydn, Franz Joseph, Trumpet Concerto in E, H. VIIe:1, The King s Consort, Crispian Steele-Perkins, Robert King, Hyperion CDA recorded 1/18/2001. i. Ibid., but Philadelphia Orchestra, David Bilger, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Phil. Orch. Priv. Label recorded 2/13/2003, available as a paid download from HDTracks.com. 5. The Hummel Trumpet Concerto 18:25 a. Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, Piano Concerto No. 17 in G, K. 453, Philadelphia Orchestra, Sviatoslav Richter, Eugene Ormandy, Philadelphia Orchestra Centennial Edition recorded 1/29/1970. b. Ibid. c. JNH, Trumpet Concerto, op. cit. d. Ibid. e. Molter, Johann Melchior, Trumpet Concerto in D, Boston Chamber Ensemble, Armando Ghitalla, Harold Faberman, Cambridge, CRS 1819 recorded December f. JNH, op. cit. g-j. Ibid. k, l. Piano m. Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, Piano Concerto No. 21 in C, K. 467, Philadelphia Orchestra, Earl Wild, Eugene Ormandy, RCA Victor 6096 recorded 1/04/1971. n-s. JNH, op. cit.

5 Thanks, Comments, Bibliography It s perfectly obvious that this would never have happened without David Bilger. Working with him was a very great pleasure, so great that I will look hard for an opportunity to repeat it. One day, I was seeking a particular sound clip: I was stuck. I knew exactly the recording that I needed, research had shown that it did not exist. But it did. Al Lesitsky had it. What more can I say? When Al commented that the Rondo of Hummel s Op. 86 sounded like Glinka s Kamarinskaya, I had enough sense to run with it remarkable, as I didn t know the piece. Talk about serendipity! Charles Gagnon, the Orchestra s wonderful audio engineer, provided his recording expertise. I would never have succeeded in recording a trumpet myself. Crispian Steele-Perkins consented to the use of a trumpet photo from his web site, and with such a gentlemanly tone that it became evident to me why his performance of the two Haydns concerti (Track 1, clip c; and Track 4, clip h) are as elegant as they are. Darryl Martin, of the Edinburgh University Collection of Historic Musical Instruments was equally forthcoming. Teri Noel Towe is an old friend with a nearly encyclopedic knowledge of J. S. Bach and his sons: Well, if that s what you re looking for, why don t you use one of CPE s accompanied keyboard sonatas? So I did. Finally, my review board: Al Lesitsky, Brian McShea, and Stan Scordilis, did their usual expert job and helped ensure what is here now. Oh, did I forget Connie? Without her, the beginning would have been so dry that even professors might have fallen asleep. I still do not really understand why it is not good to begin with a five minute long list of differences in music brought about by fully chromatic instruments: fortunately, she does. We ve all seen endless pictures of Roman bas-reliefs, or Greek vase painting, or whatever, with images of trumpets; but I still remember practically falling under my school desk when, in Mrs. Quam s class (yes, that really was her name) I read, in a description of a battle against the Nervii: vexillum proponendum, quod erat insigne, cum ad arma concurri oporteret; signum tuba dandum Holy cow, the instrument really IS that old! Yes, it is. When Julius Caesar wrote those words the earliest representations of the trumpet were separated from him by more years than Gregorian chant is separated from us. Weidinger

6 and Hummel accelerated the change in something that is thought to predate them by about 3300 years. Think on that a bit. Was Hummel really as conservative as he seems? An entirely different subject. I confess to being a record collector. Oh, nothing like Al Lesitsky, or half a dozen other friends current and past, but one, nevertheless, in my own modest way. It s a real pleasure to seek out all of Hummel s masses, for one really must listen to all that beautiful music; or find multiple sets of his piano trios, so that they may be compared. And when, in a used record shop near Waterloo Station in London, one finds an lp with Hummel s Septet in d and Quintet in E, one s day is practically made. And yes, what you ve heard is correct, it sure sounds like Schubert based the Trout quintet on the Hummel. What goes around Collecting all these recordings doesn t just satisfy some unattractive acquisitive urge. It also broadens one s musical perspective. The two different Trio di Trieste performances of Ravel s Piano Trio are very much the same, and quite a bit different. How did their thoughts change in the decade that separates the two? And while the Beaux Arts Trio, with Menachem Pressler always at the piano, presents a consistent view of what piano trio timbre ought to be, 1807 & Friends differ quite a little from it: and they re both right. There is only one full-length study of Hummel in English. It s Johann Nepomuk Hummel, a Musician s Life and World by Mark Kroll, Scarecrow Press, Lanham, MD, If Hummel s your man, it s a must read. Reine Dahlqvist, The Keyed Trumpet and Its Greatest Virtuoso, Anton Weidinger, Brass Research Series No. 1, The Brass Press, Nashville, 1975 is a fabulously detailed and surprisingly readable pamphlet. It had been many years since I read it last, so I reviewed Robert Gutman s always fascinating Richard Wagner, The Man, His Mind, and His Music for background on Parsifal and its composition. The Eulenburg miniature score of the Hummel Trumpet Concerto was, of course, required, and the Kalmus piano reduction thereof ordered quite by accident saved me a great deal of time; a somewhat embarrassing confession, I m afraid. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Stanley Sadie, ed., MacMillan, London, 1980 sits by my side always. Don t leave Beethoven without it. Finally, do you have any idea of how much easier this kind of work is than it used to be? Need the population of Vienna ca. 1820? Wikipedia. Want to have a quick look to check that Glinka s Kamarinskaya really does have a three-bar phrase, and that Hummel s Op. 96 does not? IMSLP.org, of course.

7 I would not have been able to do this at all had it not been for inspiration provided by the superlative musicians of the Philadelphia Orchestra. I ve become quite addicted I try to attend every program when I m in town sometimes I go twice. I can be found at every Thursday night performance in my usual seat in Verizon Hall, K-101. Come by, not only would I love to meet you, but talking with you will help me to understand my audience and lead to my next effort being better than my last! If on the other hand, you re not in the habit of spending Thursday evenings with the Orchestra s musicians, as I have been for three-anda-half decades, and you still would like to talk to me, you can contact me through The Orchestra. Tell me what your favorite piece would be to receive this kind of treatment. Even if I don t agree, I d like to know! Mike Cone

8 Track Summary 1. Introduction 4:59 2. Hummel, His Life 17:28 3. Hummel & the Piano Trio 23:20 4. Hummel, the Trumpet & the Performer 9:03 5. The Hummel Trumpet Concerto 18:25 Total Playing Time 73:19 Photographs The natural trumpet made by Joseph Huschauer, Vienna ca. 1794, courtesy of Dr. Darryl Martin, the Edinburgh University Collection of Historic Musical Instruments. The Vanrynne reproduction of the ca keyed trumpet, courtesy of Crispian Steele-Perkins. Modern E trumpet, Constance Cone. Disc and Case back, Constance Cone. Educational material. Not for sale.