Trumpet Concerto in E-flat, Mvt. I (Hummel)

Composed to demonstrate the versatility of the keyed trumpet, Hummel's concerto is an important milestone in the trumpet repertoire.

Genre: Solo Trumpet with Band | # of Players: Standard
Level: 3 / 5 solo | Duration: 10:00

Instrumentation
Solo Trumpet in B-flat
Piccolo
Flute 1
Flute 2
Oboe
B-flat Clarinet 1
B-flat Clarinet 2
B-flat Clarinet 3
Bass Clarinet
Bassoon
Alto Saxophone 1
Alto Saxophone 2
Tenor Saxophone
Baritone Saxophone

B-flat Trumpet 1
B-flat Trumpet 2
F Horn 1
F Horn 2
Trombone 1
Trombone 2
Trombone 3
Euphonium
(TC Baritone)
Tuba
String Bass

Timpani

Program Notes
Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837) was born in Pressburg which was part of Hungary in 1778 but now known as Bratislava and is now part of Slovakia. From an early age he showed much promise as a pianist and when he was eight years of age had lessons from Mozart and later Clementi and Salieri. Whilst on tour as a pianist in London he met up with Haydn who composed a sonata in A-flat for him and on his return to Vienna developed a friendship with Beethoven who was also taking lessons from Haydn. It was around this time that Hummel composed his trumpet concerto in E-flat major.

This trumpet concerto was composed for the trumpet virtuoso Anton Weidinger in 1803 and first performed in 1804 when Hummel replaced Joseph Haydn as Konzertmeister to the Prince Esterhazy Court in Eisenstadt. Anton Weidinger was the inventor of the keyed trumpet that enabled this instrument to play a chromatic scale rather than just the harmonic series and, as with Haydn's trumpet concerto, this concerto was composed to demonstrate the versatility of this new invention.

It was originally composed in E major but more often than not is now played in E-flat major which makes the fingering a little more accessible on modern day E-flat and B-flat trumpets.