It’s got one of the orchestra’s most distinctive voices. And, happily, it has had some wonderful music dedicated to it. Yes, the trumpet has been blessed with some beautiful repertoire, whether it be orchestral, concerto, chamber music or solo instrumental. Here are some examples of the best trumpet music in the classic literature.
Best trumpet music: trumpet concertos
Haydn: Trumpet Concerto
Haydn is perhaps best known for his (very many) symphonies and string quartets, but in fact he composed with great facility across a number of forms. These include many concertos – most famously, perhaps, the two Cello Concertos and the Trumpet Concerto.
This work was composed in 1796 for the trumpet virtuoso Anton Weidinger. It’s become one of the cornerstones of the trumpet repertoire, along with the two concertos that follow it in this list.
The first movement is bright and joyous; the Andante middle movement has an eloquent melody for the soloist; and the Allegro finale returns to the joy and exuberance of the opening movement. Haydn is so often an uplifting composer, and the Trumpet Concerto is a supreme example of the sunniness that pervades much of his music.
Hummel: Trumpet Concerto
There are some interesting links between Hummel and Haydn, the previous composer in this list. Hummel’s own Trumpet Concerto was first performed on 1 January 1804, to commemorate the composer’s new role as concertmaster at the court orchestra of Nikolaus II, Prince Esterházy. His predecessor in the role? Why, Haydn, of course.
The work was also, like Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto, composed for the Viennese trumpet virtuoso Anton Weidinger, who invented the keyed trumpet.
Telemann: Trumpet Concerto in D major
We’re specifying the key here as Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) composed a few works for trumpet, including one for trumpet and violin, another for trumpet and two oboes, and two or more for three trumpets. We’re referring here, though, to Telemann’s single concerto for solo trumpet.
Telemann’s Trumpet Concerto is a demanding work for the performer, as it needs superb control of breathing and embouchure )the position of the lips, tongue and teeth). The soloist holds sway in the expressive, poignant opening Adagio – and gets a real workout in the joyous, nimble Allegro finale.
Best trumpet music: orchestral, choral and opera showcases
Mahler Symphony No. 5: opening
Mahler’s Fifth Symphony begins with a stirring motif on the trumpet. In its four-note ‘short-short-short-long’ rhythm, it echoes the beginning of another, still more famous Fifth: Beethoven‘s dramatic, heaven-storming Symphony No. 5. In fact, the trumpet solo at the beginning of Mahler’s Fifth quotes the Generalmarsch of the Austro-Hungarian Army.
- Both Beethoven’s and Mahler’s Fifths made it into our list of the 20 greatest symphonies of all time. But in which positions?
- Beethoven’s symphonies: a guide to ‘the Nine’
Schmidt: Symphony No. 4: opening
The Austrian late Romantic composer Franz Schmidt is perhaps not as well known as he should be. Of his four symphonies, the Fourth is perhaps the best known, and it owes some of its fame to its atmospheric, somewhat mysterious opening, kicked off with a plangent melody from the trumpet.
Handel: The Messiah: ‘The Trumpet Shall Sound’
The two trumpets get a fantastic workout in ‘The Trumpet Shall Sound’ from Part 3, Scene II of Handel‘s Messiah, the composer’s magnificent oratorio from 1741.
Rossini: William Tell overture: IV. March of the Swiss soldiers
That famous galloping theme from the final section of Rossini’s William Tell overture? It’s the two trumpets that get to play it first, before the orchestra joins in. Scarcely can a sense of anticipation, excitement and momentum have been more vividly evoked in music.
Stravinsky: Petrushka: Ballerina’s Dance
This jaunty tune comes from the third tableau of Stravinsky‘s 1911 ballet Petrushka, composed for the Ballets Russes.
Barber: Capricorn Concerto
Samuel Barber is most often heard in Romantic mode (such as his beautiful Violin Concerto, which we named one of the greatest violin concertos of all time). The Capricorn Concerto, by contrasts, finds Barber in more neoclassical form. Composed in 1944 while Barber was still serving in the US Army, the ‘Capricorn’ is scored for flute, oboe, trumpet and string orchestra.
The Capricorn is designed in the form of a Baroque concerto grosso. Its scoring largely copies that of Bach‘s Second Brandenburg Concerto – so flute, oboe and trumpet, but no violin. The string orchestra accompaniment favoured by Bach, however, is absent here.
And why Capricorn? That was the name of the house, just north of New York City, where Barber lived for 40 years with his partner, the fellow composer Gian Carlo Menotti.
Mussorgsky, orch. Ravel: Pictures at an Exhibition: 1. Promenade
Ravel’s 1922 orchestration of Mussorsgky‘s atmospheric piano suite is a dazzling piece of musical imagination. It’s blessed with some wonderful textures including a bassoon and alto saxophone duet for The Old Castle and woodwinds, harps and pizzicato strings for the Ballad of the Unhatched Chicks. Perhaps most memorable, however, is the very first iteration of the Promenade – the opening of the whole piece – played with a grand sense of occasion on the trumpet.
Purcell: The Indian Queen: Trumpet Overture
Purcell’s semi-opera The Indian Queen was left unfinished, which probably accounts for its relatively infrequent performances. Among other things, though, it is blessed with a beautiful overture, complete with uplifting trumpet solo.
Best trumpet music: chamber
Hindemith: Sonata for trumpet and piano
Paul Hindemith composed his Sonata for Trumpet and Piano in 1939 and, like other works composed in that tense and turbulent time (such as Martinů‘s foreboding Double Concerto), it is heavy with sadness and anxiety. Unlike most sonatas with their fast-slow-fast movement structure, Hindemith’s Trumpet Sonata ends with a slow movement.
The opening movement (Mit Kraft) has a restless, brooding quality. The second (Mässig bewegt) is a tense march, no doubt reflecting the mounting atmosphere of fear and aggression across Europe. The final movement (Trauermusik—Choral) has a grieving, funereal mood. Throughout, there are some poignant melodies for the trumpet.
Saint-Saëns: Septet
Camille Saint-Saëns‘s Septet is written for the unusual chamber music combination of trumpet, two violins, viola, cello, double bass and piano. It is somewhat neoclassical in theme and forms, drawing on 17th-century French music and dance forms such as the Gavotte and Bagatelle.
The piece was commissioned by one Émile Lemoine, mathematician and founder of the chamber music society La Trompette. Each of the four movements lasts around four minutes.
Of these, the Préambule (Allegro moderato), Menuet (Tempo di minuetto moderato), and Gavotte et Finale (Allegro non troppo) all hark back to the Baroque soundworld of the 17th century. By contrast, the third movement Intermède is more Romantic in atmosphere.
It’s little known, but the Septet could be classed as one of Saint-Saëns’s finest moments. The last movement, in particular, displays that same sparkling wit and invention familiar from Saint-Saëns’s five Piano Concertos and the Carnival of the Animals.
- We named Saint-Saëns one of the greatest French composers of all time
- The greatest piano concertos of all time
Best trumpet music: solo instrumental works
Jeremiah Clarke: Trumpet Voluntary
The English Baroque composer and organist Jeremiah Clarke (c. 1674-1707) is known largely for just one work: his Trumpet Voluntary. This popular piece is often performed at weddings and other ceremonies.
It was selected as one the 17 tracks for Hooked On Classics, the 1981 album of ‘classical disco’ performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.