Idiomatic composition for the trumpet : an insider's view

Abstract

This portfolio of music compositions and the accompanying commentary represent a kind of crossroads between the world of the composer and the performer. This dissertation aims to study the influence that a performer on the trumpet (with all the ingrained understanding of technical aspects and repertoire) has on a composer’s creative strategic output for the same instrument. For this portfolio, four pieces are being submitted, each featuring the trumpet as the main instrument. The first, Mists, is a three-movement concertino for trumpet and orchestra, exploring the interaction between the solo trumpet and the accompanying orchestra. All the movements are driven by different factors; the first being concerned with an aural soundscape, the second by a conversation between trumpet and bass clarinet, while the third is motivated by rhythmic drive. The second piece in the portfolio is a work for soprano, trumpet and piano, with music set to a text in Maltese Fis-Skiet [In Silence], by Diane Cutajar, which discusses the narrator’s conflicting dual relationship with silence that can be both golden or reproachful. The Duet for Two Trumpets is a piece which, through the double role of the two trumpets – both contrasting and complimenting one another – presents a stately fanfare with interwoven lyrical episodes. The last piece, Three Bagatelles for Solo Trumpet & Flugelhorn, consists of three miniatures for solo trumpet, which also doubles on flugelhorn. Each miniature presents a unique mood and style, creating a varied canvas aiming to mirror the flow of different emotions experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic and the corollary restrictions it has imposed. This dissertation is structured in two parts. The first part is a critical commentary on the four compositions mentioned earlier, with reflections related to the compositional process, such as the inspiration, a myriad of critical choices regarding orchestration and form amongst others. A reflection on the entire process concludes this first section. The second part contains all the musical scores pertaining to the pieces submitted for this study.