Brass-Forum: Trumpet Concerto in Eb

Trumpet Concerto in E-flat major
Franz Joseph Haydn (1732 – 1809)

Allegro
Andante
Allegro

Born into a musical family in Austria, Joseph Haydn was educated in Hainburg and as a chorister in St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna. A largely self-taught pianist, organist and violinist, he studied compositional techniques through the works of C.P.E. Bach. In 1757 he was appointed musical director to Count von Morzin and in 1761 took up a similar position as Kapellmeister at the court of the Esterhazy family, near Vienna, where his role included composing for special occasions, directing a small orchestra and operatic company, looking after a library of manuscripts and teaching music to the gentry.

A truly prolific composer, Haydn composed numerous symphonies, concerti and operas, as well as a myriad of chamber music including string quartets, piano trios and divertimenti. Most of his output was written for his employers Princes Paul Anton and Nikolaus Esterhazy, and premiered by the musicians and actors of the Viennese court.

Haydn wrote his trumpet concerto (his final work for orchestral forces) in 1796 at the behest of the famous Viennese court trumpeter Anton Weidinger. Weidinger had invented a keyed instrument in E b, capable of playing all the chromatic notes throughout the range, as opposed to the limited ‘open’ harmonic series notes available on the natural trumpet. The finished 4-6 key version of the instrument was used to great acclaim at the first performance of the concerto in Vienna in the early nineteenth century, and was also the stimulus for J. N. Hummel’s Trumpet Concerto (1803). However, this keyed instrument was soon superseded by the valved instrument, first invented in 1813, and Haydn’s concerto is today played largely on the modern E b or B b instruments. The cadenzas in the first and final movements were originally improvised by the performer as virtuoso flourishes, while today there are several cadenzas written by leading scholars and soloists, including Maurice André and Edward H. Tarr. The concerto is perhaps the most widely performed and recorded trumpet concerto of all time.

In true classical tradition, Haydn’s concerto has a strong sense of structure, and the three movements conform to the pattern of his earlier symphonies, but without the minuet. Primarily employing a simple triadic accompaniment, the majority of the work is based around conjunct, diatonic steps, often utilising embellishments at cadence points. As was customary, the first movement provides the main thematic interest in the concerto, a grand tutti exposition leading into the opening solo statement. Through his exploitation of the new chromatic nature of the instrument, Haydn was able for the first time to modulate between related keys on the trumpet, the lyrical second subject in the dominant contrasting vividly with the more military-style tonic opening. Loosely based on sonata form, the development section in the relative minor (C minor) also explores the interplay between soloist and accompaniment, using varied melodic material, before the stately recapitulation and short coda lead into the aforementioned cadenza.

The second movement Andante proceeds leisurely and serenely in Haydn’s favourite pastoral 6/8 rhythm and in the subdominant key of A-flat major, using simple ternary form ( ABA) with a significant middle episode which modulates into C flat major. Through focusing on lyrical passages mainly in the lower to middle range of the instrument, Haydn consciously exploits the narrow chromatic intervals, which were previously unattainable on any other brass instrument. The opening theme also reflects the relatively strict tonal organisation of the classical period, using symmetrical four bar question and answer phrases, known as the antecedent and consequent.

The finale is a bustling rondo, featuring a characteristic Haydn theme, repeatedly intercepted by a subsidiary second subject in the dominant, thus uniting both the features of rondo and sonata form. The melodic ornamentation also adds vibrancy to the movement, and the contrasting episodes provide moments of variation and colour, including a surprise modulation to the subdominant (A-flat major) which uses fragments of the opening theme. Several lyrical, chromatic gestures are also explored, providing a distinct contrast to the fanfare-like material which punctuates the accompanying tuttis. Towards the end of the movement, both first and second subjects are united in the tonic key, before the main theme returns and the piece reaches its conclusion in a typically triumphant manner.