Concerto for Trumpet

By Wynton Marsalis

BORN : October 18, 1961, in New Orleans

Ω COMPOSED : 2023

Ω WORLD PREMIERE: This weekend’s concerts mark the world premiere performances of Wynton Marsalis’s Concerto for Trumpet, co-commissioned by The Cleveland Orchestra, Verbier Festival, and London Symphony Orchestra.

Ω ORCHESTRATION: 2 flutes (2nd doubling piccolo), 2 oboes, english horn, 2 clarinets (second doubling bass clarinet), 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (xylophone, marimba, vibraphone, glockenspiel, cymbals, hi-hat, tam-tam, concert bass drum, small bass drum, snare drum, tom-tom, tambourine, sand blocks, wood blocks, triangle, slap stick, police whistle, cowbell, African hand drums, claves, cabasa), and strings, plus solo trumpet

Ω DURATION: about 35 minutes

“I ALWAYS TELL A JOKE,” remarks American composer and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, “that the trumpet is in the Bible. The archangel Gabriel played the trumpet and the world started, and then, in the end, the trumpet will sound. It’s beginning the world and ending the world.”

The trumpet’s many roles can indeed feel world-encompassing. Appearances throughout the orchestral repertoire showcase an instrument that can just as easily conjure a terrifying funeral march in Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, as evoke the calm, wide-open spaces of the American prairie in Copland’s Billy the Kid. The jazz realm in particular has played host to some of the greatest trumpeters in history, among them Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, and Dizzy Gillespie. Adding to this list is Wynton Marsalis, one of many shepherding the trumpet’s legacy in the 21st century. As a performer, he is internationally renowned for his performances of works spanning the Baroque to big band. As artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, he has introduced listeners to the wonders of this musical genre through concerts, recordings, and educational programs over decades. As a composer, his works span multiple genres — symphonic, chamber, vocal, ballet, and more — and include a Grammy-winning violin concerto for Nicola Benedetti and the Pulitzer Prize–winning oratorio Blood on the Fields. In his works, stylistic boundaries are delightfully blurry; Marsalis is an expert in moving fluidly between many types of music, with little concern for conforming to any strict definitions.

Such is the case with the Concerto for Trumpet, a sprawling, six-movement work that captures a small snapshot of the vast and colorful history of the instrument. “The trumpet’s legacy is one of discovery,” Marsalis states. “Once the trumpet could play scale notes, Haydn wrote his concerto. Then when the trumpet became the keyed bugle, Americans — led by the great Francis Johnson — started to play fast things like what violins could play. Later, Louis Armstrong made the trumpet croon and actually sound like a human being. Our instrument went through many evolutions, and the concerto tries to deal with that legacy.”

This legacy also resonates with Michael Sachs, principal trumpet of The Cleveland Orchestra. When Sachs initially approached Marsalis with the idea of writing a concerto for him, Marsalis immediately agreed. The composer recalls: “We started talking about form and movements and ended up talking for an hour about great trumpet players we’ve admired and loved. We went through person after person, and I think all of that is in the concerto.” It also helped that the two were familiar with each other before the request.

“Wynton and I have known each other for a very long time,” Sachs shares. “I have the utmost respect and admiration for him and his artistry. It’s been incredibly fun and inspiring to talk together, first about what we envisioned this piece could be and then to finally see this tremendous work he has created.”

Sachs is confident that Marsalis’s Trumpet Concerto will allow listeners to view the trumpet in a new light.

“I hope that people come away seeing the many different voices and styles that the trumpet can do, some of which may surprise them. I hope that as we explore these various styles and voices, the audience will feel that the trumpet is capable of capturing one’s attention for this length of time.” With such a broad and colorful range of music on display, there is little reason to doubt the trumpet’s power to both dazzle and inspire.

— Kevin McBrien