A new CD by the International Celebrity Trumpet Ensemble

This CD brings together some of the most influential and important trumpeters on the world stage. This international ensemble consists of Ryan Anthony, Principal Trumpet position with The Dallas Symphony Orchestra and member of Canadian Brass, Paul Archibald, Ian Balmain, Principal Trumpet of the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Andrew Crowley, Principal Trumpet with the English Chamber Orchestra and London Sinfonietta, Rod Franks, Principal Trumpet of the London Symphony Orchestra, Hans Gansch, Principal Trumpet in the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra from 1982 until 1996,Florian Klingler Principal Trumpet of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, Maurice Murphy, Principal Trumpet of the London Symphony Orchestra, Gábor Tarkövi, Principal Trumpet with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Nicholas Thompson, Principal Trumpet of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

The repertoire featured on Proclamation includes Rob Davies' Proclamation and Trumpet Mechanism, pairing music of grandeur in the fine tradition established by Walton with a virtuosically driven second movement. Cecilia McDowall has adapted Three Latin Motets to create Three Antiphons for trumpet ensemble and organ. Mark-Anthony Turnage composed From All Sides for this recording, giving us a brief glimpse of a dark world of dislocated fanfares constructed from repeated and sustained notes. From the 1950s, Khaldis by Alan Hovhaness’ takes its name from the Urarduan (pre-Armenian) God of the Universe. This piano concerto, featuring Juliet Edwards, is a set of economical miniatures anticipating some aspects of the minimalism which was to emerge from other North Americans interested in non-Western cultures a few years later. In Hymne au Sacré-Coeur Naji Hakim has created a more sophisticated musical language, modally sometimes reminiscent of the early works of his illustrious predecessor as organist at Saint Trinité for more than forty years, Olivier Messiaen. In Holborne Tubes, Edward Chance's unlikely word-play on Holborn links the London tube station of the second Elizabethan era to the composer Antony Holborne (d 1602) of the first. The music of Jean Françaix most perfectly represents a brand of gallic refinement and wicked humour typical of the period between the two world wars, but rarely had he written with apparent seriousness anything like a Marche Triomphale. Karel Husa’s sharp imagination and unerring excellence in scoring produced the Intradas and Interludes featuring every type of trumpet from flugelhorn to piccolo. The Concertino Piccolo by Jan Koetsier is a remarkable miniature of virtuosity and playfulness while Paul Archibald’s Charpentier Fantastique is a relatively sober re-orchestration of Charpentier's Te Deum, followed by suddenly irresponsible imitations of J S Bach, Malcolm Arnold and reminiscences of Britten's Peter Grimes.