A Guide to Performance of Twentieth-Century Concerti for Trumpet and Orchestra by Karl Pilss, William Lovelock, and John Williams

Abstract

During the mid-twentieth century, the trumpet saw a major revival in soloist performances and a surge in virtuosic trumpet compositions was noted. Although this developed trumpet repertoire, many of these pieces have been forgotten. This thesis studied selected trumpet repertoire through score analysis, recordings, and literature regarding three twentieth-century trumpet concerti by Karl Pilss, William Lovelock and John Williams. Each of these works are significant to the trumpeting world based on the composer, the style of the concerto, and the difficulty of the work.This thesis combines both Music Performance Research and Artistic Research in Music. Music Performance Research has been conducted through the compilation of recordings, both live and studio-recorded, score analysis, and historical information relating to the composer and the original performers. Artistic Research in music has been conducted through the discussion of my own personal practice and performance techniques.Outputs from this thesis include recorded performances of the works, and practice and performance techniques utilised, to aid future players of these concerti and other twentieth-century works. This includes practice suggestions for ways to approach technically challenging areas containing issues including large intervallic leaps, dynamic extremes, range, and endurance. I have also addressed musical issues, including the use of adaptive tone, phrasing, dynamics, and character. I have also suggested techniques and exercises that I used to overcome these difficulties while also providing information (if any) on the ways in which other performers have approached these same problems as a performance guide.Due to the difficulties inherent in twentieth-century works, it was necessary to develop alternate practice techniques to help overcome the challenges within these concerti. The skills learnt and developed while performing difficult works, such as these concerti, are transferrable to other aspects of playing, making them extremely beneficial. Due to endurance reasons these concerti can be difficult to find adequate time to practice them while also maintaining the freshness of embouchure required for other rehearsals and performances. To overcome this, I practiced most of these concerti in small segments, with clear goals set at the beginning of each practice session on what was to be practiced and achieved. Further study of other under-performed works would be beneficial to the trumpeting world, as the current range of standard repertoire is severely lacking at this time.