TRUMPET CONCERTO IN E-FLAT

Within his diverse oeuvre, Hummel wrote several works for the keyed trumpet, an instrument that typically employed five keys rather than valves and had a smoother, more clarion tone than the modern trumpet. The first keyed trumpet was likely made in Dresden, Germany, around 1770, but it was the Viennese court trumpeter Anton Weidinger who brought the instrument to prominence until it was supplanted by the modern valve trumpet in the 1840s. Two of the most substantial concerti in the modern trumpet repertoire were originally written for Weidinger and his keyed instrument: Haydn’s Concerto in E-flat, Hob. VIIe:1 and this Hummel Concerto, originally written in the key of E. Both works were designed to showcase the increased chromatic capabilities of the unique keyed trumpet as compared to other brass instruments of the time. Hummel finished his manuscript on December 8, 1803, and Weidinger performed it three weeks later for a New Year’s tafelmusik (dinner music) at the imperial court in Vienna and kept it in his repertoire for many years after.