COMPOSERS: Barrett & Paisible,Corbett,Croft,Eccles,Finger,Purcell
LABELS: Hyperion
WORKS: Works by Purcell, Corbett, Finger, Croft, Eccles, Barrett & Paisible
PERFORMER: Mark Bennett, Michael Laird (trumpet), Frank de Bruine (oboe), Judy Tarling (violin); Parley of Instruments/Peter Holman
CATALOGUE NO: CDA 66817 DDD
If some trumpeters continue to perform arrangements of Baroque oboe and violin concertos, claiming a sparseness of good original material for their own instrument, it will be in spite of the achievements of Peter Holman, who has directed several recordings which illuminate the Golden Age of the trumpet. Sound the Trumpet is a thoughtfully planned disc with plenty of variety, despite the instrument’s limitations of key.
The works themselves, using the solo instruments in different combinations, offer a delightful range of movements, from the characterful dances in the Corbett and Eccles suites to expressive adagios. The sounds of the trumpets – delicate, sonorous and vital – are rarely dominating, but instead blend with the other instruments to such an extent that, at times, only the trumpet’s idiosyncratic lip trill indicates its presence in the texture.
The trills, exuberantly executed by Mark Bennett, though admired and envied throughout the trumpet fraternity, seem nevertheless to accentuate the natural trumpet’s intonation problems, which are otherwise corrected by the fingerholes of the ‘modern’ natural trumpet. Expertly directed and stylishly played, this well-filled disc is highly recommended. Deborah Calland