A Bach Notebook for Trumpet

Johann Sebastian Bach wrote celebrated parts for the old ‘natural’ trumpet – the stratospheric 2nd Brandenburg Concerto and brilliant coloratura of the Mass in B minor are on a plane of brilliance beyond anything previously composed. A Bach Notebook for Trumpet is a collection which allows us to imagine that Johann Sebastian, and ten others from the Bach family, might have found the modern medium of trumpet and piano a rather intriguing vehicle for their art. The musical language is kaleidoscopic from antiquated 17th-century canzonas and vocal motets to ‘galant’ keyboard excursions and symphonic overtures, mainstream orchestral suites and Italian concertos. As well as these genres, the virtuosic ‘stylus phantasticus’ of the great organ preludes and fugues yields to the congregational chorale, in turn fused to intimate and dramatic paraphrases which Johann Sebastian turned into celebrated art forms. The devotional prayer and the public statement can all be found here.

The individual character of each Bach piece, distilled in such an unfamiliar and ‘unhistorical’ duo, can encourage a fresh understanding of the collective spirit of this unrivalled musical clan. Unlike Busoni, Liszt and Rachmaninov, who made arrangements as a deliberate means of compositional refurbishment in their own image, these re-workings refer closely to original Bachian textures and current views on articulation and embellishment, as well as maintaining ideals of baroque and early-classical rhetorical exchange.

Ultimately, this ‘notebook’ – a genre which the Bachs would have recognised instantly (such as JSB’s celebrated ‘Notenbüchlein für Anna Magdalena’) – is a rounded anthology for practical use where both significant and short works can be programmed imaginatively alongside established solo trumpet and piano recital repertoire.


Editors: Jonathan Freeman-Attwood and Daniel-Ben Pienaar

Parts included:
- Piano
- Trumpet in C
- Trumpet in E-flat (alternative part)

CONTENT:
J.S. Bach (1685 – 1750) – Prelude & Fugue in G Major (BWV 541)
J.S. Bach – Chorale Prelude: An Wasserflüssen Babylon (BWV 635b)
J.H. Bach (1615 – 1692) – Sonata in F Major
J.M. Bach (1648 – 1694) – Aria: ‘Ach, wie sehnlich wart ich der Zeit’
J.S. Bach (1685 – 1750) – Coro: Wer an ihn gläubet (BWV 68)
J.Chr. Bach (1642 – 1703) – Motet: Ich lasse dich nicht (BWV Anh. 159)
J.L. Bach (1677 – 1731) – Ouverture in G Major
J.S. Bach – Concerto in A Major: III. Allegro (BWV 1055)
J.S. Bach – Aria: Seht was die Liebe tut (BWV 85)
J.S. Bach – Chorale Prelude: O Mensch, bewein’ dein’ Sünde gross (BWV 622)
J.S. Bach – Chorale: Von Gott kommt mir ein Freudenschein (BWV 172)
J.S. Bach – Chorale Prelude: ‘O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig’ (BWV 656)
G.H. Bach (1724 – 1761) – Aria: So oft ich meine Tobackspfeife (BWV 515a)
J.S. Bach – English Suite No. 2 in A minor: I. Prelude (BWV 807)
J.C.F. Bach (1732 – 1795) – Rondo – Allegretto (F.X/2)
C.P.E. Bach (1714 – 1788) – Sonata in G minor (H47)
J.B. Bach (1676 – 1749) – Suite No. 4 in C: La Joye
W.F. Bach (1710 – 1784) – Polonaise in F minor (Falck 12)
J.C. Bach (1735 – 1782) – Amadis de Gaule: Ouverture (W.G39)
J.S. Bach – Sarabande in D Major