Expanding the Trumpet Repertoire: A Pedagogical Exploration of Four Diverse Works for Trumpet by Bertold Hummel, James Miley, Karl Pilss, and Joseph Turrin

The objective of my lecture is to expand the trumpet repertoire through the addition of four diverse works. This lecture recital will include live performance examples, pedagogical reasoning, background information about the composers and pieces, and some ways to make the works more accessible. Karl Pilss’ Sonata for Trumpet and Piano is an authentic German Romantic work for trumpet, which is extremely unique. Pilss’ sonata is also very useful as a study piece for intermediate to advanced students. Joseph Turrin is a prolific composer for trumpet, and his Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra, his first major work for trumpet, deserves to be better known and performed more often. Interesting chamber music for trumpet is difficult to come by, but Bertold Hummel’s Trio op. 82a for Trumpet in C, Percussion, and Piano is an excellent piece in a rare medium and has a unique sound. {this is} for trumpet and piano by James Miley is an example of the future of trumpet repertoire. It was commissioned by myself in 2008, and is a classical piece written by a composer with a significant jazz background. It utilizes many different stylistic influences of the composer including jazz, classical, pop, and rock music, however, {this is} is still very accessible to players that don’t have a jazz background