Here is a description of the TRITONE Sonata for Trumpet and Piano by the composer, John Frith:

"One of my most enjoyable roles in music was conducting the Herefordshire Young People?s Orchestras (UK) in the late 1980s. Stuart Essenhigh was a very talented young trumpeter who toured Belgium with the orchestra as a soloist in 1989.

Encouraged by this experience Stuart went on to study in London graduating as a fine professional trumpeter working firstly in Hong Kong and then as a freelancer with major U.K. orchestras.

My TRITONE Sonata for Trumpet and Piano of 2016 was written specifically for Stuart. Each of its three movements uses the interval of a tritone in different ways. We hear it initially as a ?benign? element of the first movement; ?ironic? in the second and even ?playful? in the last.

I - Moderato

The use of a ?straight? mute to open and close this movement greatly enlarged my palate of sound colours and, together with some unconventional ?flutter- tonguing? techniques, it allowed me to emphasize the declamatory and strident possibilities of this powerful instrument?... I call for ?ffff? (fortissississimo) at one point! The muted coda creates an otherworldly? atmosphere - distant and questioning at the close.

II ? Andante espressivo ? piu mosso ? Tempo primo

The opening austere and angular melody (which demands great lip flexibility and control) leads to a relaxed and flowing ?piu mosso? with quasi baroque idioms. This builds towards florid, technical passages for the soloist which are matched by more assertive piano lines heralding the return of the opening material and a soulful resolution.

III ? Maestoso ? rondo

A traditional martial ?fanfare? opens the final movement by answering phrases from both instruments. There is something of a power struggle in progress here which is momentarily resolved at the ?rondo? where the piano accepts a supportive ?um-pa-pa? accompanimental role. The trumpet melody is dominant and confident but the piano gradually asserts itself propelling the music with a powerful ?boogie-woogie? style bass line. This encourages both instruments to climb ever higher in, what I trust will be, a thrilling race for the final bar." John Frith 2020

This work is about 12 minutes in length and is appropriate for advanced to virtuoso performers.

Zatten was commissioned in 2005 by Trumpeter Paul Neebe during the composer's vacation to do ancestral research in the town of Zatten, currently part of Poland.

Roger Petrich writes the following about his Zatten Concerto for Trumpet:

"The 'DNA' of this compostion tracks back to my great-grandfather and the tiny Plattdeutsch village where he was born. Zatten, [then] located in the eastern part of Berlin/Brandenburg is in an area of forest and small farms dating back to the 1600's. My grandfather R. T. Petrich, whose initials I bear, was six years old when he, along with his parents, sister, and older brother left Prussia to start a new life in the USA.

My own childhood memories include many visits to the family homestead in Dakota Territory, where I used to play in the barn which hosted many summer dances. The Dakota sky was vast by day, and nights could become magical with the addition of the Northern Lights. Though not a professional musician, my father kept up his trumpet playing all his life. In a special way it was his "voice" - a sound that deeply imprinted all my growing up years. All of this is mixed together in my Zatten Concerto"

The Zatten Concerto is in three movements, the two outer movements faster and the middle is a Largo. This work is written for Trumpet in C and is appropriate for advanced performers.

The title Zatten (the name of the small village in Germany where his family was located before immigrating to the USA) is spelled out in Morse Code in the very opening eight bars of the work. The Concerto is originally written for Trumpet and String Orchestra, this version using a reduction for Piano.