This unabridged arrangement of the familiar Pachelbel Canon is a showpiece for ambitious trumpet ensembles challenging performers and impressing audiences with its demands for precise rhythmic execution and careful attention to balance. Three pairs of trumpeters perform the original three violin parts and a fourth pair repeats the basso continuo. An alternate set of C trumpet parts is included for parts one to six as an option to the B-flat parts. The sound file is an actual trumpet ensemble performance and not a computer playback of the score.

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.

Petros Shoujounian, an Armenian/Canadian composer has written Twelve Duos for Trumpets based on the folksong collection of the Armenian priest Komitas, known as the founder of the Armenian national school of music and one of the pioneers of ethnomusicology. Below are comments from the composer about his inspiration in writing these Twelve Duos for Trumpets.

My interest in the collected works of Komitas's ethnographical songs was aroused when I was introduced to Bela Bartok's similar works followed by Alan Hovhaness's huge creative world. Bartok completed his project having at his disposal a large collection of ethnographic music, while Hovhannes studied the wealth of Komitas's music with great interest. It is difficult to say to what extent the Armenian underpinning of Hovhannes's works is nurtured by Komitas's musical world, but his classical interpretation of the Armenian ethnographical music created a huge interest in the listener. Needless to say, there is also Aram Katchaturian's legacy, which at its core has the ardent presence of the Armenian spirit, nurtured by Komitas's very existence.

Komitas has left a collection of about 3,000 cleaned versions of the ethnographic song and dance pieces, of which 1,700 has reaches us, about 400 of which have been activated. I believe that in those beautiful musical fragments reside the power to be revived, once we enrich them with colorful musical instruments and unbounded polyphonic imagination.

This is the motivation behind my own work and these Twelve Duos for Trumpets: to make the essence of our ethnographic music accessible through Komitas.

These Twelve Duos are appropriate for advanced performers and are written for C Trumpets, B-flat Trumpets, Cornets, B-flat Piccolo Trumpets, and Flugelhorns.

This arrangement of Stardust for Trumpet Quartet captures the heart and soul of the big bad era. The lush harmonies and tight dissonances take you back in time.

The skill level on this arrangement is advanced in the first part, but intermediate in the other three parts. The reason for this is the written high F Sharp towards the end in the first part.

An arrangement of this popular Christmas Carol melody for trumpet duet and organ, the melodic Organ Pedal part provides a third melody line which helps create a brass trio texture. The two trumpet parts are more advanced as they require the players to confidently play up to High Concert C. The organ writing is on two staves and is no more than intermediate in difficulty level. This arrangement would be an ideal Postlude for Christmas services, and is also splendid duet repertoire for advance College trumpet players. The full score downloads with individual parts attached. Enjoy browsing my extensive selection of trumpet and organ and trumpet duet and organ arrangements available for download on SMP.

John Davison's Sonata for Trumpet and Piano (1990) is a dynamic, lyrical, brilliant and heartfelt work written for Trumpet in B-flat and Piano. It is in the traditional three-movement Fast-Slow-Fast format with the piano part playing an integral role.

Movement 1, Allegro non troppo is melodic and rhythmic with a bouncy syncopated style.

Movement 2, Andantino has lyrical and tender moments, and also a haunting muted section.

Movement 3, Allegro is in multi-meter, full of dance-like, rhythmic and syncopated sections.

The 16 minute work is appropriate for advanced performers and can be the major work on a recital.

The sample track is performed brilliantly by Terry Everson, Trumpet and Susan Nowicki, Piano.

The Queen of the Night Aria from the Opera Magic Flute is one of the most recognized works of the classical era, featuring a coloratura soprano soloist reaching brilliant heights of dramatic fervor.

Keith Terrett has also been brilliant with his 3 minute arrangement (in C minor, down a step) for Piccolo Trumpet in B-flat and Piano for advanced performers.