FANFARE! TRUMPET CLASSICS

Aaron Azunda Akugbo & Zeynep Özsuca

Crucible Playhouse, Sheffield
Saturday 30 November 2024, 2.00pm

Tickets
£22
£14 UC, DLA & PIP
£5 Under 35s & Students 

Book Tickets
Aaron Akugbo, rising-star trumpet player

HONEGGER Intrada (4’)
L BOULANGER Nocturne et Cortège (8’)
VIVALDI Agitata da due venti (6’)
BOZZA Aria (4’)
FRANÇAIX Sonatine (8’)
HUBEAU Sonata (15’)
PRICE The Glory of the Day was in Her Face (3’)
PRICE Song to the Dark Virgin (3’)
MAHLER Ich atmet’ einen linden Duft (3’)
ROPARTZ Andante et Allegro (6’) 

Having made waves with recent performances at Wigmore Hall and the BBC Proms, rising star trumpeter Aaron Akugbo makes his Sheffield debut. Citing Louis Armstrong as his greatest musical influence, this charismatic performer presents an eclectic mix of works.  

This promises to be an afternoon concert of discovery and delight, with music spanning centuries and continents. Works from familiar names such as Vivaldi and Mahler are combined with new treats to discover from Florence Price and Eugene Bozza.  

View the brochure online here or download it below.

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Save £s when you book for 5 Music in the Round concerts or more at the same time. Find out more here. 

HONEGGER Arthur, Intrada

 The Intrada by Arthur Honegger (1892–1955) was composed in April 1947 for that year’s concours at the Geneva Conservatoire. Its maestoso outer sections are ceremonial in character – with angular melodic lines (over sustained piano chords) that are particularly well suited to the trumpet – while the lively central section resembles a kind of toccata for trumpet.  

Nigel Simeone © 2024 

BOULANGER Lili, Nocturne et Cortège

The phenomenal gifts of Lili Boulanger (1893–1918) were recognised when she was in her teens, and in 1913 she became the first woman to win the Prix de Rome for composition at the Paris Conservatoire with her cantata Faust et Hélène. She was nineteen at the time, but her musical language was already distinctive. The Nocturne was one of her earlier pieces, originally entitled ‘pièce courte pour flûte et piano’, the manuscript dated 27 October 1911. It was subsequently reworked for violin and piano and is here arranged for trumpet. The Cortège, which is often paired with it, dates from June 1914 when it began as a piano solo which was then arranged for violin and piano and later transcribed for trumpet. 

Nigel Simeone © 2024 

VIVALDI Antonio, Agitata da due venti

Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741) is much less remembered for his operas than for his instrumental and choral works, but he claimed to have composed more than 90 of them, of which complete scores of around 20 are known to survive. The aria ‘Agitata da due venti’ began life in his opera Adelaide – first performed in Verona during the Carnival season in February 1735, and recycled few months later in Griselda which was given its premiere at the Teatro San Samuele in Venice on 18 May 1735. In both cases, this florid virtuoso aria was performed by the same singer, Margherita Giacomazzi. The title refers to the character Costanza, caught by conflicting emotions like a sailor between opposing winds. The coloratura vocal lines of Vivaldi’s original transfer very successfully to a trumpet.  

Nigel Simeone © 2024 

BOZZA Eugene,

Eugène Bozza (1905–91) was born in Nice to an Italian father (who was a professional violinist). After graduating from the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, he pursued further studies over the next decade (in violin, conducting and composition) at the Paris Conservatoire, winning the Prix de Rome in 1934. He composed the Aria in 1936, scoring it originally for saxophone and piano but its flowing melody over ripely-harmonised piano chords is well suited to the trumpet. 

Nigel Simeone © 2024 

FRANÇAIX Jean, Sonatine

Jean Françaix (1912–97) composed his Sonatine for the 1952 trumpet concours. Cast in three short movements, the opening ‘Prélude requires considerable agility while the ‘Sarabande’ presents a long, slow melody on a muted trumpet which gives way to faster and more complex section full of rapid chromatic writing. An unaccompanied cadenza leads directly to an entertaining ‘Gigue’ which brings the work to a high-spirited close.

Nigel Simeone © 2024 

HUBEAU Jean, Sonata

Jean Hubeau (1917–92) is remembered primarily as a pianist, but he studied composition with Paul Dukas at the Conservatoire and was runner up in the 1934 Prix de Rome competition, coming second to Eugène Bozza. Hubeau composed his Sonata for Trumpet in 1943 and it was published by Durand the following year with a dedication to Jean Bérard, head of the Pathé-Marconi recording company. One of its most celebrated later exponents was the trumpeter Maurice André who recorded the work with the composer at the piano. It is cast in three movements: a Sarabande marked Andante con moto, a rapid Intermède and a concluding blues-inspired Spiritual 

Nigel Simeone © 2024 

PRICE Florence, The glory of the day was in her face

The rediscovery of the African-American composer Florence Price (1897–1953) has not only revealed an impressive body of symphonic music but also a number of songs including The Glory of the Day was in Her Face (on a poem by James Weldon Johnson) and Song to the Dark Virgin (from her 1941 collection Songs of the Weary Blues, four settings of Langston Hughes, the great poet of the Harlem Renaissance).  

Nigel Simeone © 2024 

PRICE Florence, Songs to the dark virgin

The rediscovery of the African-American composer Florence Price (1897–1953) has not only revealed an impressive body of symphonic music but also a number of songs including The Glory of the Day was in Her Face (on a poem by James Weldon Johnson) and Song to the Dark Virgin (from her 1941 collection Songs of the Weary Blues, four settings of Langston Hughes, the great poet of the Harlem Renaissance).  

Nigel Simeone © 2024 

MAHLER Gustav, Ich atmet’ einen linden Duft

‘Ich atmet einen linden Duft’ is from the Rückert-Lieder by Gustav Mahler (1860–1911), composed in the summer of 1901 and evoking the gentle fragrance of a lime tree which the poet associated with his love.

Nigel Simeone © 2024 

GUY-ROPARTZ Joseph, Andante et Allegro

Joseph Guy-Ropartz (1865–1955) composed his Andante et Allegro for the 1903 trumpet concours at the Paris Conservatoire. Born in Brittany, he studied composition with Massenet and the organ with César Franck before becoming director of the conservatoires in Nancy and then Strasbourg. His compositions include five symphonies as well as shorter works including this fluently written competition piece which explores many of the characteristics of the instrument – expressiveness in the slower sections and considerable brilliance towards the close. 

Nigel Simeone © 2024 

“His sound was sweet, often lyrical, with the ability to play […] with perfect clarity and intonation”

The Arts Desk

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