COMPOSER : Alexandra Lehmann
Trumpet’s Extraordinary European Tour
The year 2020 will be infamously recorded as a time when musicians had to lead a solitary life, which is incompatible with musical activity.
Furthermore, I wanted to offer an experience of travelling in Europe through music.
There is a wealth of historical, and traditional European monophonic music.
Hence, the Tour is based around the 14th-15th centuries when
Euphonium encounters different musical cultures.
The Tour is dedicated to my father, mother, brother, and sister;
Jean-Pierre, Françoise, Fabrice, and Mahaut Lehmann;
with whom I was fortunate to travel in my youth.
CONTENTS
1. Ostentatious Overture
Trumpet is at the French palace of Versailles with all its
pomp, splendour, and magnificence.
2. Mystical Minnesänger
Trumpet has travelled to the Holy Roman Empire, where he is
performing an ode to a Germanic Knight.
3. Andalusian Nights
The Caliphate of Cordobá was a mixing-pot of Islamic and Judaic music. What is fascinating is that many of the ideas around performance; modes at certain times of the day, improvisation into metred, faster sections; go back to the Indian subcontinent and even further back into Ancient Greece. Trumpet is chanting for the Caliphate on a warm summer’s evening.
4. Tarantella of the Tagliatelle
I don’t know if the Medici family ate tagliatelle, but if they did, this joyful and lively tarantella is what Trumpet would have played.
5. Terrifying Tropak
A complete change of mood. Trumpet is playing for a swashbuckling performance of Ukrainian Cossacks, with leaps, stamps, and twirls.
6. Sami Herding Song
In the Arctic Norwegian north, Trumpet is with the Sami calling their herd of reindeers with vocalisations that echo in the icy distance.
7. Highland Fling
Trumpet is in Scotland taking part in the Highland Games. Female dancers perform athletic jumps.
8. Royal Festive Fanfare
Trumpet finishes his European Tour at Windsor Castle, England. Like the natural trumpet (played at the time), the lower range is based on the first notes of the harmonic scale and announce the entry of the royal family.
