Franz Joseph Haydn: Trumpet Concerto in E-flat

Haydn wrote his Trumpet Concerto in 1796 for Anton Weidinger, who had developed a
keyed trumpet. This trumpet could play notes unavailable to the natural trumpet, which
had been in use for hundreds of years.
Haydn wrote this concerto to make full use of the new chromatic possibilities offered by
Weidingers trumpet. Haydns orchestration implies that the solo part should mostly be
played with great restraint; there are few forte markings, which are reserved for the tutti
sections. The edition presented is derived from Haydns autograph score, with no
editorial additions.
The first movement starts with Haydn teasing his audience by bringing the solo trumpet
in with loud fanfare figures, only to follow with the main theme later. The movement
contains several semiquaver passages. Contrary to many editors suggestions, it is likely
that Haydn would have expected very few slurs (other than where he has marked them).
Clarino technique employed a wide range of varied tonguing syllables, and commonly used
double tonguing. (Haydn titled this concerto for the clarino; this is what the trumpet was
often called in the eighteenth century, when composers made extensive use of the
trumpets high harmonics.) The cadenza should be improvised or composed using
themes from the movement. Contemporary practice was not to move far away from the
tonic key and to restrain the length to something that could be played in one breath.
Performers are recommended to study others examples in this and other concertos.
However, early editions of this concerto often contain cadenzas which bear little or no
relation to the material preceeding it: such practice should be avoided.
The second movement is marked Andante. Current scholarship suggests that Haydn
expected 6/8 Andantes to move at anything from quaver = 104 to 144; this is
considerably faster than has become the norm in performances of this movement.
Performers are encouraged to try a flowing speed within this range, and then to
understand the music within that tempo. Remembering that it is likely that Haydn
expected that the demisemiquavers would all be tongued, gentle double-tonguing will be
most helpful to achieve the required effect. Remember, this is not a slow movement.
The third movement has similarities with the first, and will probably be taken at a similar
tempo. Bear in mind that the series of trills from bar 249-253 would have had to have
been lip trills on Weidingers trumpet - these trills would not have been very rapid. Resist
the temptation to overblow in this movement, as in the other movements; reserve the
true fortes for the places marked by Haydn.
Notes by Brian Moore

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