Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Work Overview

This work is inspired by many of the great brass concerti of the Rococo and Classical periods. This particular time was a golden age for brass with composers such as Neruda, Albrechtsberger, Leopold Mozart and both Michael and Joseph Haydn writing major works for solo brass instruments.

Collins stays true to the standard classical concerto form and uses many elements and techniques associated with the era. It is however, a modern work that employs contemporary uses of tonality and changing meter. Many of the virtuosic runs that occur throughout the concerto are based on the whole tone scale.

The second movement is a beautiful thematic work that has an ever-present Spanish flavour. The seeringly beautiful singing quality of the trumpet is explored in all registers of the instrument and the strings provide much tension with their rich dissonances.

The final movement is a stirring march that demands the utmost precision, energy and flamboyance of the soloist and orchestra. It has an infectious exuberance that culminates in a presto section that leaves performers and audiences breathless.

Work Details

Year: 2011

Instrumentation: Trumpet, piano.

Duration: 17 min.

Difficulty: Advanced — Well suited to college and professional players

Contents note: 1. Allegro moderato (4min., 36 sec.) -- 2. Slow and dramatic (7 min., 39 sec.) -- 3. Allegro Vivace (4 min., 39 sec.).

Written for: Rex Richardson

Commission note: Commissioned by International Trumpet soloist, Rex Richardson, Virginia Commonwealth University