Selected Duets for Trumpet Podcast

Page45 #11, Allemande

Selected Duets for Trumpet, Page 45 Number 11, Allemande, performed by David Summer. This third duet in the series by Joseph Boismortier is an Allemande. An allemande is a moderate tempo dance form that was popular during the baroque. An allemande is generally the first or second part of a suite, with a "suite" being a collection of dances. Again there are several "question and answer" sections, as we’ve seen in previous duets. But this time the "answers" start before the end of the "questions". This may prove to be a rhythmic challenge for a student along with the 16th note runs in the second half of the duet. The metronome setting for this performance is quarter note = 84.

Page44 #10, Gigue

Selected Duets for Trumpet, Page 44 Number 10, Gigue, performed by David Summer. This second duet in the series of duets by Boismortier is another Gigue and again it's in 6/8 time at a fast tempo, played "in 2". The student may be challenged by the tied over dotted quarter notes in the last part of the piece. Once more, the student has to be able to hear continuous eighth notes in order to place all the eighths correctly. In this case, that's helped by the fact that the second trumpet part is playing eighths under the first trumpet dotted quarter notes. There are also several "question and answer" sections, as we've seen in previous duets. The duet is in the key of G with a brief foray in a minor in the middle and g minor at the end. The metronome setting for this performance is dotted quarter note = 88.

Page43 #9, Allegretto

Selected Duets for Trumpet, Page 43 Number 9, Allegretto, performed by David Summer. Joseph Bodin de Boismortier was a French composer active in the first half of the 1700s. Boismortier was one of the first composers to make an income from publishing his compositions rather than writing for a patron. Up until that time, financially successful composers wrote compositions, often on demand, for wealthy patrons. These patrons were usually royalty. Boismortier was the first French composer to use the Italian concerto form, in his six concertos for five flutes op. 15. For this performance, only the first repeat is taken and the metronome setting is eigth note = 112.

Page42 #8, Maestoso

Selected Duets for Trumpet, Page 42 Number 8, Maestoso, performed by David Summer. Maestoso, the defacto title of this duet, again means "march-like". Other synonyms include majestic, stately and dignified. This duet is also in 3/8 and includes some dotted 16th - 32nd note figures that are usually played with a slight detachment between the two notes. The range in the 32nd note runs may prove an insurmountable challenge for an inexperienced student. If that’s the case, the teacher may want to assign the trumpet two part, instead of the usual trumpet one part, for practice. The trumpet two part is actually a bit more rhythmically interesting in the second half of the duet than the trumpet one part is. The metronome setting for this performance is eigth note = 80.

Page41 #7, Allegretto

Selected Duets for Trumpet, Page 41 Number 7, Allegretto, performed by David Summer. This is another good duet for studying 6/8 played in 2. The student has to be able to hear continuous eigth notes in order to place all the eigths correctly. To help with this, the teacher might try playing the trumpet one part with all eigth notes for a line or 2 at the same time the student plays the part as written. This should help the student to understand how to subdivide 6/8 played "in 2". For this performance, the Poco meno (meaning "less motion" or to slow down) is ignored for the sake of students playing along with the trumpet 2 parts posted on the summersong.net website. The metronome setting for this performance is dotted quarter note = 92.