Jimi Michiel

If I could pick a cause to champion, it would be the performance of "concert etudes" in recital. Pianists do it, string players do it, what can't we? Sure, no one wants to hear Top Tones in public, but I would love to hear many of the Charlier etudes, a few of the Bitsch etudes or any of the six etudes by Tomasi (I did the "other" three Tomasi etudes on a recital last year and I think I could say that they were very well received).

There are some etudes I treat as just that, studies. The Brandt come to mind. To me, they're exercises that help you develop style and endurance without any particular musical end in themselves. They're great at isolating single idiomatic elements of orchestral trumpet playing and then expanding on them. I have a goal when I play them, but the goal is a specific stylistic or musical element, not necessarily a complete musical picture.

The approach to "concert etudes" is much different for me. On something like Charlier 13, you can present a complete musical picture. There's a clear form and narrative in it, something to chew on... I still try to approach them with the same stylistic elements, but they take a back seat to the overall musical narrative.

Louie-

I have to disagree with you on your idea that the key doesn't matter. I don't have perfect pitch, but I've developed a fairly decent pitch memory, especially for things I play over and over. If I need to think of a concert E-flat, I sing the first half-phrase of Charlier 2. I started playing these etudes in late high school, right before I got my first C trumpet. Even after I got a C trumpet, I practiced my etudes on B-flat (not sure why...). When I got to college, I started playing C trumpet on almost everything (I didn't have a B-flat in my possession for almost two years).

Some etudes, like Brandt, Top Tones, Arban's Characterstic Studies, etc, I could play as written, but I had a really horrible time with Charlier. I had played and heard them so long in a certain key, my ear wouldn't let me play them in a different key. As a result, I took a similar approach (play them on every horn), but I kept the key consistent. It helped my transposition, although some were nearly impossible on the smaller horns. I learned the Tomasi etudes on C trumpet, so now I have similar difficulty playing them on B-flat. Maybe it's stubbornness, but it's like practicing the Hindemith on C trumpet without transposing; it just wouldn't sound right.

I guess what I'm really trying to say is that I won't be taking the NYP audition because I can't play Charlier 2 on a C trumpet without transposing.

-Jimi

ecarroll

Jimi,

I agree that the Charlier etudes are wonderful littles pieces and was glad when Jean-Marie Cottet created piano accompaniments for ten of them (Balquidder Music) a short while ago, if only to flesh out the harmonic context that some students aren't able to hear. I wouldn't think of presenting them in any fashion onstage, however, believing that we have FAR better repertoire, much of it untouched by the majority of fellow trumpeters, that was actually created for the stage.

Regarding the Tomasi and Bitsch etudes, both composers, as you know, wrote concert pieces for the trumpet that are FAR better than these little things, both in structure and in content.

Etudes occupy hallowed ground in my studio: works that "bridge" exercise and music (and can be dissected and worked on either way). They introduce style/nuance and structure in a way an exercise can't. I think of them as a means to an end, however, and not an end themselves.

This is only my opinion. All TMers should perform whatever (s)he wants to perform. . . and do it often*

Best and watching with interest,
EC

*hidden nugget of wisdom

cornetguy

I have used Charlier for auditions (college band and even grad school admission) and juries. In the case of the latter, used #2 as a contrast to something more technical. I am with Ed about recitals, I am not sure about that. Also don't forget Baldwin's transcription of the Trombone etudes for trumpet are also quite good, and different for use in the practice room.