| I think many players will agree with you on this one.
I have thought for many years that if Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, etc had all written concertos for the trumpet with the same frequency as they did for piano or violin, the trumpet concertos of that period that we do have would hardly be played.
There are many concertos being written in modern times, but many of these are being specifically written for the likes of Hakan Hardenberger, John Wallace and other world class virtuosos, meaning that they might not be getting the performances they might deserve due to the advanced nature of the trumpet part.
The other aspect of many of these concertos, in my opinion, that has not helped the popularisation of them is the genre in which many of these composers write their music. Many audiences like a good tune and composers such as Harrison Birtwistle seem to think that tunes are the last thing they should ever write - if it isn't "clever" music they aren't interested.
If a composer does write an accessible trumpet concerto (Malcolm Arnold's springs to mind) many orchestras will be reluctant to program these pieces - why takes the risk, when the Haydn is an audience favourite?
If I am being honest, if I never hear the Haydn or Hummel again, I will be quite happy - I have only heard two live Haydn performances that I thought made the piece a great piece of music, despite having heard many players perform it. I have yet to hear a performance of the Hummel that makes me think that the piece was anything more than a novelty concerto written for an unusual instrument of the day.
But that is just me, I am sure there are many people out there who actually like these pieces. |