Markus Würsch performs Hummel Trumpet Concerto in E Major

Johann Nepomuk Hummel, who succeeded Haydn as Kapellmeister to the Esterházy family, also composed a concerto for the keyed trumpet virtuoso Anton Weidinger. This concerto was composed in December 1803 and performed on New Year’s Day 1804, to mark Hummel's succession of Haydn into the court orchestra of Nikolaus II, Prince Esterházy. Weidinger is believed to have changed passages in all three movements, to facilitate performance on the keyed trumpet (seconda versione). It is unknown whether these changes were made with or without Hummel's approval. The original score was written in E major, but the piece is often performed in E-flat major, which serves to simplify technically demanding fingering when performed on modern E-flat and B-flat trumpets. Hummel also wrote a Trio for trumpet, piano and violin for Weidinger; unfortunately this is now lost. Other composers known to have written for Weidinger and his keyed trumpet include: Leopold Kozeluh (1747 -1816) and Joseph Weigel (1766–1846).

We know that from 1793 Weidinger worked extensively improving the keyed trumpet, but Weidinger’s instrument unfortunately has not survived. We have no record of the details of these improvements as Weidinger went to great effort to keep his innovations a secret. According to contemporary accounts, whenever he appeared as soloist, he hid his instrument from curious eyes. In his own words he spent 7 years „at great expense“ improving the keyed trumpet. He did not want to „simply give away“ the fruits of his painstaking and expensive innovations.

It is to conclude from these sources that Weidinger did not play a normally available keyed trumpet of the period (examples of which exist in museums today), but that he based his virtuoso career on an instrument which he designed and optimized himself. Since his instrument has not survived and he jealously guarded his innovations, Weidinger’s important and critical contributions to the development of the keyed trumpet have been lost.

Today, in building modern reproductions of keyed trumpets for the Haydn and Hummel concerti, it would be unnecessarily dogmatic to consider as legitimate only exact copies of surviving instruments. That such important developments have been lost gives modern instrument builders latitude in attempting to reconstruct the legendary keyed trumpet developed and played by Weidinger.

According to Reine Dahlquist, (The Keyed Trumpet and its Greatest Virtuoso Anton Weidinger) Weidinger, through his use of wider bore and additional tonholes, was successful in making the low register of the trumpet playable, until then not possible. Also it is thought that Weidinger in performing the Hummel Concerto did not simply change crooks for E Major, but used a newly designed and built instrument which was optimized for E Major.

Note: A new facsimile edition of the Hummel Concerto has recently been published; Johann Nepomuk Hummel: Concerto a Tromba principale 1803. Manuscript Facsimile Reprint, Vuarmarens 2011 (hkb Historic Brass Series, Bd. 4)

Prof. Markus Würsch
With the support of the Swiss National Fund and the Bern University of the Arts, Markus conducted extensive research and subsequently developed a reconstruction of a 19th century keyed trumpet, in collaboration with the instrument maker Konrad Burri. The original instrument, the focus of the research, was found in the private collection of Karl Burri, Zimmerwald, near Bern. With this reconstructed instrument, Markus went on to perform and produce a CD recording of the trumpet concertos of Joseph Haydn and Nepumuk Hummel in June 2013.
For some years now, he performs almost exclusively on historical instruments. He frequently appears with the ensembles “La Cetra” and I Barocchisti (RSI, Italian Swiss Radio) and continues to interpret the Haydn and Hummel trumpet concertos as soloist on the keyed trumpet.
Markus Würsch is professor of Modern, Natural and Romantic trumpet at Bern University of the Arts, and at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts.

For further information please contact:
www.markuswuersch.ch
Bern University of the Arts
www.hkb.bfh.ch
markus.wuersch(at)hkb.bfh.ch
markus.wuersch(at)gmail.com