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So little first class trumpet repertoire is available that classical soloists need to get creative - or risk spending the rest of their careers blasting out Haydn's concerto to ever-dwindling recital audiences.
Alison Balsom has already been inspired to adapt violin pieces and commission new works.
Now she's about to tread the boards, in the atmospheric surroundings of Shakespeare's Globe. In collaboration with writer Samuel Adamson she has created Gabriel, a musical theatre piece that explores "the notion that the natural (valveless) trumpet was the supreme musical instrument of the Restoration. With music by Purcell and Handel, the text brings to the stage real and imagined characters including Mary II and Queen Anne as well as the trumpet-makers, musicians, composers, patrons and audiences of the teeming musical scene in late seventeenth century London."
The shows are in July and August, with a number of child-friendly matinees scheduled. Booking has just opened.
Below- proof that a natural trumpet in the right hands can be played in tune, and Alison Balsom discussing the project with Classic FM.
