Kim Patrick Clow wrote:
I'm curious if having Trumpets in G Major is unsual for baroque music?
I know E Flat is kind of rare, Bach used that in the Magnificat for
example. But I'm curious why the composer just didn't transpose this G
Major sinfonia to D, where trumpets were more common.
This is pure speculation, but over the years I've heard a number of
items written by prominent composers calling for an unusual instrument.
In some cases these were written with a particular individual in mind.
I'm thinking specifically here of the Austrian pianist who lost his
right hand in WW I, and commissioned a number of challenging works for
piano-left hand, but I also seem to remember a number of occasions
listening to Fine Arts music stations where it was mentioned that one or
another works for an unusual instrument, was composed for a certain
performer or group.
Is it such a stretch to think that an individual of Bach's acquaintance
owned an E-flat trumpet, and wrote (or revised) the part with that
player in mind? It seems to me that in Bach's time, all musical
instruments were handcrafted, and it would not have been that much
difficult for an instrument maker to make a trumpet in one key than in
another.
ns
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