PROGRAMME NOTES

ALEXANDER ARUTIUNIAN Trumpet Concerto in A-flat major

Following in the nationalist style first established by Khatchaturian, Alexander Arutiunian (19202012) became a central figure in post-World War II Armenian musical life both as composer, and as the director of the Armenian Philharmonic Society (1954-90). In his music Arutiunian combined the post-Romantic Russian tradition with Armenian folk elements, qualities readily evident in his beloved Trumpet Concerto, a cornerstone of brass repertoire, and one of Arutiunian’s most oft played works.

First conceived in 1943 for Arutiunian's trumpeter friend, Zsolak Vartasarian – who tragically died during the War – Arutiunian returned to the work in 1949 completing it for Aykaz Messiayan, who premiered the concerto with the USSR State Orchestra in Moscow's Tchaikovsky Hall, in 1950.

Composed as a single multifaceted movement the concerto opens with a dramatic Andante introduction from the orchestra leading directly into the soloist’s Armenian-tinged melody that is soon transformed into a sprightly dance. This is followed by a contrasting cantabile melody, reminiscent of Borodin. Arutiunian develops these ideas, transforming them into central section in which the muted trumpet soloist voices a reflective melody over the orchestra’s suggestive tango groove. The opening allegro material returns, this time with full-throated Shostakovichian interjections from the tutti orchestra. The work culminates with a brief, but demanding, cadenza composed by the Soviet-Russian virtuoso trumpeter Timofei Dokschitzer (who also appears on the 1969 premiere recording) before an exhilarating culminating gesture brings the concerto to a boisterous close.