Alexander Arutiunian was born in Yerevan, Armenia, on September 23, 1920, and died there on March 28, 2012. In addition to the solo trumpet, the Concerto is scored for two flutes (2nd doubling piccolo), two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, snare drum, triangle, harp, and strings. Approximate performance time is seventeen minutes.
Alexander Arutiunian’s Trumpet Concerto was inspired in part by the Armenian composer’s friend, Tsolak Vartazarian, principal trumpet of the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra. Vartazarian died in World War II. The soloist in the first performance of the Trumpet Concerto was Aykaz Messiayan. Without question, the most famous interpreter of the Arutiunian Trumpet Concerto was the great Russian virtuoso, Timofei Dokshizer (1921-2005). Dokshizer performed the work more than 200 times, and the solo cadenza he wrote for the piece remains the preferred choice.
The Arutiunian Trumpet Concerto is in a single movement, containing several contrasting sections. The Concerto opens with a brief and dramatic slow-tempo introduction (Andante), featuring an arresting dialogue between the orchestra and soloist. After a short pause, the strings initiate the Concerto’s central quick-tempo section (Allegro energico), setting the stage for the soloist’s presentation of the work’s vivacious principal melody. A solo clarinet launches a far more relaxed episode, notable for its lovely writing for the winds and a shimmering climax. The clarinet reprises the principal melody (Tempo I), now treated in varied form. The music grows in power and intensity, finally yielding once again to the solo clarinet. This marks the beginning of the equivalent of the Concerto’s slow-tempo movement (Meno mosso), delicately scored, with the soloist playing muted throughout. The bassoons and lower strings reprise the brusque figure from the Concerto’s opening measures (Tempo I), setting the stage for the soloist’s reprise of the Concerto’s central melody. After a solo cadenza, the Concerto hurtles to its emphatic conclusion.
Program notes by Ken Meltzer