The instrumental concerto developed from ensemble music into a form where a soloist or small group engages in a musical debate with a larger orchestra.
Recording & Production
The recording project, which felt experimental and risky due to challenges of style, intonation, and balance, was created and lived through in January 2024.
Interpretation
This album features Baroque concertos transcribed for piccolo trumpet and Baroque orchestra, combining a modern instrument with period instruments.
Performer Biography
Alison Balsom, the piccolo trumpet soloist, was inspired by Trevor Pinnock's recording of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos at age eight, dedicating her musical life to Baroque music.
Compositional Technique
The works on this album, originally conceived for oboe or violin, exemplify the spirit of the concerto as it emerged in the early 1700s, featuring technical display and interaction with other instruments.
Interpretation
Alison Balsom uses a rotary valve piccolo trumpet for this project, invented around the 1960s, playing at Baroque pitch alongside quieter Baroque instruments.
Instruments
The piccolo trumpet is a modern invention, with its power, bright tone, and 20th-century engineering, unlike the natural trumpet of the Baroque era.
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