For: Trumpet and Chamber Orchestra consisting of:
Flute (dbl picc)
Oboe
Clarinet in A (dbl Eb Clarinet)
Bassoon (dbl Contrabassoon)
Synthesizers (single player)
2 Percussion
Mallets
Harp
String Quartet
I wrote this little concertino back in 1986. It was performed in Boston by Alea III, under the baton of Theodore Antoniou. The soloist was Joseph Foley. The piece comes from a time before computer notation programs, so I only had an ink copy. I had fond memories of it and had long intended to computerize the score and perhaps make a few small corrections here and there. But as I looked at the score, I realized that the orchestration showed my inexperience at the time. The general sense of orchestration was promising, but far from complete. So this new version should be considered as the completion of an older sketch. Instrumentation is the same, except that I moved the mallet parts to a separate player. The earlier version (the sketch) had mallets covered by one of the percussionists. While there is some amusement in observing a player covering so many parts in such a short time, it’s not very considerate. There’s still plenty on everyone’s plate.
There is always a danger of a composer revisiting an older piece. There is a strong temptation to ‘recompose’ the music, moving it into the composer’s mature style and possibly losing the original intent. That’s not what I’ve done: it’s exactly the same piece—just properly orchestrated. The piece is something of a musical mirror. There’s a hint of that in the fact that it ends as it began, with slow, mysterious music. But the harmony and melodies are all reflections around the pitch of G: Harmony below G is an inversion of the harmony above. Some thing goes for the tunes. The result is an uncertain sort of tonality. I’ve not done another piece around this idea, although I possibly should.
The original dedication is to my parents, who were always supportive of my music—even if occasionally bewildered by it. That dedication stands now as a memory of two lives well-lived.
Michael Carnes' whimsical Concertino for Trumpet and Chamber Orchestra [was engaging], featuring a snappy solo part and a digital synthesizer that punctuated the orchestral texture alternately with ecstatic signs and ominous troll-like grunts. - The Boston Globe.
If you’re interested, you can request a score at the bottom of this page
Listen now
Complete piece. Binaural mix of the 2023 division
…and if you’d like to see the score while you listen…