The Case Against Haydn, Part 3

| Jul 11, 2014 |

It’s easy to criticize a system as imperfect as auditions, which is what I have done so far.  It is far more difficult to make positive suggestions. So with that in mind, based on the audition rounds described above, I would like to offer some suggestions about repertoire for the various rounds. These suggestions are meant only to give ideas and not to be final recommendations, and my hope is that these suggestions will be criticized and discussed, which might lead to a more thoughtful consideration of possible repertoire choices for orchestral trumpet auditions.

Round One

Principal Trumpet

• Pictures at an Exhibition (Promenade) – for sound and phrasing
• Petroushka Ballerina’s Dance or Ravel Piano Concerto (opening) – for technique
• Beethoven Leonore 2 and 3 offstage signals – for interpretation and style
• Mahler 5 – for power and drama
• Respighi Pini di Roma offstage solo – for lyrical and dolce playing

Trumpet 2 and 4

• all or some of the above, plus Mahler 3 last movement solo and/or Britten Young Person’s Guide

Trumpet 3

* Strauss Symphonia Domestica

* Strauss Don Quixote or Ein Heldenleben (either first Bb or first Eb trumpet)

* Prokofieff – cornet solos from either Lt. Kije or Romeo and Juliet

* Mahler 5

Round Two   Principal Trumpet

• Bartok Concerto for Orchestra, movements 1, 2, and 5
• Tchaikowsky – Swan Lake cornet solo
• Mahler 3 posthorn solo and chorale in final movement
• Bach Magnificat or B Minor Mass
• Shostakovich Piano Concerto

Trumpet 2 and/or 4

• Bartok Concerto for Orchestra, movements 1, 2, and 5
• Stravinsky – the Firebird Suite
• Mahler  7
• Brahms  2
• Carmen

Trumpet 3

• Debussy La Mer cornet solos
• Ravel Daphnis and Chloe
• Britten Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes
• Tchaikowsky Capriccio Italien cornet solos
• Other standard excerpts that the principal trumpet would not play

Round Three :  This round would contain repertoire that could highlight both strengths and weaknesses of candidates who pass the first two rounds. As mentioned earlier, a main goal of this round is to not only find the best player/musician but also somebody whose musical personality fits as well as possible with the orchestra in question.   Many people reading this will have doubts about the orchestral audition material I have listed for rounds 1, 2 and 3. No matter – I believe that the main issue is larger than what specific pieces should be asked in which round, and this main issue is that the standard audition tradition needs to be re-thought, and that each orchestra should have specific goals for each round. I have given my own ideas, but they are meant to begin a discussion, not to be the final answer. A standard phrase in America is, “If it’s not broken don’t fix it.” The results of most auditions, however, certainly seem to indicate that the system is broken and not functioning properly, and so I think it is in an orchestra’s best interest to consider a new paradigm for how auditions are held in the future.