Composer: Peter Maxwell Davies, Leoš Janáček, Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen, Filippos Raskovic, Ottorino Respighi, Toru Takemitsu
Performer: Lucy Humphris, Harry Rylance
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Rubicon
Catalogue: RCD1105
Release: 2023
Size: 1.68 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Janáček: In the Mists
01. I. Andante
02. II. Molto adagio
03. III. Andantino
04. IV. Presto
Davies: Litany for a ruined chapel between sheep and shore
05. I.
06. II.
07. III.
08. Messiaen: Vocalise étude
09. Raskovic: Ostria
Respighi: Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite No. 1, P. 109
10. I. Balleto
11. II. Gagliarda
12. III. Villanella
13. Passo mezzo e mascherada
14. Takemitsu: Paths, Op. 50
Obscurus is an exploration of the obscured, in a programme which showcases some of the most incredible trumpet writing of the 20th and 21st century, as well as several reimaginings of older, more mainstream works for other instruments, arranged for trumpet by Lucy Humphris.
In the Mists, written by Janáček is a four-movement piano cycle: an almost impressionist, Debussy-like exploration of the ‘misty’ keys of several flats. At times rhapsodic, and always very evocative, I reimagined it for trumpet.
The incredible Litany for a Ruined Chapel between Sheep and Shore is Peter Maxwell Davies’ homage to a ruined chapel in the Orkney islands and is, one of the most stunning and vocal works for trumpet composed in the 20th century.
Messiaen’s Vocalise-Étude is a piece which works so well on so many instruments – It is such a wonderful, almost nostalgic piece, which feels as though it is trying to express something for which words are unnecessary.
Filippos Raskovic composed Ostria for me in 2018, which Lucy premiered at the International Trumpet Guild conference that year. Raskovic was fascinated by the variety of colours in the sound of the trumpet. The term “Ostria” (Όστρια in Greek) is a naval term for the warm southern wind which brings rain and dust from the Sahara, and this distortion, sometimes almost meditative, sometimes more insistent, is textured and rough, much like those grains of sand brought on the air.
Respighi’s Ancient Airs and Dances has a fascinating approach to orchestrating these collections of Renaissance lute pieces. This first suite is comprised of a stately Balletto, a minuet-like Gagliarda, a more sombre Villanella, and finishes with a sparkling Passo Mezzo e Mascherada. All dance forms, each movement fits the more typically baroque associations of the ringing piccolo trumpet sound, and Lucy’s arrangement partners this with an active, sometimes almost conversational piano part, weaving in and out with the trumpet.
Paths, by Tōru Takemitsu was written In Memoriam Witold Lutosławski , and allegedly depicts a conversation between the deceased Lutosławski and the then-living Takemitsu. The trumpet takes on both roles: open, sometimes pained and crying for the voice of Takemitsu; and muted, distant and often conciliatory for the voice of Lutosławski, responding from beyond the veil.
All of these works have their own very distinctive voice and presence, whether representing dim shapes shrouded in mist; a usually clear voice distorted and changed by grains of sand; a wordless song; ruins and dances lost to time and memory – or simply the line beyond which we cannot see; that of death.
This is the debut recording of trumpeter Lucy Humphris. Pianist Harry Rylance is present on a few pieces, but most of the music is solo, and that is quite a challenge to take on. Humphris surmounts that challenge and makes the music her own. The music is not so much “obscure” as boldly chosen and treated; neither Leoš Janáček’s In the Mists nor the Suite No. 1 from Respighi’s Ancient Airs and Dances is a piece one might readily associate with the trumpet (a piccolo trumpet in the case of the Respighi), but in the context of Humphris’ often virtuosic recital, they seem natural. Filippos Raskovic’s Òstria for solo C trumpet is indeed obscure, and it is quite a challenging work that Humphris just may have brought into the repertory. The works by Maxwell Davies, Messiaen, and Takemitsu are absorbing and played with a pleasing sense of meaty engagement. This is, quite simply, not the usual trumpet recital, and it is heartily recommended to lovers of the instrument. A recital hall at the Royal Academy of Music in London offers an idiomatic sonic environment.