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It's all about the music, dude! Sit down, relax and listen to some tunes.

RE: CB - please elaborate on this sentence:

Complicated subject that's hard to cover in a short post, but basically the trumpet parts in Classical scores often have melodic content that's overlooked by most conductors. Trumpet parts in Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert are considered perfunctory and "rhythmic" by conductors (and players), and usually treated as such. Trumpet players refer to them as "thump and bump", which should give you some idea.

Case in point is the first movement of Mozart's Symphony 39. The first trumpet (along with the horn) actually has the initial statement of the main theme. It should be played out, boldly but in a legato fashion (with phrasing, not just a series of individual notes). In most recordings, however, the trumpet part is barely audible. Exception: Klemperer's second version with the old Philharmonia. Great performance, but it's only available on LP--EMI for some strange reason chose to release the first version on CD.

Another example is Beethoven's Seventh. In the coda to the first movement, the first trumpet has repeated high Es and As that dialog with the horns. The horn parts are also high-lying, and you can't help but hear these, provided the horn players are halfway decent. But the first trumpet? Only two recordings in my experience bring out the trumpet part to my satisfaction: Karajan's second, and John Eliot Gardiner's.

Admittedly, the trumpets are only one ingredient in the overall recipe, but they're still important. I once wrote an article about this whole subject for Continuo Magazine--maybe it's online, but I doubt it.

I should mention that period instrument orchestras are no better at this than modern ones. The prevailing style of trumpet playing is very hard-hitting and non-legato--cf. my statement about Harnoncourt earlier in this thread.

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