The Regent's Bugle
Interview with
Crispian Steele-Perkins
The summer 2004,
I visited the Bate Collection in Oxford. There, I found the latest
recording by Crispian Steele-Perkins, The
Regent's Bugle. Other performers on the recording are Ian
Partridge, tenor, Leslie Pearson, piano and David Woodcock, violin.
Crispian Steele-Perkins is known as a virtuoso solo trumpeter whose
particular interest is to restore, play and record upon antique
instruments of the trumpet family.
The Regent's Bugle features four of
the earliest types of mechanised trumpet performing music either
specifically written for them, or arranged to display their innovative
ability to play as nimbly and expressively as any other instrument.
The CD is
divided into 4 sections, A The
English slide trumpet, B The
Keyed Trumpet, C The Two
Valved Trumpet and D The
Cornopean.
We chose to
divide the interview into these 4 sections:
A. The Regent's Bugle (Short Model Slide-Trumpet)
The
title of the CD, The Regent's Bugle, is also a name for this trumpet.
Tell us about this instrument!
They were not
made in large numbers but are twice coiled as opposed to single coil which has the
advantage of a longer bell-taper, thus posibly better intonation of the
basic harmonics.
Mine is a converted "cavalry" or "duty" trumpet by J Astor, London dated1798, the addition of a
slide having been considerably later.Their mouthpieces are invariably more funnelled than a
conventional trumpet which produces a less strident tone. I have seen references to the use of one of
these by Johann Gottlob Schmidt [1775-1822], the first EVER [as far as I can
ascertain] German trumpeter to
gain employment in London [c 1801] which is surprising considering the great
German tradition
and strong musical & military links with Hannover. There are interesting
conclusions to be drawn from this.
The
tradition to play on this type of instrument was kept for a long time
in England by players like Harper senior and junior.
Thousands of
English Slide Trumpets survive from the 19th century [I have 9].They are robustly
built and are a perfected natural
trumpet. The Handelian tradition in Engand [ where we have 3 seasons not 4,
Spring , Summer & "Messiah"] kept
this obsolete instrument well occupied, even into the early 20th century.
I
understand you are very fond of this instrument. What make it so
special?
The purity of
sound which Purcell & Handel heard on the trumpet is completely preserved
on the slide trumpet which continued to
use a large Hemispherical mouthpiece which eliminates the horrible screaming
noise which modern engineering has
bequeahed to a formally "noble" tone !
On
several of the tracks marked A, you play pieces by John T. Norton. Who
was he?
John Norton
was a superb Trumpeter who preceeded Harper as Professor at the Royal Academy of
Music. He emigrated
to the USA in c.1827 and was probably every bit as fine a player as Harper.
B.
The Keyed Trumpet
This
is the trumpet that Haydn and Hummel wrote their trumpet concertos for.
Is it an original instrument you play on here?
My Keyed Trumpet was made by Robert Vanrynne C 1996
What is
the main challenge playing the Keyed Trumpet?
The difficulty is to obtain an even tone between the "open" and
"Closed" notes.
The height to which each key is raised is critical as is the
precise size of the hole. It should not on any account be blown to
forcefully - don't try to make it sound like a modern trumpet
- it is beautiful as it is !
You
perform the andante and rondo by Hummel as a trio, with piano and
violin. Do you know if Weidinger, for whom Hummel wrote the concerto
performed it like this?
Allgemeine
Musicalische Zeitung fully reported a concert by Weidinger in Dec 1802 in which
amongst other things he played "a nicely written
Trio for Keyed Trumpet , Violin and Pianoforte" by Hummel of Vienna. It is my
contention that this was expanded in to his Concerto.
In
the slow movement of Hummel, track 5, you play some trills that are
very special. It sounds a bit funny and this effect indicates that
Weidinger and Hummels must have worked close together.
The 2nd &
3rd movements clearly have Weidinger "leaning over Hummel's Shoulder" [the
opening one is less gimmicky] This is evident from
the trills on the same note [wavy lines] in the last 2 movts. only
obtainable on the notes Hummel uses.
C. The Two Valved Trumpet
What can you
tell us about this instrument?.
Early valves
were just an instant crook; but they soon made the trumpet cromatic.
The
final track, no. 21, is played with this instrument. It is the famous
Ave Maria by Schubert. Thomas Harper played it with such a trumpet. How
did you find out this?
There are
many well preserved concert programmes and advertisments which tell us exactly what
Harper & his colleagues played, amongst these
pieces are Schubert's "Ave Maria" specifically promoting his Valved
Trumpet !
D. The Cornopean.
The
Cornopean is regarded as an early cornet. What is the difference?
Cornopean are
not tapered at the mouthpiece end. They accept crooks and mouthpieces with
stems as big as a natural Trumpet's. Cornets are Tapered
and accept smaller mouthpieces and sets of crooks which are also tapered.
You
play on an original Cornopean. How was it to play on?
Mine from 1839 by Kohler, London has Disc
valves which cannot wear or leak, so it plays as
well as the day it was made ! Beautiful free tone
with intonation to shame ANY modern manufacturer !!!
The
opening track is Mendelssohn's Spring Song, played on the Cornopean.
All the other tracks played on this instrument is also by that
composer. Did he write anything for the Cornopean?
No,
Mendelssohn would have regarded these instruments as "plebian" I think! The loss was
his - but his "Songs without Words" lie very well for the
Cornet / Cornopean.
Some
final questions:
The combination of the human voice and the trumpet is very interesting,
especially with such a great singer as Ian Partridge. Do you often
perform with singers?
I love to
perform with good singers; it perfectly illustrates the point that in earlier
times the trumpet blended well with the voice and effotlessly for
both parties; a modern trumpet tends to overwhelm or "drown" a singer -
not ALWAYS such a bad idea !!
When
you play on these different instruments, you have to switch to very
different mouthpieces. Is that a problem?
One just
has to get used to all the different sizes of mouthpieces. If you use the wrong one
it will not sound properly. An instrument generally amplifies
the sound you put in, also the tuning is invariably better if you use an
appropriate mouthpiece.
How can people get this CD?
This CD
only comes from me Direct : crispiansp@trumpet1.co.uk
o.j. 2004
