Concerto in E-flat for Trumpet and Strings.

This three-movement composition, now played on the modern trumpet, was originally written for a hunting horn or corno di caccia (also called a trompe de chasse, cor de chasse), a valveless horn coiled in the style of modern French horns, and used in the works of J.S. Bach, G.F. Handel, and others. The mouthpiece was shallow and cup-shaped like that of a trumpet, and the instrument was as long as the eighteenth century Yager trumpet and also had its same bore size. Therefore, the sound and range for this concerto is quite adequately realized by the modern trumpet. The opening movement is in an Allegro tempo in 2/4 time, and follows classical Sonata-Allegro form. Introduced by the orchestra only, the theme and its articulation are very Mozartian: two marcato notes in a descending fourth, a lighter measure of staccato sixteenths on a scale, a measure of two skipping gestures also in fourths, a second scalewise staccato passage, and four measures combining the skipping with the staccati. At this point, Mozart would very likely repeat the first eight measures, but Neruda cleverly chooses to extend the theme by four measures on roots descending from the IV stepwise back to the I, and then by six measures of a slow crescendo over a tension-creating pedal tone on the V. The orchestra then explodes in a forte on the I, but we are still developing, so instead of the theme repeating, the next ten measures are filled with trumpet-like gestures over a strident bass. And just when the time seems right to walk in triumphantly with the theme, Neruda wisely avoids this by introducing a secondary theme played at a soft, piano dynamic. Extremes of forte and piano alternate every four measures until cadencing powerfully. The trumpet enters with the main theme which is stated with all the previous development, and is then traditionally modulated to the key of the fifth, the key of the relative minor, and recapitulated. A brief open cadenza is built upon gestures from the A and B themes, and the orchestra concludes the movement with a noble restatement of the last 14 measures of the introduction. The second movement, Largo, is also in the home key of E flat, and is a lovely aria-like piece with many subtle inflections and varied articulations. There are two mini-cadenzas of a moving, singing quality in this movement, midway and just before the concluding four orchestral measures. The last movement, again in E flat, is marked Vivace, and is in a flowing but powerful 3/4 time. The new theme incorporates the descending fourth motif from the first movement and associates it with some wonderful orchestral tutti in a phrase built of constant eighths. The trumpet cadence summarizes the primary idea of this movement which is to thrillingly contrast duple and triple rhythmic subdivisions.Description by "Blue" Gene Tyranny (link)