Clarke: Mr. Shore's Trumpett Tune | David Blackadder & Academy of Ancient Music

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Mr. Shore's Trumpett Tune, by Jeremiah Clarke (1674–1707), performed live by David Blackadder and Academy of Ancient Music at Milton Court Concert Hall, London, 24 October 2019.

There are few more jubilant and uplifting sounds in music than the natural trumpet. With its bright, piercing tone and rich timbre, it has become an emblem of the baroque, signalling occasions of joy, triumph and celebration. Writing around 1700, the renowned critic and amateur musician, Roger North, described the trumpet as a "small, portable, comodious and martiall tube", one that was "glorious and admired". With new advances in instrument technology, this was the golden age of the trumpet and just about every composer across Europe – from Bach to Vivaldi, Handel and Purcell – intended to make the most of this glorious new sound.

It is a little ironic, then, that the person responsible for composing the best-known piece for baroque trumpet is far from a household name. A successor to Purcell at London’s Chapel Royal and later organist at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Jeremiah Clarke (1674-1707) is now rightfully credited as the composer of the popular wedding voluntary The Prince of Denmark’s
March – better known simply as the Trumpet Voluntary – but for many years the work (along with several others) was wrongly attributed to Purcell.

Among a handful of other pieces for trumpet in his output is the brisk voluntary Mr. Shore’s Trumpett Tune, composed for the leading English trumpet virtuoso of the day, John Shore. We know that both Purcell and Handel wrote some of their most demanding trumpets parts with Shore in mind, and although Clarke’s voluntary is somewhat modest by comparison, its high tessitura and skilful ornamentation give us a glimpse into Shore’s technical proficiency.

Extract from programme notes commissioned by AAM © Jo Kirkbride

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