1981 Geneva International Competition

I read with interest your comments, in Brass Bulletin no. 36, on the 1981 Geneva International Competition (subject Trumpet), and would like to offer a few comments of my own in reply.

In your editorial you ask some pertinent questions:

1. Have the jury members of such competitions the capacity to discover new talent?

In my experience, as a jury member, the trumpet players who have been invited to serve have certainly the competence to recognize good new talent. Sometimes, however, a preference for a particular national school of playing has perhaps overbalanced the judgment of an individual jury member. But this enthusiasm has usually been counterbalanced elsewhere during the competition. Of the non-trumpet playing members of the jury, I have generally found them to be sympathetic musicians who take their responsibilities very seriously.

1. Are the organisations which control these competitions too conservative?

Certainly, in the case of Geneva and Munich, they are perhaps over anxious to preserve the standard of prizewinners to an unrealistic degree (After all, a good vintner knows that all his wines are not equally excellent from year to year, and a trumpet player with a degree more or less of tannin or acidity can still sell well on the open market!).

A possible solution to this problem would be a strong lead from the chairman of the jury towards a more liberal overall view of what the finalists have produced during the whole competition (This could help especially when a candidate fails to live up to maximum expectation during the final round). In my view, it is quite unsatisfactory for all parties (organisation, jury and candidates) that prizes are not awarded to the finalists, and every attempt should be made to avoid such a situation.

This leads me to the vexed question of the repertoire chosen for the 1981 Geneva competition. I think the inclusion of some really modern music was a bold innovation which, unhappily, misfired on all concerned. This new element was out of balance with the rest of the music, and in the event destroyed the chances and hopes of several obviously excellent candidates, due to its emphasis upon endurance above everything else. And, inevitably, it spoiled the performances of the three players chosen for the final round.

By all means let us have new music represented, but in small quantities and always chosen with an expert's help (i.e. a noted trumpet practitioner in the modern music field).