Brass Bulletin N. 50

Jean-Pierre Mathez

What began modestly in 1971 became a worldwide network, shaped by respect for brass players, shared knowledge, history and professional solidarity.

Interview

Benny Sluchin

A young Michel Becquet challenges orchestral habits, champions the trombone as a solo voice and reflects on competitions, repertoire, teaching and sound.

Stephan Suter

American brass making in the mid-1980s stood between workshop tradition and industrial change, with ten firms offering a striking cross-section of the trade.

Trumpet crooner

Michel Laplace

French jazz, wartime Paris and changing styles shaped a trumpeter whose playing balanced virtuosity, melody and expression across several musical worlds.

Peter Gordon

Jeffrey Agrell

Classically trained but drawn elsewhere, Peter Gordon made the horn at home in jazz, studios and popular music without abandoning its orchestral foundations.

Michel Laplace

Jazz did not invent the modern trombone: early virtuosos, New Orleans players and changing techniques reveal a more complex path toward flexibility and legato.

Trombonist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra

David Fetter

Behind a cornerstone of trombone teaching lies Rochut’s path between Paris and Boston, lost manuscripts, orchestral life and the enduring Bordogni legacy.

Albert Hiller

Once a tool of postal signalling, the posthorn became part of Bavaria’s popular musical life, caught between official regulation, practical invention and folk tradition.

Edouard Gros

A father determined to keep his son from music unwittingly gives him the foundations for a life shaped by orchestras, discipline and an irresistible vocation.

A new Trumpet

Jean-Pierre Mathez

Baroque tradition and modern trumpet playing converge in Friedemann Immer’s unusual double career, shaped by Bach, natural trumpet and early music.

Jean-Pierre Mathez

Stage fright, high A’s and a D trumpet turn an orchestral concert into an intimate account of the moment anxiety finally gives way to music.

Wolfgang G. Haas

During my stay at Schloss Weikersheim in 1983 I made an interesting discovery. Whenever I travel, time permitting, I visit old castles, abbeys and village churches. This time I was interested in an old moated castle called Giebelstadt, near Rotenburg on the River Tauber. Since the castle is now being used for emergency accomodation, I could not visit it. About twenty yards away, however, stands the old parish church. To the right of the “Prince’s Staircase” I found the gravestone of the field trumpeter Johann Kauffmann, who lived from 7th August 1585 to 1634 (?) This memorial stone was erected in 1634.