Musical Context

Viktor Venglowski

Musician and Teacher

From the Leningrad Philharmonic to the Conservatoire, one trombonist shaped repertoire, ensembles and generations of players across the Soviet Union.

By Sergej Gorovoj

Part 2

Playing and singing simultaneously on brass instruments

From interval production and tone generation to contemporary repertoire, simultaneous playing and singing becomes a demanding extension of brass technique.

By Benny Sluchin

Philip Jones

Interview

From South London bands to the Philharmonia, Philip Jones recalls his musical upbringing, orchestral life and the rise of brass ensembles in post-war Britain.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Part 3

Playing and singing simultaneously on brass instruments

From Weber's Concertino to Berlioz's chord writing, acoustic principles explain how combination tones emerge from simultaneous playing and singing on brass.

By Benny Sluchin

Mantzaros Philharmonic Society

Corfou, Greece

A Corfu musical society founded in 1890 connects European influence, amateur tradition and a trumpet school that trained some 1,200 players.

By Gerassimos Ioannides

A major chamber music work for brass?

Quintet, by Peter Maxwell Davies

A BBC studio session turns Maxwell Davies’s brass quintet into a test of virtuosity, balance and whether brass could claim a new place in chamber music.

By Thomas Aitken

Part 1

Does Jazz still have a soul?

By Michel Laplace

The Annual Competitions of the Paris Conservatoire

From commissioned works to jury voting, a long-standing examination tradition reveals how brass players progressed through the Paris Conservatoire.

By Benny Sluchin

1981 Geneva International Competition

Readers Letters

Philip Jones responds to the Geneva 1981 debate, arguing for fairer jury decisions, balanced repertoire, and the enduring value of international trumpet competitions.

By Philip Jones

Part 1

The Trumpet and the Cornet in Jazz and Popular Music

Before Louis Armstrong became the defining figure, jazz already carried competing traditions of tone, style and technique shaped by cornet players across New Orleans and beyond.

By Michel Laplace

Possibilities for development of brass instruments (1967)

Experimental study by Vinko Globokar on extended techniques for brass instruments, covering microtonality, voice-instrument interaction and new sound production methods.

By Vinko Globokar

Unknown Treasures for Trumpet Ensembles

Processional Music from 18th century Bavaria

Forgotten Bavarian monastery archives preserve hundreds of ceremonial trumpet works, where local tradition and practical performance survived long after their cultural world disappeared.

By Albert Hiller

Modern editions of original 17th-century brass ensemble music

Seventeenth-century brass music regained its place in the repertoire, but modern editions often altered the original keys, instrumentation and balance between voices.

By Klaus Winkler

The mute belt

In Stockhausen's demanding trumpet works, six different mutes had to be changed while performing from memory, turning a practical problem into a new stage technique.

By Markus Stockhausen

Editorial

Mass media, record-industry economics and the return of cornet virtuosity collide in a sharp warning about fashion, manipulation and musical independence.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

The universal trumpet of Gabriele Cassone

Baroque instruments, Berio and neglected Italian music meet in Cassone’s unusually broad conception of what a modern trumpeter can be.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Vladislav Mykhaylovich Blazhevich (1881-1942)

Trombonist, Composer and Teacher

From village band to the Moscow Conservatoire and the Bolshoi, a lifelong commitment to performance, teaching and wind music shaped Soviet trombone tradition.

By Viktor Sumerkin

Harry James (1916-1983)

Young Man With A Horn

Harry James stood between jazz virtuosity and popular showmanship, turning the trumpet into a mass-audience voice without losing the respect of classical players.

By Michel Laplace

Serious Music this Side of the Ghetto

Between Darmstadt serialism and neo-tonality, the place of serious music in society is questioned through Berg, Schönberg and the post-war avant-garde.

By Rolf Urs Ringger

The development of the amateur wind-band repertoire in Central Europe since 1950

After 1950, Central Europe’s amateur wind bands became a testing ground where inherited traditions, modern composition, popular music and education collided.

By Wolfgang Suppan

Melvyn Poore

Tuba britannica

A tuba becomes a laboratory for circular breathing, reeds, strange mutes and music theatre as Melvyn Poore pushes beyond the orchestral role assigned to it.

By Thomas Aitken

A guide to commercial tuba playing in the Los Angeles area

Hollywood reality check: Tommy Johnson reveals what it really takes to become a commercial tuba player in Los Angeles—skill, versatility… and patience.

By Tommy Johnson

Miroslav Kejmar

Portrait in brief

From Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto to Czech contemporary music, the Prague trumpeter combined Baroque precision with orchestral versatility across Europe.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

John Fletcher

Interview

From brass bands to chamber ensembles, John Fletcher reflects on the rapid rise of young British tubists and the changing role of the instrument.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez