Baroque Trumpet Anthology:

Don Smilhers, Michael Laird, trumpets. The Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. cond. Neville Marriner (Philips).

The "clarino" or Baroque trumpet is limited to seldom more than 12 different notes. Yet these limitations have not really hindered the creation of some pleasing and durable 17th and 18th century music for the trumpet. This has mainly been achieved by the imaginative and combined skills of composer and performer. Although the trumpet is basically a functional instrument, one cannot but admire the use to which it has often been assigned in developing the trend for earlier concerto writing. Even within his circumscribed range, tonality and endurance, the trumpet player in many of the musical principalities of the Holy Roman Empire had increased the harmonic structure of these compositions by organising them into figures, equations and scales until a new concerto style had evolved during the second half of the 17th century. The composers chosen in this anthology are mainly from the Bologna school such as Torelli, lacchini, Bonoucini and probably Grossj — while Schmelzer and Vejvanovsky are Czechs, Telemann, a German and Purcell, an Englishman. The orchestra that accompanies Don Smithers and Michael Laird is a string group founded in 1959 to provide music at midday concerts in the famous London church of that name. Because of the combined experience of both soloists and orchestra in the repertory of Baroque, they are eminently suited for a task which is as unique as it is outstanding.