Concerto showcases trumpeter's talent

Thursday, November 03, 2005
The Patriot News
BY DAVID N. DUNKLE

Phil Snedecor got hooked on the trumpet as a boy when he heard a live rendition of the theme from "Hawaii Five-O" during an elementary school talent show.
[...]
Now 46, the Texas native is the principal trumpet player for the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra. This weekend he will take center stage as soloist in Alexander Arutiunian's lively Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra.
[...]
Arutiunian's masterwork, which he composed in 1949 specifically for virtuoso Russian trumpeter Timofei Dokschitzer. It features gypsyish folk rhythms and melodies from Arutiunian's homeland of Armenia, which at that time was part of the Soviet Union.
[...]
Arutiunian, born in 1920, was a talented if not particularly prolific composer. His trumpet concerto has become one of classical music's standards for trumpet, along with works by Haydn and Hummel.

The one-movement concerto features an opening trumpet solo, a sinewy middle featuring clarinet and muted trumpet, then a closing cadenza that will showcase Snedecor's skills.

"It draws on Armenian folk melodies for compositional technique," Snedecor said.

[...] Snedecor said the piece gives the trumpeter a chance to show not just virtuosity, but musical personality.

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