Commissioned by the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra for the principal trumpeter, Bassam Mussad. May 2, 4 & 5 2025 World-premiere of a concerto for trumpet and orchestra for the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker and their principal trumpeter, Bassam Mussad, on a program that will also feature Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde. Details here.
Instrumentation: 3 Flutes (Piccolo), Oboe, Cor Anglais, 2 Clarinets in Bb, 2 Bassoons, Contrabassoon, 4 Horn in F, 2 Trumpets in Bb, 2 Trombones, Bass Trombone, Tuba, Timpani,
2 Percussion (Glockenspiel, Crotales, Vibraphone, Bass Drum, Metal pipe, Slapstick, Marimba, Chimes, Tam-tam, Wind Gong, China ‘Wuhan’ Cymbal, Suspended Cymbals), Trumpet Solo in C, & Strings.
Program Notes:
Trumpet Concerto (2025) for trumpet and orchestra – by Kareem Roustom
How long does it take for a Trumpet Concerto to see the light of day? For this particular work, its very beginnings go back to 2014. This was the year that I traveled with the West Eastern Divan Orchestra, who were touring with a new work of mine that maestro Daniel Barenboim had commissioned. Also on this tour was Bassam Mussad, which was how we met. Bassam was later the trumpet player in the 2019 world-premiere in Berlin of my Violin Concerto No. 1, which was composed for Michael Barenboim and the Boulez Ensemble. Though I never asked him, I think that the idea of a trumpet concerto began to percolate in Bassam’s mind at that time. The pandemic delayed things even longer, and it was finally in November of 2021 that the idea started to move towards a reality in a tangible way. So, all in all it took about eleven years to come to fruition, though I composed it between September 2024, and January 2025.
Suffice it to say, upon hearing Bassam play over the years, I became a great admirer of his playing. This was especially the case with the Düsseldorf Symphony’s excellent recording Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 with the late Adam Fischer; there was Bassam at the front of the Trauermarsch, bold, clear and commanding. So the opportunity to finally create a new work for Bassam and his excellent colleagues was thrilling to me.
The Trumpet Concerto is cast into two movements. The first movement, marked Largo lamentoso, is like Mahler’s Trauermarsch in that it begins in the low register of the trumpet, though unlike the Mahler, it eventually climbs to the high ‘C’. The opening figure is based on a four note motif; G, A, D#, A. The third of these four notes rises to an E natural and is often accompanied with the symbol ‘Z’ which represents an especially dense and harsh bowed tremolo in the strings and a dense frullato/growl in the solo trumpet.
The mood in this movement is one of vast sonic space, and expanse; observing and feeling a landscape of grief in so many areas of senseless conflict on our planet at this time. The middle section, marked Deciso, moves forward with convection, driven the by the solo trumpet, before returning to the opening texture. A final statement of the theme is heard by the viola, before a probing muted solo trumpet ends the movement. A gesture that seeks an answer that cannot yet be found.
The second movement is marked Scherzandoand takes advantage of the historic connection between trumpets and the timpani. However, another connection is made here; that between husband and wife, as Bassam is married to Helena, the contrabassoonist in the orchestra. In what might be described as a musical ‘marital banter’, the main melodic theme is echoed between the three bassoons and the solo trumpet. This main theme is made up of two parts; a rhythmic motif (loosely based on an Arab rhythm called maqsoum), and an ascending scalar figure. The middle section of this movement explores these two elements separately and juxtaposed, with the solo trumpet relying on two different types of mutes for color. Eventually, the opening Scherzandotempo returns, with the orchestra gaining an equal voice to the soloist, before the finale in which all three trumpets share a moment in the spotlight together.
It has been an absolute joy to work closely with Bassam on this concerto and I am honored to have this opportunity to create a work for him the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker.
© 2025 Layali Music Publishing, Kareem Roustom