The genesis for this project goes back to 2007, when I lost my wife, Robin, to sarcoma. To honor her memory, I asked several composers to each write a new work for a series of recitals I would perform to raise funds for the Sarcoma Foundation of America (SFA). The SFA does incredible work to raise awareness of this terrible disease, and most importantly, to raise money for research to cure sarcoma. All the composers I contacted were enthusiastic about the project. Each wrote an incredible piece of music, and all of them donated their work. I’ll always be grateful to them: Jack Gallagher, Joe Turrin, Glen Cortese, Eric Ewazen and Jim Stephenson. This album includes the pieces written by Jim and Eric, but all the music is very special to me.

Eric Ewazen’s music was always a favorite of mine and Robin’s. As a matter of fact, her favorite piece in my repertoire was the second movement of Eric’s Sonata for Trumpet and Piano. When I mentioned this to Eric, he included a reference to that movement in Eternal Spring, as well as a clever quote from the Mozart Bassoon Concerto, Robin’s favorite piece in her own repertoire. Eternal Spring is now a staple of my repertoire. I rarely perform a recital without including it on the program.

The only composer represented in the SFA recitals with whom I did not have a previous relationship was Jim Stephenson. The project needed one more piece, and I was a fan of Jim’s music, so I called him out of the blue. After only a short conversation about the project, Jim offered to write Remember Forward. It’s a moving piece, and I encourage you to read Jim’s note on its meaning.

Jim and I became friends after he wrote Remember Forward, and so it was natural that I went to him when I needed a new piece to perform at the opening of the International Trumpet Guild Conference (ITG) in 2015. Spinning Wheel was commissioned by the Northwestern University Bienen School of Music. Unfortunately, circumstances didn’t allow for me to give the premiere at ITG, so I wanted to be sure to include it in this album.

The other tribute in this album is to my teacher and friend, Armando Ghitalla. I began my studies with “Mundy” while still a high schooler in the Boston area, and followed him to Ann Arbor to be part of his very first class at the University of Michigan in 1979. Mr. G, as we called him, was a very special teacher, performer, mentor and, eventually, friend. I tried to see him every year after I left Ann Arbor. When he fell ill and eventually passed in 2001, I took over his trumpet studio at Rice University. It was an honor that he asked me to take on this responsibility. Including Jim Stephenson’s Elegy to Mundy on this album is my way of expressing thanks to him for everything he was and is to me.

The final piece on the album is also part of my tribute to Armando. William Perry wrote two Dance Pieces, for trumpet and orchestra, for the last album Mr. Ghitalla recorded. While not part of the original release, you can hear these two gems on the album A Trumpet Legacy. For this album, I asked Mr. Perry for a piano reduction of these pieces, and he generously agreed.

For the trumpet aficionados, a note on my instrument choices for the album. I am a Yamaha Artist and perform nearly everything using my wonderfully crafted Yamaha B-flat and C trumpets. However, two pieces on this album were not on my Yamahas, but rather on Tottle trumpets that formerly belonged to Armando and which he gifted to me in 1996. Elegy for Mundy was performed using a Tottle C trumpet (a standard three-valve instrument, not the four- or five-valved trumpet he became famous for playing). The “Imperial Waltzes” from Perry’s Two Dance Pieces was performed on Mundy’s Tottle E-flat trumpet. For the “Bolero”, I used a Yamaha, but not my Artist model; rather, I used Mr. G’s Yamaha B-flat prototype, which he helped develop in the 1980s while teaching at the University of Michigan.

—Robert Sullivan

Eternal Spring was commissioned by my friend Robert Sullivan, honoring the passing of his wife, Robin, who was a bassoonist. I had worked with Robert when he recorded my Fantasia for Seven Trumpets, so I knew his gorgeous trumpet playing.

When he approached me about writing this piece, I wanted to write a work that was heartfelt, meaningful and encompassed a wide variety of emotions, as well as highlighted his truly exceptional playing. The work has a Four Seasons type of scenario—beginning and ending with Spring—the promise of a new beginning, the essence of life. The work begins with the trumpet singing lyrical melodies as the pianist plays almost Debussy-like arpeggios. That’s Spring for me! The work transforms to the liveliness of summer, full of energy and joy, and then the wistfulness and longing of Fall, followed by a melancholy, yet powerful, winter, which returns with gentleness and joy to a rebirth of Spring. There is even a quote from Mozart’s Bassoon Concerto in the piece, which is a special tribute to Robin!

The piece ends with beauty and comfort.

—Eric Ewazen

My Trumpet Sonata was commissioned by the International Trumpet Guild (ITG) and premiered by Chris Gekker, with me accompanying him, at the ITG Convention held at the University of Indiana. I have been friends with Chris since we were students at Eastman in 1976. He was a great inspiration to me; while I composed this piece, playing the music as I worked to complete it. I wanted to create a work that displayed the wide variety of colors inherent in the trumpet, and that also was a traditional, classically structured sonata.

The first of the work’s three movements is in true sonata allegro form, but with a lyrical first theme group, a playful second theme group and a sonorous closing theme group, followed by a development of the material and a gentle return to the main themes, but ending with a joyful coda.

The second movement, in a traditional A-B-A form, has a folk-music-influenced opening theme that employs a Scottish Snap rhythm (short-long-short-long), followed by a dramatic middle section with bold harmonies and melodic gestures and a return to the gentle opening material at the end.

The last movement is all about energy—it is written in a rondo form, in which the opening lively, bold and energetic rhythms reappear throughout the movement. Those contrast with light, playful and joyful sections, ending with a coda that is fast and exhilarating, bringing this three-movement sonata to a dramatic conclusion.

—Eric Ewazen

It is, of course, impossible to express through music the emotions that individuals are faced with when dealing with the loss of a wife, a mother, a daughter or a sister. So many questions beg to be answered: Why? Why at this time...to this person…in this way? Music can only go so far as to suggest certain emotions through the various choices of melodies, harmonies, rhythms and textures. Each listener is responsible for channeling and categorizing the music and applying an emotion to it.

And so when Bob Sullivan contacted me to take part in this important event—supporting the search for a cure for sarcoma—I was very honored to accept the invitation, but at the same time anxious about the process: How could I come up with notes on a page that would even come close to the magnitude of dealing with the loss of a human life—in this case his wife, Robin’s?

The answer for me came in the form of a question.

Remember Forward is, in essence, a musical question. There are, at times, harmonies unanswered, melodies unfinished, rhythmic ambiguity, and times of hope mixed with despair. And just as with Robin’s life, and with so many others, the piece is cut short, leaving many questions unanswered.

The title comes out of respect for what Bob is doing in response to his own personal tragedy: choosing to live on, using his talents to honor the memory of Robin, while at the same time helping to support the search for a cure for sarcoma so that others in the future might be spared the pain he and his family have suffered.

Coincidentally, only after I finished writing the piece did I discover that two of Robin’s favorite composers were Copland and Bernstein—the same two that this piece intentionally draws upon at several instances.

I am very grateful to Bob for trusting me to be a part of this special concert, in what became a personal journey of my own, in seeking answers to life’s unanswerable questions.

—Jim Stephenson

I have now been very fortunate to have composed two works for Robert Sullivan while he was Professor of Trumpet at the Northwestern University Bienen School of Music. This one, at his request, was written for his feature recital at the 2015 International Trumpet Guild (ITG) in Columbus, Ohio.

Bob asked for a work more “popular” and “lyrical” in nature.

Bob is one of the rare individuals who—through his trumpet—combines musicality with a beautiful sound, agility, strength and exceptional lyricism. I tried to expose all
of these qualities in Spinning Wheel, while creating a work accessible in nature, yet imbued with subtle depth.

The title comes from the roundabout left hand of the piano, as it weaves its way throughout most of the entire work. The hemiola effect creates a sense of infinite motion, and propels the music forward.

—Jim Stephenson

It is truly rewarding to be asked to write a piece in memory of one of the all-time greats, to be performed by one of the all-time greats. It is especially meaningful when those two all-time greats have had significant influence in your own life as a musician.

Such was the case when Stephen Burns approached me to write a new work in memory of Armando Ghitalla, his teacher, and inspiration for many.

As a trumpet student myself at Interlochen in the 1980s, I recall quite vividly listening to recordings of Stephen—especially on piccolo trumpet—and using them as inspiration for not just trumpet playing, but for complete and divine music-making. What is even more extraordinary is that he is not much older than I am, so I was actually listening to recordings he made when in his very early 20s. Quite amazing. We now both live in the Chicago area, so I have come to know him personally, and hear him much more often live, and even play some golf with him. (He’s an inspiration on the course as well!) He approached me in the spring of 2013 to write a new work for him to premiere in memory of “Mundy”—and needless to say, I was on board.

Armando Ghitalla had a major impact on many generations of trumpeters, as performer, teacher and friend. He was a member of the Boston Symphony for almost three decades—half of those as Principal Trumpet. In addition to his orchestral legacy, he brought many solo works to the forefront, such as the first recording of the famed Hummel concerto (in E) and the beautiful Böhme concerto, and lesser known works (at the time) such as the Ponchielli and Albrechtsberger concertos. He was known for his tough love as a teacher, his uncompromising dedication to the music, and his love of food and wine.

In Elegy for Mundy, I reflected on many of those aforementioned aspects. The E octaves at the onset refer to the Hummel concerto opening (in E), and the subsequent A-G figures are, of course, Armando Ghitalla’s initials. The Hummel gets a final echo at the end as well, with the ascending arpeggio in the solo trumpet paying a reverential treatment to the iconic work. I also paid homage in a small way to his Italian heritage with many parallel thirds throughout the Elegy. It is the Böhme, however, that served as the most inspiration for this work. The piece is absolutely gorgeous, and Mundy’s recording of it—especially the slow movement—has served as the quintessential example for myself (when a trumpeter) and for many performers of the piece. The bass line at rehearsal B and the rising sixths throughout together form a quote of the gorgeous Böhme melody that Mundy played so beautifully. This melody is finally echoed in its actual key (D-flat) at the very ending, but played on top of a C Major chord, to suggest that Mundy is still with us, in many ways, through his students and beneficiaries of his recordings and friendships.

I am most indebted to Stephen Burns for inviting me to create this work, and most privileged to have been able to work with him and witness his artistry in the performance of it.

—Jim Stephenson

In 1986, William Perry was nominated for two Tony Awards for the music and lyrics to the Broadway musical, Wind in the Willows, starring Nathan Lane. While working on the score, he was struck with author Kenneth Grahame’s beguiling description of the warm European Southland: “sun-bathed coasts, along which the white villas glittered against the olive woods . . . purple islands of wine and spice, islands set low in languorous waters!” Out of this came the inspiration for the atmospheric bolero, “Mediterranean.”

The second dance piece, “Imperial Waltzes,” is an evocation of an opulent ball in the days of Czarist Russia. Perry composed this music for the film, Tempest, which gave John Barrymore one of his richest roles.

—William Perry