KAROL BEFFA (b.1973): Concerto for Trumpet and String Orchestra, MARTIN MATALON (b.1958): Trame XII for Trumpet and String Orchestra, ANDRÉ JOLIVET (1905-1974): Concertino for Trumpet, Piano and String Orchestra, GEORGE DELERUE (1925-1992): Concertino for Trumpet and Orchestra, JEAN-BAPTISTE ROBIN (b.1976): Le Chant de l'âme for Trumpet and String Orchestra.

Description: Delerue's taut, neoclassical little 1951 Concertino dates from around the time his prolific film music career was just getting going. It bears the imprint of his teacher, Milhaud, and the influence of Honegger is also apparent, as well as some noticeable similarities to the trumpet writing and textures of Shostakovich's First Piano Concerto (1933) - probably coincidental, but maybe not. Beffa's Concerto comprises two slow outer movements in a modally inflected tonal idiom, the first initially simple, accumulating texture and contrapuntal complexity, the second mysterious, separated by a short, agitated motoric scherzo. Jolivet's Stravinskyan miniature was commissioned as a competition piece, with the virtuosity that that implies, allied to a sprightly lightness of touch and humorous exuberance, with a tiny, unexpectedly moving, slightly bluesy melodic slow movement. The Robin begins like a slow prayer, striving to reach the highest register, assailed en route by an agitated episode before the trumpet insists on a return to the opening material and a peaceful, if somber, conclusion. Matalon's piece, like Trame V (02Q075), explores complex interactions between soloist and ensemble in a crystalline, timbrally diverse and mercurial language that clearly derives from his studies with Boulez. This might appear to sit a little oddly with the tonal idiom of the other works here, but in its ongoing exploration of the expressive potential of the trumpet, it fits right in. Romain Leleu (trumpet), Orchestra e'Auvergne; Roberto Forés Veses.