Nexus: New Works for Trumpet and Piano
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Martin Butler
Genre:
Chamber
Label: Willowhayne Records
Magazine Review Date: 08/2024
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 71
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: WHR093
![WHR093. Nexus: New Works for Trumpet and Piano](https://reviews.azureedge.net/gramophone/media-thumbnails/WHR093.jpg)
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Speakeasy |
Gary Carpenter, Composer
Oscar Whight, Trumpet Zeynep Özsuca, Piano |
Two Winter Journeys |
Martin Butler, Composer
Martin Butler, Composer |
True Life Stories |
Mark-Anthony Turnage, Composer
Oscar Whight, Trumpet Zeynep Özsuca, Piano |
Salamandrine |
David Mitcham, Composer
Oscar Whight, Trumpet Zeynep Özsuca, Piano |
Four Pieces for Clarinet and Piano |
Mark-Anthony Turnage, Composer
Michael Whight, Clarinet Zeynep Özsuca, Piano |
Mondestrunken |
Ashley-John Long, Composer
Oscar Whight, Trumpet Zeynep Özsuca, Piano |
Yellow-Red-Blue |
Deborah Pritchard, Composer
Michael Whight, Clarinet Zeynep Özsuca, Piano |
Heartbreak |
David John Roche, Composer
Oscar Whight, Trumpet Zeynep Özsuca, Piano |
Author: Pwyll ap Siôn
Had Charles Darwin used musical instruments to back up his theory of evolution, he may well have looked to the trumpet for evidence. From marching bands to mariachi music or from classical performance to jazz, the trumpet has demonstrated an inbuilt capacity to adapt to (and evolve in) a variety of different contexts. As suggested by the title of this disc of recent music for trumpet or clarinet with piano accompaniment, it’s not so much the different contexts that are interesting but rather the ways in which these areas overlap and interconnect.
Ashley John Long’s episodic Mondestrunken fuses jazz improvisation with contemporary classical elements, while quartal harmonies and whole-tone scales strive for supremacy in Deborah Pritchard’s impressive Yellow-Red-Blue. Oscar Whight’s trumpet inhabits a series of contrasting moods in Gary Carpenter’s five-movement Speakeasy. Inspired by the names of cocktails, Whight’s trumpet is assertive and confident in ‘Boulevardier’ and ‘Manhattan’ while withdrawn and introspective in ‘Agro Dolce’ and ‘Vesper’. A similar fragility is also brought to the surface in David John Roche’s Heartbreak. An altogether warmer glow is evident in Martin Butler’s Two Winter Journeys – one of the highlights on this recording – partly achieved through Whight’s softer-sounding flugelhorn. The spirit of Kenny Wheeler is never far away.
Whight’s trumpet is not the only instrument on display, however. Zeynep Özsuca gives an admirable account of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s True Life Stories for solo piano. These five short meditations contain some of Turnage’s most poignant and personal moments, while the same composer’s Four Pieces for clarinet and piano contrast quieter and more introverted episodes with quirkier, livelier ones, all vividly captured by Michael Whight on clarinet.
Discover the world's largest classical music catalogue with Presto Music.
![](/media/252399/gramophone_-10_24-_magsubscriptions-images_600x600px2.png?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=370&height=500&rnd=133700837660000000?quality=60)
Gramophone Digital Club
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £8.75 / month
Subscribe![](/media/252400/gramophone_-10_24-_magsubscriptions-images_600x600px3.png?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=370&height=500&rnd=133700837800000000?quality=60)
Gramophone Full Club
- Print Edition
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £11.00 / month
Subscribe
If you are a library, university or other organisation that would be interested in an institutional subscription to Gramophone please click here for further information.