Jean-Claude Schlaepfer

Ascensus

This work was commissioned in 1995 by the Suisa Foundation for Music, and was one of the required works at the world Trumpet Competition in Guebwiller, France. It was written for solo trumpet and string orchestra (5 violas, 4 cellos, and 3 contrabasses, each instrument playing an individual part).

Although it was conceived as a single movement (molto largo e misterioso), three divisions are apparent: the quasi-declamatory introduction for trumpet alone (with a 'plunger' mute for a 'rougher' sound), followed by the main body of the work where the trumpet (open) starts low and works its way progressively into the high range, within the subtle texture of quivering low strings, to attain a flamboyant and lyrical climax. In the last section the strings (violas and cellos) disappear into the extreme high register, while the trumpet (using a Harmon mute without the tube, as Miles Davis did) finds serenity in the middle register and concludes in the low register, murmuring the inexpressible.

The world premiere has been performed in Lausanne, Switzerland by Olivier Theurillat, solo trumpet and the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra conducted by Alan Gilbert.