Hyperion Records

Johann Wilhelm Hertel (1727–1789) came from a musical family who worked in a number of centres in northern Germany. Hertel himself had contact with many of the leading German composers of the day, including Graun and C P E Bach, and was widely regarded. His Concerto in E flat for trumpet, strings and continuo was the first of several composed at Schwerin for the Court Trumpeter Johann Georg Hoese (1727–1801).

All three movements are of unusually fine musical quality. The first movement is a good example of the style brought on by the transition of music from the Baroque to the Classical era; the strings set out the melodies and the trumpet follows with its own distinctive flair. The ensuing ‘Larghetto’ is especially beautiful, giving unusually long and sustained phrases to the soloist; Hertel’s sensuous accompanying harmonies are sublime. The final, lively ‘Vivace’ is of extreme technical difficulty, presenting the soloist with demanding passagework in the uppermost reaches of the instrument.

from notes by H C Robbins Landon & Crispian Steele-Perkins © 2001