Johann Nepomuk Hummel’s brilliant concerto expands the trumpet’s expressive range and remains one of the defining works of the classical repertoire.
Trumpet repertoire • History
Hummel’s Trumpet Concerto Virtuosity at a Turning Point
Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778–1837)Portrait: Wikimedia Commons
Hummel’s Trumpet Concerto is one of the great milestones in the solo trumpet repertoire. Written at the beginning of the nineteenth century, it preserves the elegance of the Classical style while anticipating the brilliance and colour of the Romantic era.
A concerto for a new kind of trumpet
Hummel composed the concerto in 1803 for Anton Weidinger, the celebrated Viennese court trumpeter. Weidinger’s keyed trumpet made it possible to play chromatically across a much wider range than the traditional natural trumpet, giving composers an entirely new palette of melodic and technical possibilities.
The work was first performed on New Year’s Day 1804, marking Hummel’s arrival as Kapellmeister at the Esterházy court. Its opening movement combines ceremonial fanfares with agile scale passages; the central Andante reveals a poised, singing line; and the finale brings the concerto to a dazzling close.
The keyed trumpet and its legacy
Known as the organisierte Trompete, the keyed trumpet used tone holes covered by keys to create a chromatic scale. Its sound was softer than the natural trumpet’s, but its flexibility was revolutionary. The instrument had a brief life, soon replaced by the valve trumpet, yet it produced two enduring masterpieces: Haydn’s and Hummel’s concertos.
The keyed trumpet was a short-lived bridge between the natural trumpet and the modern valve instrument.
Why performers return to Hummel
Modern players usually perform the concerto in its familiar E-flat major transposition on the E-flat trumpet. The work remains a favourite for auditions, competitions and concert performance because it tests articulation, style, interval control and musical imagination in equal measure.
Behind its brilliant surface lies a deeply elegant score. Hummel gives the soloist space to shine, but never at the expense of line, balance or classical proportion.
A permanent place in the repertoire
Hummel’s concerto captures the moment when the trumpet became capable of lyricism, chromatic colour and virtuoso freedom. More than two centuries later, it still challenges—and inspires—every trumpet player who performs it.
Further reading: Los Angeles Philharmonic · The Cleveland Orchestra
Browse all works in the Trumpet Play-Along Catalog A–Z or find PDF parts in the Trumpet Sheet Music Library. See also the Trumpet Repertoire by Level guide.
