15 Airs en Duos

15 Airs en Duos In 1824, Schott in Mainz published a trumpet method by C. Eugène Roy. A facsimile reprint of it has been published in 2010 as volume 1 of the HKB- [Bern University of the Arts] Historic Brass Series (Editions Bim, TP276). The original includes these duets in an antiquated mixed pitch configuration: the first voice for a high E flat trumpet, the second being in Bb. These have been transposed here for modern instruments in either C or Bb.Roy, a military musician and flageolet (similar to recorder) virtuoso, has published many instrumental methods and arrangements of well-known melodies of the time: his trumpet method addresses both natural and keyed trumpet playing. Depending on the respective publisher, these can be either keyed trumpets or keyed bugles (see illustration). The 15 duets of this book were presumably written for the keyed bugle, since in France at the time, such instruments were pitched in Eb et Bb, exactly the two pitches Roy used in these duets. For performance practices: the sound of the historical instrument is, depending on the type of mouthpiece used, similar, but brighter and more open than that of the modern fluegelhorn. There is also a significant difference in the degree of clarity of articulations: on the keyed bugle, the slurred notes sound similar to those on woodwind instruments, while the articulated notes are similarly not as clearly defined as on contemporary brass instruments, sounding more like those of woodwinds. Consequently the articulation on modern instruments should be light.For more information about Roy and his trumpet tutor, see the facsimile edition mentioned above. Adrian von Steiger,2010, Bern, Switzerland