In this post, I’ll share a few pieces written for a trumpet ensemble of seven trumpets. Today, the recordings were made by students (except for Ben Wright in the first example).

A week ago, I wrote a post about the trumpet ensemble for baroque trumpets, but I forgot to mention probably the most important trumpet ensemble piece ever written. This is the Concerto for 7 Trumpets and Timpani by Johann Ernst Altenburg (1734-1801). It was printed in his equally-important book, Versuch einer Anleitung zur heroisch-musikalischen Trompeter- und Paukerkunst (An Essay on the Introduction to Heroic and Musical Trumpeters’ and Kettledrummers’ Art) (Halle, 1795).

Here is Ben Wright performing this piece with students from the New England Conservatory on piccolo trumpets:

We have already explored some 5- and 6-piece trumpet ensemble pieces by Erik Morales, but here is one for seven: his Music from Strange Places played by trumpet students from the University of Miami at the 2015 NTC competition.

And, as you might have imagined, Eric Ewazen also wrote for this instrumentation. His Fantasia for Seven Trumpets here is played by a Florida State University Trumpet Ensemble at the 2019 NTC Semi-Finals.