Continuing a series of blogs that I started a few weeks ago, today, I’d like to explore some trumpet duets intended for performance. Just two trumpets playing without accompaniment. For the purposes of this blog, I will exclude duet books like those by Clodomir, Paudert, Pietzsch and Sachse (not that we can’t perform these duets!).

The most famous duet is probably the Stravinsky Fanfare for a New Theater. Written in 1964 for the opening of the New York State Theater (part of the Lincoln Center in New York City). To me, the independent and complex rhythms speaks to a kind of cubism expressed through music.

Czech composer Petr Eben wrote Duetti for two trumpets. Here is the Scherzino from that work:

Here is a compelling piece by Ben-Zion Orgad called Melosalgia. 

Verne Reynolds wrote a challenging duet called Calls and Echoes.

And, finally, I’d like to share one of the twelve sonatas for two trumpets by Heinrich Ignaz Biber, here played by baroque trumpeters Kris Kwapis and Bruno Lourensetto.

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