Ketting - Intrada

Title

Biographical Info

The son of a composer, Ketting studied trumpet at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague and composition with his father. He played trumpet in the Hague Residentie-Orkest for seven years, before quitting for further composition study with Karl Amadeus Hartmann in Munich. Writing from a modernist perspective that takes in tonality and atonality equally, Ketting has created works in most genres of classical music, from symphonies to solo piano works, including a number of film scores. His opera Ithaka was composed for the official opening of the Amsterdam Muziektheater in 1986.

“Music should be about emotions and experiences, time and surroundings – besides being about music – no matter to what extent these are concealed or stylized.”

Suggested Equipment

There is a little debate whether this should be played on Bb or C  in the trumpet world but my Donemus 1977 edition says “Trumpet (in C) or Horn (in F).  It lies well on both horns so I would suggest playing whatever feels most comfortable.  I used an Eclipse C trumpet for this clip and recorded it straight through, no edits to show the overall contour of the piece.  (Please forgive the scuffs!)

Ketting Intrada

Practice/Performance Tips

This is one of the classics in our solo repertoire.  It’s a great recital work that lasts only 3-4 minutes.  Ketting included very thorough musical direction as far as phrasing and articulation.  Follow these closely and the piece makes a lot of sense.  The most common mistake I often hear is players tend to play this too loudly; overall, or in suggestions.  There is a lot of wonderful opportunities for gentle expressive playing.

On the second page there is section called Decido.  This contrasting section lets you use a more firm, orchestral articulation at the beginning of each phrase then soften up when you get to the eighth-note triplets.  There is a trill at the end of this section that you should start and end on the F#.

One personal suggestion; the opening phrase is marked espressivo and occurs three times throughout the work.  I would suggest you try to find subtle ways to vary those three statements while maintaining the tranquil character.  The final iteration of the phrase is marked up dynamically from piano to mezzo-piano which should help with variation.

Suggested Recordings

“Trumpet in our Time” by Ray Mase (the definitive recording, in my opinion)