Organize Your Repertoire

A while ago, I came across a trumpet repertoire list that was put together by David Hickman.  Hickman is the trumpet professor at Arizona State and one of the most important and influential trumpet teachers around today, so the list of his that I am about to share with you is pretty heavily weighted in importance.  Looking at this list encouraged me to make an inventory list of my own and in doing so, I learned a lot.  This summer I decided to take my two file cabinet drawers of solo literature and catalog them in a spreadsheet.  By creating multiple categories for the entries I am able to sort the table in a number of very helpful ways.

My categories are Composer, Work (title), Difficulty (I ranked from 1 – 6, 6 being most difficult), Instrument (preferred horn; C trumpet, piccolo, cornet, etc.), Genre (concerto, sonata, unaccompanied, w/organ, etc.), Era, and Notes (when I performed it last, if it’s missing a part, heavy on multiple tonguing, easy range, etc.).  My personal repertoire inventory is just over 280 works and it feels SO GOOD to finally have all that organized!  Now, I am much more efficient in helping my students find something to work on that target their needs.  Plus, I am now assigning different rep than my normal standbys which help teaching 21 students a week stay fresh for me.  Additionally, the act of going through all that rep and rank the difficulty helped me remember and become aware of a bunch of stuff I either never knew I had or forgot about.  Now I think I have recital fodder to last me the next 68 years, not to mention virtually an endless supply of repertoire reviews for this site.

If any of you would be interested in getting a copy of my repertoire spread sheet, send me an email and I’ll be glad to send it to you.  Here are screen shots of my excel spreadsheet.  The first shows my categories and is sorted by composer. (click to enlarge.)

This next shot shows how I can quickly see all of my unaccompanied music sorted by difficulty.

Significant Trumpet Repertoire
Compiled by David R. Hickman

“Great”
Concerto in E-Flat – – – F. J. Haydn IV+
Concerto in E – – – – J.N. Hummel V-
Sonate for Trumpet & Piano – – P. Hindemith IV

“Major”
Concertino – – – – A. Jolivet V+
Concerto No. 2 – – – A. Jolivet VI
Concerto in C – – – – H. Tomasi VI-
Sonata for Trumpet & Piano – – P.M. Davies VI+
Concerto in D (Melante) – – G.P. Telemann V-
Concerto in D – – – – F.X. Richter VI+
Suite Concertante – – – F. Werner VI+
Concerto – – – – E. Tamberg V+
Concerto in D – – – – L. Mozart V-
Concerto No. 1 in D – – – M. Haydn VI+
Concerto No. 2 in D – – – M. Haydn V+
Concerto in A-Flat – – – A. Arutunian IV+
Sonata for Trumpet & Piano – – K. Kennan IV+
Concerto – – – – A. Pachmutova IV+
Concerto – – – – R. Planel V
Concerto No. 1 in D – – – J.M. Molter V-
Concerto No. 2 in D – – – J.M. Molter V+
Concerto – – – – W. Lovelock VI
Sonata for Trumpet & Piano – – N. Dello Joio V-
Concerto in E-Flat – – – J.G. Neruda IV+
Sonata for Trumpet & Piano – – H. Stevens V-
Concerto – – – – A. Goedicke IV+
Concerto – – – – C. Chaynes V+
Concerto in E-Flat – – – F. Querfurth VI-
Concerto No. 1 – – – J.W. Hertel V+
Concerto No. 2 – – – J.W. Hertel V
Concerto in D, G.1 – – – G. Torelli IV+
Concerto in D, G.8 – – – G. Torelli IV+
Concerto No. 1 – – – F. Werle VI+
Times (unaccompanied) – – F. Campo V
Su le Sponde del Tebro – – A. Scarlatti V-
Concerto for Trumpet & Bassoon – P. Hindemith IV+
Variation Movements – – – R. Henderson VI+

“Good”
Quiet City – – – – A. Copland IV
Sonatine – – – – A.Casterede V-
Sonatina (Unaccompanied) – – W. Henze VI
Sonata for Trumpet and Piano – H. Holdheim V-
Concertino – – – – K. Riisager IV+
Legend – – – – – G. Enesco IV+
Sonata for Trumpet & Piano – – F. Peeters V-
Rose Variations – – – R. R Bennett IV+
Sonata No. 1 in D – – – H. Purcell III+
Concerto in D – – – – G. P. Telemann IV
Sonate de Concert – – – G. P. Telemann IV
Sonata Prima – – – – B. Viviani IV
Sonata Seconda – – – B. Viviani IV
Concerto – – – – S. Weiner V+
Proclamation – – – – E. Bloch IV-
The Hollow Men – – – V. Persichetti III+
Credo – – – – – J. B. Chance V-
Sonatine – – – – B. Hummel IV+
Intrada – – – – – A. Honegger IV+

The preceding list represents 3 great, 33 major (9 are outstanding), and 19 good works for trumpet in the solo repertoire. Works listed in the “Major” and “Good” categories are not in any order of significance. Chamber works for trumpet and non-solo works (such as the Vivaldi Concerto for Two Trumpets) do not appear in the listing. The compilation of this list is merely the opinion of the author.

Technical Grading:
I = very easy
II = easy
III = medium
IV = difficult
V = very difficult
VI = virtuoso