Radio 4’s Tales from the Stave on Tuesday brought us a real treat – an examination of Hummel’s original manuscript for his glorious trumpet concerto, which is housed – along with the rest of his works – in the British Library.
The manuscript – which no one doubts is in Hummel’s own hand – is said to be a work of art in its own right.
The orchestral parts are written in sepia ink, but the solo stands out in darkest black – something virtuoso trumpeter Alison Balsom said she would like to see adopted in modern printed scores.
Even more intriguing was her comment that seeing how the quavers in one particular section were written in a noticeably smaller hand had changed her idea of how the passage should be played - & gave us a live demonstration.
So subtle & various are the ways we absorb & interpret transcribed or coded information.
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