"Kind of Gold"

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Matthias Höfs sees his new CD production as a "musical family reunion" with current and former students of his trumpet class

The impetus for this unique album was actually a particular shortcoming: "There are very few works in the entire music literature in which you can experience this concentrated sound," says HfMT professor Matthias Höfs. And when one of Germany's most renowned trumpet virtuosos talks about a concentrated sound, you can't think big enough.

Matthias Höfs brings together current and former students from his trumpet class at the Hamburg University of Music. They and other companions and friends, who now play across the major German orchestras, turn this album into a kind of musical class reunion. Matthias Höfs captivates with and in various ensembles with works that are otherwise rarely heard: from Janáček's Sokol Fanfare from the Sinfonietta, Strauss' Festmusik der Stadt Wien (with 10 trumpets, 7 trombones, 2 tubas and timpani) to two fanfares by Stravinsky and Japanese composer Itaru Sakai's Sinfonia & Caprice. The centerpiece is Wolf Kerschek's "The Trumpets Shall Sound" for solo trumpet, nine trumpets and orchestra - a large-scale work that Kerschek, who originally comes from jazz and film music, wrote especially for Matthias Höfs.

"When do you ever have so many trumpets? You have to come up with something," says the composer, who also teaches at the Hamburg University of Music and Drama. This is why you can hear the most diverse influences and approaches to the trumpet instrument in his work. From trumpet signals and fanfares from a military context, echoes of ethereal, divine celestial worlds, the trumpets of the Last Judgement crashing down the walls of Jericho - all thought-provoking starting points for the composer, who has found the perfect musical partner in Matthias Höfs: "It's a real symbiosis and the best thing that can happen to a composer. A soloist who has imagination, who is curious and open, who wants to break new ground, but who also has his own ideas that he can convey." It is no coincidence that countless former students feel compelled to take part in this special project. "The great thing about the production is that the most diverse generations of Matthias Höf's trumpet class are coming together. We have the same idea behind making music and you can feel that we all come from the same school," says Andre Schoch from the Berliner Philharmoniker.

This colorful musical family reunion of Matthias Höfs with current and former students of his trumpet class at the HfMT Hamburg not only illustrates that the trumpet is and sounds incredibly versatile, but also how formative and unifying life and learning at the conservatory is, says Wolf Kerschek: "I wish we could do more of this. I think that's what makes it particularly worthwhile for teachers, students and everyone involved, not just to teach at a university like this, but to really live it."

"Kind of Gold"
Label: Berlin Classics
LC: LC06203
Distribution: Edel:Kultur
EAN: 885470011295
RELEASE DATE: 12.10.2018