The trumpet demands stamina, power and the courage to be in the spotlight.
“I think in general you have to be fairly extrovert to play the trumpet, because you can’t ‘half play’ the trumpet,” Alison said. “There is no way to hide with the trumpet and it’s a kind of showing off instrument. It’s fabulous. It’s a brilliant heroic sound and you need a lot of physical strength to play the trumpet.”
Comparatively speaking, there is just a small repertoire for the modern trumpeter.
Today’s valve-trumpet was not developed until the 19th century, allowing players to create previously impossible notes.
And that is why there are no Beethoven or Mozart trumpet concertos.
So Alison transcribes works written for other instruments.
“Well the challenge is of course they weren’t written for the instrument and you don’t want to take anything away from the original. Because the pieces I transcribe I love and they are masterpieces and you know you don’t want to do it just for the sake of it,” she said. “You want there to be some sort of worth in what you are doing.”
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