My musical career started in 1970, in the young age of 4 years, with the so-called "early music education" during two years at the music school Neckarsulm. Afterwards, I took piano lessons, which, due to my laziness, had no strong effect on me in spite of its 12 years duration.
My father was and is, a a primary school teacher who mainly gives music lessons, very interested in music. In his spare time he built various curious instruments mainly from the Renaissance epoch ("Busins" and "Dolzains", just to name a few), and as these should not only get examined, but played as well, he used his whole family for that. So, we (father, mother, elder brother, younger sister, and me) made music on various occasions, mainly in the church, in concerts and special services. A highlight of this domestic music career was the participation in a competition "Families Make Music (Familien musizieren)" in Baden-Württemberg from October 1978 to March 1979, in which we arrived at the final stage and concluded with a first rank! A festive final concert on April 23, 1979 in the "White Hall (Weißer Saal)" of the "New Castle (Neues Schloß)" in Stuttgart, in which we were allowed to take part and which was recorded and broadcasted later by some radio station, and a receiption of the state government afterwards was the compensation for our effort.
Once again I appeared in the radio within that familiar surroundings: After some exhibition of musical instruments, which was done by my father in the old NSU casino in Neckarsulm, and two accompanying concerts with the participation of the whole familiy, we (my father, my brother, and me) were invited by radio moderator Werner Kieser to the broadcast station in Heilbronn in order to report about our experiences with old instruments. These interviews, together with some musical excerpts, were sent on April 10, 1982 in the program "Wir im Land" on SDR1.
Sometimes my father not only plays music of other composers, but also writes music for his own. Not all the time I am convinced by the results of his composition arts, but with the musical ballad "Jona geht nach Ninive" (according to some text of Klaus-Peter Hertzsch) he created a really nice piece of music. This musical was originally and once and only performed on August 28, 1988 in the protestantic church in Obereisesheim, where I played the trumpet part.
The trumpet had a fascinating effect on me since my earliest childhood. I, myself, played that instrument from the age of 11. Since then, I took part in various groups and ensembles.
My musical idols and preferences are probably as diversified as my musical activities, so far. Some of the musicians, which come to my mind first, I would like to mention at this place.
With classical trumpeters, I prefer the young, dynamic type, which is represented by e.g. Håkan Hardenberger, to the established artists, as Maurice André or Ludwig Güttler. Special impression make those trumpeters, who are able to play the natural trumpet, which is the predecessor of our modern valve trumpet. First of all, I want to mention Crispian Steele-Perkins and Friedemann Immer as such.
In Jazz, several trumpeters have a fascinating effect on me. The old champion is Louis Armstrong, for sure, therefore he is mentioned first in the list. Unusual are the playing techniques of Chet Baker, who as a "trumpeter without teeth" breathes the jazz standards into his instrument in a wonderful and very sensitive way, of Dizzy Gillespie, whose blown cheek would drive each trumpet teacher crazy, and of Maynard Ferguson, who, against all methods of instruction about trumpet playing without pressure, plays even the highest registers with pure muscle strength. Many representatives of jazz trumpet I did not mention, so far, as e.g. Miles Davis or Freddy Hubbard. This does not mean that they do not play good music. But music is a very subjective experience, and I restrict to those musicians who had the strongest impact and impression on me. But two musician should additionally be mentioned, who demonstrate in an impressive way that the flugelhorn, which is normally played in the popular music, as an instrument with a strong relationship to the trumpet technique, but which has a very own sound, may play a valuable and essential role in jazz: Art Farmer and Chuck Mangione.
A trumpeter, who plays classical music as well as jazz, is Wynton Marsalis. He masters his instrument with outstanding technique, but sometimes he seems to be too cool, too calculating in my impression.
All these trumpeters show me, how manifold my instrument, the trumpet, is, and how far I am away from mastering any of these facets in an attractive way.
Would you like some small acoustical appetizers?
