Opus 1324

The Mystic Trumpeter (2018)

for Speaker, Trumpet, and Piano

Text by Walt Whitman

Duration: 18 min.

Dedication: Commissioned by Edward Hull for Barbara Hull in celebration of their 30th wedding anniversary

Commission: Commissioned by Edward Hull

Publisher: Zimbel Press/Subito Music Corp.

Performance materials available from the publisher.

The Mystic Trumpeter (2018) for speaker, trumpet, and piano was commissioned by Edward Hull for Barbara Hull in celebration of their 30th wedding anniversary.

The piece is based on the poem of the same name by the American poet Walt Whitman (1819–1892). The poem was first published in 1872 and appeared in a later edition of his seminal collection Leaves of Grass. In this musical work, the poem is recited by spoken voice, and the tableaux that it presents are reflected in music for trumpet and piano. Each section of Whitman’s poem sees the trumpeter in a different context. Likewise, the musical moods vary dramatically, though there are connections of motive that run throughout them all.