Marcel Bitsch Etude #2

Bitsch was a lover of counterpoint and spent the last part of his life analyzing the works of Bach. Knowing this greatly improves our understanding of his etudes and solo pieces. The Scarlatti Variations are a fantastic example of both his compositional skill and his understanding of the trumpet as an expressive voice. It is also more accessible technically than many of his Vingt Etudes I think.

The Etudes possess great musicality and unyielding technical demands of all kinds. Each one has several bars (or more) of wickedly difficult music. #2 is an “easier” one technically: no double octave jumps or lightning fast arpeggios. But, to make it silky smooth and singing is quite tricky!

In C.