Reexamining the Repertoire

Many frequently performed solo trumpet works of the past century have been written by French composers. They are played for jury performances, at recitals, and on stage with symphony orchestras to showcase the virtuosic capabilities of trumpeters worldwide. Of the most commonly performed French pieces, very few were written by women. This is not, however, because of an absence of music. A shift in European gender roles spurred by the Second Industrial Revolution and World Wars ignited a significant increase in the number of women composers and the quality of their work. Unfortunately, gendered or lack of public critical review, securing performance past an initial premiere, and balancing home and professional lives significantly impacted the likelihood that pieces by women would be programmed. As a result, most have been forgotten for decades. The purpose of this treatise is to provide a practical point of reference for musicians interested in the morceaux de concours written by women for the trumpet and cornet at the Paris Conservatory during the twentieth century, while also raising questions about why and how certain works are excluded from the standard solo repertoire. The Paris Conservatory is an exceptional institution in that its professors have been composing original works for their students to perform as contest pieces since its inception. Hundreds of works have been composed for dozens of instruments; 171 works have been written for the trumpet and cornet alone. This large repository of music has produced some works that have become standards in the trumpet repertoire, but of the fifteen pieces written by women, none of them has achieved widespread recognition in the form of recordings, publication, and performances. The barriers women faced for centuries still persist today as it remains a challenge to find recordings, scores, and biographical information about women who composed for solo trumpet. This treatise is a first step in addressing this issue.