UKARIA has a knack of bringing together outstanding musicians for illuminating chamber music programs and, on this occasion, SSO principal trumpet David Elton, together with SSO concertmaster Andrew Haveron, sometime ASO principal cello Simon Cobcroft and pianist Stefan Cassomenos, delighted the audience with some little-known trumpet works and some adaptations of well-known works.

Andrew Haveron, Stefan Cassomenos, Simon Cobcroft and David Elton. Photo © Ben Nicholls

They opened with Lachlan Skipworth’s Altiora Peto (2021), the title of which means “I seek higher things” or “I aim higher”, an involving three-movement concerto for trumpet and string orchestra, rearranged by the composer for trumpet and piano trio.

In the first Moderato Ritmico – Adagio – Temp Primo movement, the trumpet is a strident, majestic voice, soaring above the accompaniment. Elton then switches to the warmer sounding flugelhorn for the rather sombre, reflective Tranquillo, which opens with a quiet, gentle cello theme. There are some delightful passages for violin and cello in this beautifully crafted second movement.

The Allegro finale is bright and optimistic. A passage of rapid trumpet notes requires the utmost playing ability and the work ends triumphantly. Elton’s clear, golden tone stands out in the intimate UKARIA hall. Skipworth’s arrangement for trumpet with piano trio changes the character of the music a little from that of the string orchestra version, but in both cases, it’s a showcase for the trumpet.

David Elton. Photo © Ben Nicholls

Next was George Enescu’s Légende for trumpet and piano, composed in 1906 for a trumpet competition at the Paris Conservatory, and thus a challenge for any trumpeter.

Opening slowly and thoughtfully, it proceeds through quiet, gracious passages to energetic flurries of rapid, staccato notes, becoming brighter in character, and the trumpet is heavily muted at the end. The piano plays an important role in this fine work, and with its changing moods and engaging themes, Légende is much more than a trumpet showpiece.

Elton switched to the brighter sounding E flat trumpet for the Trumpet Concerto in E of Johann Nepomuk Hummel who succeeded Haydn at the Esterhazy court. Hummel wrote it for a trumpet virtuoso who was an exponent of the then newly developed valve trumpet. Appearing at the time of the transition from the classical to the romantic era of music, it’s a pivotal work in the repertoire and one of the best-known of Hummel’s oeuvre.

The energising Allegro con spirito opening has the feel of a fanfare. In this arrangement for trumpet and piano trio, the trumpet fills the hall and dominates the combined sound of the ensemble.

The piano trio presents the flowing opening passages of the gracious, gentle, second Andante movement, and the Rondo finale sets off at a gallop, with the trumpet theme evoking the call of the hunting horn. David Elton’s playing is superb.

Stefan Cassomenos, Andrew Haveron, Simon Cobcroft and David Elton. Photo © Ben Nicholls

In introducing American composer David Sampson’s suite Memories to Keep Awhile (2014), Elton indicated that the composer had been sorting through a box of family photographs, having to decide which to keep and which to discard, and the composition grew from that. A renowned trumpeter himself, Sampson’s writing for the instrument is extraordinary — throughout the work, Elton made frequent, quick changes between trumpet and flugelhorn and employed no less than five different mutes to create the desired musical effects.

Sampson’s writing is superb, with the voices of the trumpet or flugelhorn and the piano, violin and cello all creating individual and collective magic at various moments. Some wonderful textures emerged from combinations of muted brass instrument with the strings and piano. In this work, the trumpet is an equal partner with the other three instruments rather than standing out as a solo instrument.

The music is at times harmonious, discordant, agitated and melodious and it seemed as if each combination of instruments represented an individual or event depicted in one of the photographs. Sampson’s Memories to Keep Awhilewas perhaps the most engaging of all the works in the program and it brought out the best in this excellent ensemble.

Stefan Cassomenos and David Elton. Photo © Ben Nicholls

The concert concluded with James Ledger’s arrangement of Kurt Weill’s Suite from The Threepenny Opera and again the arrangement emphasised the equality of the four instrumental voices. Ledger has done a remarkable job in this arrangement, which is necessarily different from that of the wind orchestra version, and it retains all the character of Weill’s masterpiece, with its jazz and popular song influences.

Elton’s choice of mutes created much of the character of the music, and the trumpet was so heavily muted for the Mack the Knife theme as to give it an ironic feel. In place of the percussion used in the orchestral version, Cobcroft rapped on the body of the cello, Haveron rattled his music stand and the piece concluded with the performers stamping their feet, much to the audience’s delight.

For more information on UKARIA programming in 2026, visit ukaria.com