Alex Shapiro, composer: Trumpet Colors: Elegy

Trumpet Colors: Elegy

Trumpet Colors (Crystal Records 766) Trio Chromos: Ismael Betancor, trumpet; Carlos Rivero, cello; José Luis Castillo, piano. featuring Alex Shapiro's Elegy This CD also includes works by: William Schmidt, Astor Piazzolla, Scott Robbins, and Robert Bradshaw.
	Purchase
	Read about Elegy
	Listen:
	excerpt 1
	excerpt 2
	Purchase the score and parts

Elegy

Ismael Betancor, José Luis Castillo
and Carlos Rivero.

Elegy was originally composed for piano trio in 1999. A few years later, the Orenunn Trio from Kansas asked for an adaptation to be made which used trumpet in lieu of violin, and this version of the piece was born. As the title denotes, this music was written shortly after the passing of Ms. Shapiro's father, Ivan, and reflects the heartbreak of watching a beloved and brilliant parent endure the indignities of dementia.

Trumpet Colors CD Tray

Reviews

Trumpet Colors

This CD explores various colors of trumpet in ensemble with piano and cello. William Schmidt, one of the world's leading exponents of brass writing, explores his Jazzberries: Raspberry Riffs, Blackberry Blues, Boysenberry Boogie, and Strawberry Jam. Piazzolla, the best known composer of tangos, contributes four wonderful tangos, transcribed from bandoneon here for trumpet, piano, and cello. American composers Shapiro, Robbins, and Bradshaw round out this wonderful album featuring the Spanish group Trio Chromos, all members of the Gran Canaria Philharmonic Orchestra in Spain.

—Crystal Records, June 2007

Fanfare magazine

"...the Trio Chromos (Ismael Betancor, trumpet; José Luis Castillo, piano; Carlos Rivero, cello) plays with utter abandon in these works, fully convinced of their authenticity and importance, and with all of the requisite skill and stylistic manners needed to successfully convey the music’s spirit."

—Steven Ritter, Fanfare Magazine, July/August 2007

"It’s not every day, on record or in concert, that one hears a trumpet-cello-piano trio, and the range of works written for the combination is hardly vast in any case. But the ever-enterprising Crystal Records – never yet encountered a disc of theirs that didn’t tickle my aural fancy in some way – have come up with a winning selection in the shape of Trumpet Colors."

"...The melancholy falling theme of Alex Shapiro’s Elegy hints a little at Brahms. The plangent cello line is seconded by the trumpet and supported by the supple piano, which then picks up the mood and all three instruments conjoin in lyric reflection. It was written originally for the standard piano trio of violin, cello and piano... Enjoyable and never trivial, these works are excellently realised by the trio – fine sound as well completes the pleasure."

—Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International, December 2007

Alex Shapiro, composer