Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra

The composer says about CONCERTO FOR TRUMPET AND ORCHESTRA: "The third part of the piece ( the Rondo) was composed during my studies at the Academy of Music in my third year under prof. Pancho Vladigerov. I added the other two movements later without his knowledge. The concerto was dedicated to my fellow student Andrei Genov." It was completed on 29 June 1954 for the Academy's annual examination. It was first performed by Vassil Kostov with the Sofia Philharmonic under Konstantin Iliev in 1959 in Plovdiv. In this piece, being his first work in the concerto genre (followed by the Symphonie-concertante for saxophone, piano and orchestra and the Violin Concerto), the influence of Vladigerov's flamboyant figure is still clearly evident, but at the same time the young composer's individual character comes through strongly. The work breathes with vital energy, spontaneous emotionality and dynamic rhythms, providing opportunities for the virtuosity of the trumpet soloist to shine through to the maximum. It is built in the traditional three-movement structure - a lively, energetic first movement, which alternates active rhythmic movement and a broadly unfolding melodic line, a nostalgically lyrical, song-driven second movement and a lively, rhapsodically unfolding finale, with echoes of folk intonations.