Trumpet Tune in D

The Texan-born organist David Johnson was Professor of Music at Arizona State University for many years and evidently held great affection for trumpet tunes, having composed nine of them. Trumpet tunes are not a recent invention, they were popular during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries with some fine examples written by Purcell and perhaps most famously by Charpentier. This particular trumpet tune dates from 1962 and, like his forebears, Johnson generally restricts himself to the diatonic notes available on the natural trumpet. The accompaniment, meanwhile, is a little spicier. The piece is composed in ternary form, with each solo trumpet phrase repeated on the contrasting principal chorus. The contrasting 'B' section is written in the minor leading back to the reprise of the first section.

English tubas are almost unsurpassed in the organ world. There are many fine examples throughout the globe, crowning many cathedral and larger parish church instruments. The tuba in the 1858 Walker organ at Romsey Abbey is not original but was added by Mander in 1982. It's certainly epic in scale, and perfect for this joyful piece. The fact that the tuba was retained when the organ was restored to its original condition in 1996 (along with the balanced swell pedal, thankfully) is perhaps an indication of both its importance within the scheme and its quality. This one is hard to beat!

There is no doubt that this is a popular and frequently performed piece. Has it been overdone? When there's a tuba this good, I think not!