Dramatis Personae

The dramatis personae are the characters in a play. In his work of that name, the Australian composer Brett Dean allows the trumpet to play a new character in each of the three movements. Although this is ostensibly a concerto, the soloist does not always emerge triumphant; indeed, the first movement is titled “Fall of a Superhero”. In the second movement, “Soliloquy”, the trumpet does occupy the driver’s seat. “The Accidental Revolutionary”, the third and final movement, is inspired by Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times (1936) and builds to a fantastic climax with the aid of a lugubrious march. Dramatis Personae is dedicated to Swedish trumpeter Håkan Hardenberger, the soloist in the first performance in 2013.