Kind of Gold Matthias Höfs

• Richard Strauss (1864 - 1949):
• 1 Festive Music for the City of Vienna, TRV 286 12:21
• Igor Stravinsky (1882 - 1971):
• 2 Fanfare for a New Theatre 00:41
• 3 Fanfare for Three Trumpets 00:29
• Itaru Sakai (1970 - ):
• 4 Sinfonia and Caprice, Op. 56 04:48
• Leoš Janáček (1854 - 1928):
• 5 Sokol Fanfare (From Sinfonietta, Op. 60, Jw Vi/18) 02:34
• Wolf Kerschek (1969 - ):
• 6 Trumpets Shall Sound 25:10
• 7 Space Heroes 05:18
• Total Runtime 51:21

Info for Kind of Gold

The trigger for this unique album was actually the realisation that "there are very few works in the music literature in which one can experience such a concentrated sound," explains Matthias Höfs. And when one of Germany's most renowned trumpet virtuosos speaks of concentrated sound, then you can be sure he means a really phenomenal sound.

Matthias Höfs has brought together current and former students from his trumpet class at the Hamburg Music college for this project. This gathering of colleagues, companions and friends who play for a number of the big German orchestras, make this album into something of a student reunion. Matthias Höfs thrills audiences, both alone and in various ensembles, playing works that are rarely given a hearing: be it Janáček's "Sokol Fanfare" from the Sinfonietta, Strauss's "Festival Music for the City of Vienna" (featuring 10 trumpets, 7 trombones, 2 tubas and timpani), two fanfares by Stravinsky or the Sinfonia & Caprice by the Japanese composer Itaru Sakai. The central focus is on Wolf Kerschek's "The Trumpets Shall Sound" for solo trumpet, nine trumpets and orchestra – a large-scale work which Kerschek, who is most at home in the fields of jazz and film music, wrote specially for Matthias Höfs.

"What work calls for so many trumpets? As a composer, I had to come up with something special," says the composer, who also teaches at the College of Music and Drama in Hamburg. That is why his composition features a whole raft of different influences and approaches to the instrument. From trumpet signals and fanfares from a military context, echoes of ethereal, celestial heavenly realms and the trumpets of Judgment Day that brought down the walls of Jericho – all of them intellectual points of departure for the composer who has found in Matthias Höfs the perfect musical partner: "It is a true symbiosis and the best thing that can happen to a composer. A soloist with imagination, who has an enquiring mind and is open to traversing new paths, but who contributes his own ideas and is able to explain them." There is good reason why numerous former students felt compelled to participate in this special project. "The great thing about the recording is that it brought together various generations of Matthias Höfs's trumpet classes. We all have a similar approach to the music and the fact that we're all from the same school is palpable," explains Andre Schoch of the Berlin Philharmonic.

Matthias Höf's colourful musical get-together of current and former students from his Hamburg college trumpet class not only demonstrates how incredibly versatile the trumpet is and sounds; Wolf Kerschek believes it also proves what a formative and unifying experience living and learning at the college is: "I would very much like to do more of this sort of thing. I think this is the essence of the experience of both studying at and living in a music college, both for the teachers and for the students."

Matthias Höfs
By the age of six, Matthias Höfs declared the trumpet his instrument, “because it shines so nicely”. He received his musical education from Professor Peter Kallensee at Hamburg University of Music and Theatre, as well as from Professor Konradin Groth at the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Just being eighteen years old, Höfs was already engaged as solo-trumpeter at the Philharmonic State Orchestra in Hamburg, where he enjoyed the fascinating world of opera for sixteen years. At the same time, Höfs became a member of the GERMAN BRASS Ensemble, with whom he continues to achieve worldwide successes. Since their first joint concert in 1985, he has been writing costumized and innovative arrangements for his colleagues and himself, which span more than one genre and continue to inspire the world of brass. Matthias Höfs always proved to be a pioneering spirit by consistently widening the horizon of his instrument. These continuous developments are encouraged by a close cooperation with other composers, who feel themselves inspired by his incomparable virtuosity and joy of experimentation. Additionally inspired by his position as “trumpet ambassador” in his home state Schleswig-Holstein in Northern Germany as well as the cooperation with the instrument makers Max and Heinrich Thein.

Starting in 2000, Matthias Höfs has been teaching as a Professor at Hamburg University of Music and Theatre, where he continues to inspire his students with enthusiasm, passion for his instrument, and great knowledge. In addition to his extensive concert performances as solo-trumpeter and chamber musician, Höfs recorded numerous solo-albums, as well as over twenty recordings with GERMAN BRASS.

Booklet for Kind of Gold