This CD presents a unique artistic statement by Vladislav Lavrik, one of world’s leading trumpet soloists, together with The Major Wind Orchestra of Russia — the Central Military Orchestra of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
Recorded in 2011 at the Moscow Sound Recording House, the album brings together lyrical, expressive, and deeply emotional works for trumpet and wind orchestra. The performances are led by distinguished conductors General Valery Khalilov and Colonels Sergey Durygin and Alexey Kolotushkin, whose interpretations highlight both the symphonic breadth and the intimate, vocal qualities of the music.
At the heart of this release lies Lavrik’s artistic philosophy. For him, the trumpet is not merely an instrument, but a voice — capable of singing, breathing, and conveying the inner world of the performer. The selected repertoire emphasizes melody, lyricism, and spiritual depth, inviting the listener to experience the trumpet as a human voice and to reflect on the soul and emotional richness of the Russian musical tradition.
As Lavrik himself notes:
“My instrument is my voice.
For this CD I chose beautiful, lyrical, emotional music—music that is in every way connected to a voice. I want the listener to revel in the song-like nature of the melodies and to think about the soul of the Slavic people. For some it will be interesting to imagine the sound of a voice when listening to my trumpet, or to experience a whole new emotion from the sound of a wind band performing serious and profound music.”
— Vladislav Lavrik
The program spans Romantic virtuosity, Soviet-era lyricism, and timeless concert classics, demonstrating both the expressive power of the trumpet and the remarkable palette of the wind orchestra.
MEDITATION is an invitation to listen beyond sound — to hear the singing voice of the trumpet and to discover new emotional dimensions in wind orchestral music.
Track List:
Concert Piece No. 2 in E-flat Major — Vassily Brandt (1869–1923)
Concerto for Voice and Orchestra — Reinhold Glière (1875–1956)
Concert Allegro — Vladimir Peskin (1906–1988)
Meditation — Nikolay Samokhvalov (1930–2005)
Concerto for Trumpet — Alexander Arutunian (1920)
Variations on the Theme “Carnival of Venice” — Jean-Baptiste Arban (1825–1889)
1. Concert Piece No. 2 in E-flat Major Vassily Brandt (1869-1923)
One of the founders of the Russian brass school and the authorof numerous etudes and compositions, Karl Wilhelm Vassily Brandt studied with Karl Zimmermann at the School of Music inColberg, Germany. At the age of eighteen Brandt entered the Bad Oeynhausen Orchestra, and following that the orchestra of the Helsinki Orchestral Association under director Robert Kajanus. In 1921 he won the first trumpet position at the Bolshoi Theater. Brandt wrote his Concert Piece No. 2 in E-flat Major for trumpet and wind orchestra in the romantic style, in which the combination of grand melodiousness and the soloist’s virtuoso technique suggests various expressive possibilities of the instrument.
2. Concerto for Voice and OrchestraReinhold Gliere (1875 – 1956)
Prominent composer Reinhold Gliere was born in Kiev into a family of master craftsmen who made brass instruments. In defiance of his parents, Gliere began studying music and later graduated from the Moscow Conservatory with a gold medal in violin and composition. In the 1930s Gliere addressed himself to the concerto genre. A true masterpiece in this category of creative work is the Concerto for Voice and Orchestra (1943), dedicated to the great Russian singer Antonina Nezhdanova. The range of a tessitura soprano almost coincides with the range of a trumpet, so it is interesting how the sound of the trumpetcan transmit the image and mood of the composition, mimicking the virtuosic possibilities of the human voice. The CD contains only the first part of the concerto, which can stand alone as an independent work.
N.Samokhvalov
3. Concert Allegro Vladimir Peskin
(1906 – 1988)
Vladimir Peskin—composer, pianist, lover of the trumpet—created a modern repertoire for trumpet in the 1930s at a timewhen trumpeters had to be satisfied with amateurish pieces written by trumpeters themselves. Peskin’s friendship with Timofei Dokshitzer, the great Russian trumpeter of the 20thcentury, played a special role in his compositions. About Peskin’s works Dokshitzer commented, “If music stimulates the mastery of skill, its value increases.” One of Peskin’s most popular works is the Concert Allegro for trumpet and piano, written in the heroic-romantic style and in the traditional sonata form.
V.Peskin
4. Meditation Nikolay Samokhvalov
(1930 – 2005)
Nikolay Samokhvalov combined conducting, composing and teaching activities. While a student of the Suvorov Military School in Saratov, he learned to play the trumpet. In 1953 Samokhvalov graduated from the military-conducting faculty of Moscow State Conservatory, where he later became a professor. A creative friendship connected him with the wonderful trumpet player Anatoly Pautov, Vladislav Lavrik’s teacher. Samokhvalovdedicated Meditation, one of his most melodic works, to Pautov.
N.Samokhvalov
5. Concerto for Trumpet Alexander Arutunian (1920)
Alexander Arutunian, a “living legend” of the Armenian school of composition, is professor of the Yerevan State Conservatory. From 1954 to 1990 he led the Armenian Philharmonic and was named Peoples Artist of the USSR. His creative style is based on the musical heritage of Armenia and enduring principles of music—classicism and romanticism. A number of works by Arutunian, in particular Concerto for Trumpet, have entered the repertoire of the world’s leading performers. This work is dedicated to Timofei Dokshitzer, the outstanding Russian trumpeter, who often performed this piece. Later Dokshitzerwrote a cadenza, which became an integral part of the concerto.It is an example of a rare union of composer and performer.
A.Arutiunian
6. Variations on the Theme ‘Carnival of Venice’
Jean-Baptist Arban (1825-1889)
Jean Baptist Arban, the famous French performer on trumpetand cornet, was a composer, conductor and an excellent teacher. He invented the “Arban cornet.” In 1869 at the initiative of Arban, the Paris Conservatory opened a cornet class where he taught. Russian Tsar Alexander II often invited Arban to play and conduct concerts in St. Petersburg. Variations on the Theme “Carnival of Venice” were published in his famous Grande méthode complète pour cornet à pistons et de saxhorn (1864). Since then Variations are not just in the repertoire oftrumpeters, but they are also arranged for other brass instruments. Each of the seven variations demonstrates a certain method of playing the instrument.