| Classification |
Chamber Music |
|---|---|
| Playing range | |
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Legende (1906) is a solo work for trumpet and piano, composed by George Enescu and premiered by Merri Franquin, professor of cornet at the Paris Conservatoire. It reflects the impressionistic style of Enesco's teachers Jules Massenet and Gabriel Fauré. The title is an homage to Professor Franquin. The piece reflects an important step in the evolution of the trumpet from a more archaic limited instrument, to a fully chromatic and soloistic instrument.
Legende's range extends from a low A-flat to a high C, with an ossia passage that extends only to high B-flat. The piece requires extensive triple tonguing and an unspecified mute.
Legende is in the key of C minor, and begins with a simple lyrical melody which reappears twice. The second time, it is played during the climax in the higher octave, and in the muted conclusion, it appears again in the original low register. In between each statement of the melody are technical passages which require extensive triple tonguing and chromatic fingering. The piano accompaniment is chordal in the lyrical passages, and virtuosic in the technical sections, matching the difficulty of the trumpet part with extensive runs and arpeggios.