Performed live on March 25th, 2026 as part of Christopher Keach's Faculty Recital, "The Voice of the Trumpet"

Kryl by Robert Ericsson

Christopher Keach, trumpet

Program Notes:

Robert Erickson (1917-1997) was a composer dedicated to Modernism in his works. He was one of the first American composers to explore the twelve-tone system pioneered by the Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg. By 1943 he had already modified that method to suit his own needs, and by the late 1950s he was evolving a more directly expressive, intuitive music in which, in his words, “craft, thought, and intuition are so merged that it is all one thing.” For many years he experimented with specially made percussion instruments, with extended vocal and instrumental techniques, with naturally occurring sounds, and with non-standard musical notation.

Erickson’s Kryl is an extremely unique work for solo trumpet filled with microtones and other extended techniques where the soloist is asked to relearn all their note fingerings as well as learn to sing and play in hocket. It was written for Ed Harkins, a master at extended techniques who collaborated with the composer. It was composed in memoriam to Bohumil Kryl, a Czech-American cornetist and band leader.