ABOUT THE COMPOSER

Carl Schroeder (b. 1982) of Minneapolis, Minnesota, composes music for concert band, orchestra, choir, chamber ensembles and solo piano that often draws inspiration from American history, current events, natural surroundings and memories. His large ensemble music has been performed by nearly 50 concert bands, orchestras and choirs, including the Air Force Band of Mid-America, Minnesota Youth Symphonies and Ukraine’s Chamber Choir Kyiv. He has written commissioned works for the City of Lakes Community Band, Cornell University Symphonic Band, Minnesota State Band, Minnesota Symphonic Winds, Southwest Wind Ensemble, Three Rivers Conference Honor Band, Valley Winds, Wells Fargo Chorus and other ensembles and individuals. His published compositions include the concert band work Spin, the choral work Two December Carols and the piano solo 88 Keys, and six CDs of his music have been released. He is also the author of two books in the Fenn and Zorro series of novels told through correspondence. A 2005 graduate of St. Olaf College, he studied composition primarily with Timothy Mahr and Peter Hamlin. He composed the original version of Now the Trumpet Summons in January 2000, and completed a revised version in summer 2018.

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MORE ON NOW THE TRUMPET SUMMONS

A NOTE FROM THE COMPOSER
I composed Now the Trumpet Summons in 2000 during my junior year at Southwest High School in Minneapolis. It was the third of four band pieces I wrote during high school, and it was inspired by a quote from President John F. Kennedy’s 1961 inaugural address.

About a minute before the famous “Ask not what your country can do for you” line in that speech, there was a passage where Kennedy used the image of a trumpet summoning soldiers to war, and then took the image in a different direction: rather than being summoned to World War I and II like the previous generations, he talked about a trumpet summoning Americans to use our country's influence not just with our military, but by humanitarian means to fight what he called the “common enemies of mankind” of tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself.

Kennedy's quote in full is: “Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty. The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe. Now the trumpet summons us again—not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need—not as a call to battle, though embattled we are—but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, ‘rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation’—a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself.”

I latched onto that phrase “Now the trumpet summons” and thought it would be a great title for a piece of music, regardless of whether listeners know anything about the inspiration. Keith Liuzzi conducted the premiere in March 2000 by the Southwest Wind Ensemble during a band tour to Chicago, and in 2018 I revised it in a version that was re-premiered by the Minnesota State Band, again led by Keith Liuzzi.

– Carl Schroeder, November 2019

CONCERT PERFORMANCES
March 21, 2000: Southwest High School Wind Ensemble, Keith Liuzzi, conductor - Chicago, IL premiere
May 19, 2000: Southwest High School Wind Ensemble, Keith Liuzzi, conductor - Minneapolis, MN
March 21, 2001: Southwest High School Wind Ensemble, Keith Liuzzi, conductor - Toronto, Canada
Feb. 20, 2001: Southwest High School Wind Ensemble, Keith Liuzzi, conductor - Minneapolis, MN
Nov. 13, 2003: Southwest High School Wind Ensemble, Keith Liuzzi, conductor - Minneapolis, MN
March 22, 2019: Minnesota State Band, Keith Liuzzi, conductor - Park Rapids, MN
March 23, 2019: Minnesota State Band, Keith Liuzzi, conductor - Wadena, MN
May 22, 2019: Edina Concert Band, Paul Kile, conductor - Edina, MN VIDEO LINK Watch this performance on YouTube
Aug. 21, 2019: Minnesota State Band, Keith Liuzzi, conductor - St. Paul, MN