When the trumpet numbers were rehearsed, I waited 10 minutes or so until the break to check whether I would still be needed in the later rehearsal. I wasn’t required, so I finished a record two hours before I was required. I went and had a walk around the spectacular gardens at the palace, having finished my duties for the day. 

I was absolutely elated that the rehearsal had gone well, as I had made some of the components for my trumpet so that it would work at the pitch standard of A=400Hz (i.e. around three quarter tones flatter than A=440Hz). There is always some worry about whether a real-life orchestra will replicate the same pitch in situ as the tuning machine did at home. Fortunately, they did! I never tire of the thought that these three-dimensional components with extra-musical qualities started out as flat sheet brass in my workshop. 

I had spent a long time fine tuning the components I made so that the intonation would be reliable whether the tuning machine was set to A=400Hz (also checking for resultant tones with the A one octave higher, 800Hz) or when playing in the key of D at A=400Hz. It would be in D major where I would need pure whole number ratios to a fundamental of D at A=400Hz. I ensured that I had enough space on the new top bow of the trumpet so that I could push it in if the pitch was sharper than I was expecting, and pull it out if the pitch was flatter than I was expecting.

I have played in A=400Hz before with Les Talens Lyriques, in 2018 in Toulouse, for performances of Christoph Willibald Gluck’s 1774 Paris Version of Orphée et Eurydice. On that occasion, I cross-pollinated crooks from one key with other components from another and came up with a functional (but admittedly imperfect) system to play the Classical trumpet part that was required for that project (which involved several different keys). The French Baroque part I had to play by Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace Royer was a different story to the Classical part by Gluck. I expected to be playing a premier dessus type of trumpet part in unison with the first violins and oboes. As it happened, there was a specific trumpet part but, as expected, it doubled the oboe parts rather a lot. Also to be expected in this kind of French Baroque music, there were lots of trills and a multitude of other types of ornaments – and there was one trill which lasted for around eight bars (in unison with the oboes)! In short, the part was a lot more involved than a typical Classical period trumpet part and I needed a trumpet that would work natively in this key at this pitch.

I was so glad that I had spent the time making and finely tuning the equipment to be able to play in D=400Hz, as I could jump straight into action in the rehearsal as soon as I arrived. Even though I had arrived three hours early, I would have looked very foolish if I had attempted to work out how to put the trumpet together to play in this pitch when I got there. It’s not a key that most natural trumpet players are equipped to play in, so the time I spent in the workshop and discussing the calculations over FaceTime with my former trumpet teacher and current instrument-making mentor David Staff (to whom I am apprenticed) was certainly time well spent.

So there I was, wandering the Versailles gardens in the hour before dusk, feeling satisfied and proud that the parts I had made had contributed to a very successful rehearsal. Of all the things I have made so far, these were the most immediately utilisable and requisite. I managed to find time to make them in a very busy December, and I finished tinkering with them just a few days before setting off to Paris. I had made the basic components by Tuesday, and I spent the next few days testing them, thinking about how I might adjust them, and finally making any adjustments by the Thursday before I left on the Sunday. I was very happy with how they turned out, and I didn’t have to sacrifice any parts or remake any components – I spent time thinking about what I wanted to do before I did it, so I could get them ‘right first time’. I was particularly pleased with the tuning when I was playing with the acoustically and harmonically interesting instruments of the orchestra, which was an enormous improvement over the monotonous pitch of the tuning machine, obviously.

I was delighted to be playing with the harpsichordist Marie Van Rhijn who was playing with Les Talens Lyriques. We studied at the Royal College of Music in London together, and took many of the same Historical Performance classes together. I met her and her husband for dinner, and it was great to catch up.

Once again, I had done a lot of walking in Paris. To get to and from Versailles, I walked to one of my favourite buildings in Paris – the Musée d’Orsay and took the train to Versailles from there. I also walked from the hotel to the fifth arrondissement of Paris where we would be recording.

The recording began on Tuesday 14th December 2021 at Eglise Notre-Dame du Liban in Paris. It was a good space to record in, and I had the opportunity to listen to one of the takes from the booth and it sounded magnificent. There was some building work going on nearby, and we were occasionally disturbed by hammering or the sound of a circular saw – which coincidentally produced a fundamental of A=200Hz. On one occasion when this fired up, I played the first phrase from Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo accompanied by the circular saw on the Basso part, which got a laugh!

I recorded the Ouverture and Premier menuet (Acte III, scène 5) [No. 63] in Zaïde, Reine de Grenade (ballet-héroïque, 1739) and the Rondeau (2e Entrée, scène 2) and Chaconne (2e Entrée, scène 2) from Le Pouvoir de l'Amour (ballet héroïque, 1743). The Premier menuet was quite difficult to record, despite simple appearances, as there was just nowhere to breathe (nor to expel stale air). The trumpet plays continuously for 8 bars in the A section which is then repeated and 8 bars in the B section which is then repeated. By the last few notes of the second time through of the B section, I was hanging on by a thread – using every trick in the book to get through to the end, but unfortunately sounding a bit tired by the last few notes. This was remedied by starting from the B section, after a few seconds to recover from hyperventilating – and that solved that problem. In a live performance situation, I would probably wish to leave the first B section to the violins and oboes, and rejoin for the second B section.

As ever, Christophe Rousset makes recording an enjoyable endeavour; his calm manner and low-pressure approach make you feel comfortable and able to make great music as if performing but with the free feel of rehearsing. It was a really excellent project and I am really looking forward to hearing the finished recording.