Tine Thing Helseth's Top 10 Trumpet Pieces

1. Joseph Haydn - Trumpet Concerto

"It's THE concerto for every trumpet player. I've played it many, many times, but I think the first time with an orchestra was when I was 16. There's just something about it - I've spoken to other instrumentalists, not just trumpet players, and I really think that this is the best solo concerto that Haydn wrote. It's perfect in all the proportions, I love how the voices interact, it's like knitting! I always hear something new. You could probably wake me up in the middle of the night and I could still play it backwards."

2. Henri Tomasi - Trumpet Concerto

The style is a bit like Debussy-meets-film-noir. The second movement is just beautiful, he uses different mutes to get different colours out of the instrument, and then in the middle there's this quasi-cadenza lying on top, like you're lying on top of a mountain.

3. Georges Enescu - Légende for Trumpet and Piano

This is maybe the best piece written for trumpet and piano, in my opinion. It's very rhapsodic in a way, but it's also perfectly in proportion. There's a beautiful beginning, an outburst in the middle with a lot of notes, and then it just calms down again afterwards.

4. Paul Hindemith - Sonata for Trumpet and Piano

"This is a monumental piece. To play, it's a challenging sonata, but musically it touches so deeply. The last chorale says that "All Men Must Die", so it really goes down there. Of course, it was written at the beginning of the second world war. It's great to play, but really mentally tiring."

5. Britta Boström - Screen Memories

"I premiered this piece in March. I really love Britta's world, and how she writes. There's something about the way she writes so I always know it's her. And the piece was written specifically for me, so that's always special. It will be interesting when someone else decides to play it!"

6. Bernd Aloiss Zimmerman - Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen

"This is based on the spiritual of the same name. Again, a bit like the Paul Hindemith, this is a monumental piece. I'm playing it later this year, and I'm looking forward to getting into it."

7. The Bach Vivaldi

"This is a baroque concerto that's not originally for trumpet, it's for harpsichord or organ I think. It's a Vivaldi concerto that Bach wrote an arrangement of, so we just call it the Back Vivaldi! A lot of trumpet players play it - it's three short movements, and the second especially is very beautiful."

8. Alessandro Marcello - Oboe Concerto

"Again, this wasn't originally written for the trumpet! The second movement here takes you to another world or something, it's just a great concerto to play."

9. Sergei Rachmaninov - Vocalise

It's actually very hard to play this piece, it requires a lot of stamina and focus. But musically, what a melody. There's a reason that it's such a big hit. Everything works in it, and you can really let out some emotions. It's nice.

10. Giacomo Puccini - Five Songs

Everyone knows about Puccini's operatic music, and I just love these song transcriptions. They're so sweet, and there's something really nice about playing them. I just love them!