Posted on June 23, 2011 at 11:37 am

As you can read in the news feature I posted yesterday, the CD of The Trumpet of the Swan: A Novel Symphony is now available for purchase and download. I’m so thrilled that people are getting to hear and fall in love with this story.

One of my favorite movements to write was the section when Louis the Swan checks into the Ritz-Carlton in Philadelphia. During the course of the scene, he walks around the room switching the lights on and off, then he calls room service and orders a watercress sandwich, then he reads a newspaper article about himself and what a big success he’s becoming, and that makes him nostalgic for home and his old life on the lake in Canada, and so he gets in the shower bath and takes out his trumpet and plays a song for his inamorata, Serena, until the front desk calls up to let him know that the Ritz-Carlton does not allow guests to play brass instruments in the bathrooms.

On the actual CD, all of this is narrated by the magnificent John Lithgow, speaking Marsha Norman’s delightful adaptation of E.B. White’s classic novel. But I thought it would be fun for you to hear a version without narration as well – this is a rough mix from the orchestra recording sessions in February.

“Louis at the Ritz (rough mix)” from The Trumpet of the Swan (2011)
Music by Jason Robert Brown
Text adapted by Marsha Norman from the novel by E. B. White
Orchestration by Sam Davis
Conducted by Jason Robert Brown
Christopher Michael Venditti: solo trumpet
Jeff Driskill: solo bass clarinet
Sid Page: solo violin
David O: piano
Randy Landau: fretless electric bass
Georgia Stitt: associate conductor
Flute/Piccolo: Gary Woodward; Flute: Sara Andon; Oboe/English Horn: John
Yoakum, Jonathan Davis; Clarinet: Phil O’Connor; Clarinet/Bass
Clarinet: Michael Grego; Bassoon: Rose Corrigan, Ken Munday;
French Horn: Joe Meyer (principal), Brian O’Connor, Justin Hageman, John
Reynolds; Trumpet: Malcolm McNab (principal), Jeff Bunnell, Larry Hall;
Trombone: Andy Martin (principal), Alan Kaplan, Charlie Morillas;
Drums: Bernie Dresel; Timpani/Percussion: Wade Culbreath; Percussion: Brian
Kilgore, Mike Englander; Harp: Amy Wilkins; Violins: Sid Page
(concertmaster), Amy Hershberger, Michele Richards, Tiffany Hu, Katherine
Livolsi-Landau, Christian Hebel, Joel Derouin, Peter Kent, Barbra Porter,
Charlie Bisharat, John Wittenberg, Becky Bunnell, Norm Hughes, Ana
Landaurer, Julie Rogers, Darius Campo; Violas: Jennie Hansen (principal), Bob
Becker (principal), Laura Pearson, Denyse Buffum, Luke Maurer, Cheryl Gates;
Celli: Armen Ksajikian (principal), Dane Little, Steve Richards, Giovanna
Clayton, Dennis Karmazyn; Contrabasses: Trey Henry (principal), Nico
Abondolo, Dave Stone
Dan Savant: music coordinator
Recorded by Andy Waterman at EastWest Recording Studios (Ethan Walter & Jeremy Miller, associate engineers), Hollywood CA, February 2, 2011

Order your copy from PSClassics.com or download it right now from the Amazon.com MP3 store for only $5.99!

Happy Trumpeting!