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Source: Trumpet Concerto (Arutiunian)

Alexander Arutunian’s Trumpet Concerto in A♭ major (1950) is the Armenian composer's sixth major composition, a "virtuoso showpiece" composed in 1949-1950. According to J. Sundram, "it is an energetic powerhouse of Eastern European lyricism and harmonic textures".
Arutunian's engaging and idiomatic trumpet concerto was "quickly assimilated into the standard trumpet repertoire worldwide, earning highest international praise from audiences, critics and performers". In an interview with Allan Kozinn of The New York Times, Philip Smith, the former principal trumpeter of the New York Philharmonic, observed that Arutunian's Trumpet Concerto was frequently chosen as an audition piece at Juilliard. "One of the reasons this piece has become so popular..." Smith said, "is just that it's a flashy piece. It has a very gypsyish, Russian, Armenian kind of sound, with very soulful, beautiful melodies and plenty of exciting rapid-tonguing kind of things.'" * Professor Anatoly Selyanin related in 2004, "In January I headed the jury of an American competition devoted to the Arutiunian trumpet concerto. 34 trumpeters played only this concerto." Selyanin said that "even a dog", if admitted to a performance, would recognise the musical structure at once and "know that in eight steps the concerto will be complete"... This work is an excellent example of the impact that Armenian folk culture had on Arutunian's compositions, showcased through improvisational-sounding melodies from the Ashik (ashug)i) tradition, and the consistent use of the augmented second throughout the piece.