A trumpet voluntary is a traditional English-based musical composition that was particularly popular during the Baroque era. Despite the fact that the term “trumpet voluntary” implies that the works are performed a trumpet, these compositions are technically for a solo keyboard instrument. The name is derived from the fact that the works were originally performed organists using the organ’s trumpet stop.
It is not a religious piece of music definition, but organists used it frequently before, during, and after religious services. The pieces were essentially “filler” music that was not performed during the regular service. The use of volunteers in this function did not imply that the work was of low quality. Many are masterpieces in their own right, and were chosen for performance because of the organist’s belief that the compositions’ musicality merited it.
Because it was how the works were performed — with the trumpet stop before, during, or after a service — that truly determined whether they fit the voluntary definition, not the form of the work, there is no set form for these compositions. A trumpet voluntary, on the other hand, is customarily started at a slower tempo. The tempo usually changes to a faster speed after the performer has played this slower introduction. A chord pattern or theme is usually played the left hand, while the right hand provides a fanfare.
Another reason for the lack of a standard form for a trumpet voluntary is that organists typically improvised the pieces. Because they had been trained in theory and counterpoint, good organists did not find this particularly difficult. This is significant because it distinguishes between “true practice” voluntaries and those that have become famous as a result of being written down and now being performed according to the music page.
When musicians found a voluntary they liked in written form, they quickly arranged it for their own instruments. As a result, the voluntary was able to move away from the church and into people’s homes as a form of entertainment music. Trumpet voluntaries eventually found their way into concert halls and professional studio recordings.
The “Prince of Denmark March” is perhaps the most well-known of all the trumpet voluntary compositions. This work is also known as the “Trumpet Voluntary in D” contemporary musicians, though it is far from the only voluntary in that key. This work, written Jeremiah Clarke and misattributed to Henry Purcell for years, is frequently performed at weddings around the world. It was a choice made at Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer of England’s wedding.