Roger Voisin's Trumpets

LaTrompeta · Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2022 3:29 am Post subject: Roger Voisin's Trumpets

I believe I met Roger Voisin's son at the ITG Conference in 2008, in Banff. Unfortunately, his name escapes me at the moment. He had set up a demonstration of his father's instruments (he had recently passed away) on table in a conference room, and I got to see some of them.

From what I understand, Voisin was one of the last American trumpeters to play "old-school" small-bore, French trumpets. I remember the piccolo. It looked like an absolute bear to play. In the photo below, I believe it is the second from the bottom on the right.

I found a photograph online, and I think this shows what I mean. These all look like peashooters. Does anybody have more information on these instruments? Thanks!

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LaTrompeta · Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2022 3:31 am Post subject:

Here is another.

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Jon Kaplan · Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2022 8:08 am Post subject:

Here is an answer from another thread, from one of my former teachers and former Voisin and Ghitalla student, Professor David Hickman.

trpt.hick · Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2022 10:25 am Post subject:

The instruments on the first Voisin LP cover were made by the Milliens company in France. Roger's father, René, took him to the Milliens factory in 1934 and purchased a complete set of trumpets (B-flat, C, D, E-flat, F, and piccolo B-flat) for his sixteenth birthday. I now own the F trumpet.

However, Roger's main instrument was the 4-valve C/D Thibouville-Lamy. He owned three of them, but eventually gave two of them to former students . . . William Pfund and Michael Zonshine. After retiring, Roger gave his last one to Earl Garr. Ghitalla loved Roger's horns, but wanted one with a larger bore size, so he had his Bach C converted to a sliding bell 4-valve by William Tottle in Boston. He used this instrument in the BSO for many years.

Roger's son, Peter, was a professional orchestra player in the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra (1971-1983) and the Jacksonville Symphony (1983-2005). He preferred Bach trumpets.

It is true that Roger was perhaps the last player in an American orchestra to play on small bore trumpets. I played on Roger's trumpets at the time I studied with him, and I can tell you that they did not feel all that small. In fact, they had a very powerful tone but certainly bright. One must remember that the BSO during René's and Roger's time was mostly comprised of players originally from France, and it had a distinctly French sound. By the time Ghitalla became principal, the orchestra (like all other American orchestras) was gravitating to a more generic / blended sound. Personally, I love the older BSO recordings where each section of the orchestra plays with true characteristic sound qualities. Voisin's French vibrato (often criticized today) was perfect for intensifying the sound of the orchestra, and his extremely percussive attacks were the perfect metronome to keep the orchestra together.

David Hickman

trpt.hick · Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2022 10:29 am Post subject:

BTW, a wonderful dissertation titled The Extraordinary Roger Voisin: His Life and Contributions to Trumpet Performance, Repertoire, and Pedagogy, was written by Michael Arndt in 2004 when he completed his DMA degree under me at Arizona State University.

largo · Veteran Member Joined: 09 Feb 2004 Posts: 151

Just a follow up on this subject. Besides the instruments mentioned by David, Roger owned a number of trumpets built by Couesnon. These were pitched in C, D, Eb, and Bb piccolo. He also owned an Eb and herald trumpet pitched in D by the English Besson company, which he loved dearly! I encourage you to check out the website built by his son Peter.
https://www.voisinenterprises.com/peter-g-voisin/
Contains more info and pictures of Roger and his instruments, including the G trumpet that Bach built for Mager!