Baby Blue Roses

For Trumpet & Piano

Also available for clarinet, euphonium, saxophone, trombone and viola

Duration: ca. 3' 30"

Performance History · Purchase Sheet Music

Download Free Piano Accompaniment Track



Baby Blue Roses was composed in 2015 for the Trumpet Festival of the Southeast as an homage to the Belgian singer-songwriter Jacques Brel.

The title Baby Blue Roses is not intended to convey a specific meaning. While literally describing flowers that are a pale shade of blue, the title is not necessarily a reference to the flowers. According to Wikipedia, blue roses are often portrayed in literature and art as a symbol of love and prosperity, but they do not exist in nature. Rather, the three words of the title each conveys its own penumbra of associated poetic meanings and associations. "Baby" itself suggests the amorous endearment "my baby" of pop and blues music, while "baby blue" hints at romantic "baby blue eyes." "Blue" alone suggests the "I am blue" or "are you blue?" of song, while "roses" is redolent of romance and wistfulness. Together the three words carry an ambiguous poetry that is hoped to reflect the ambiguous poetry of the music.

The artwork above is "Libro Fiori #37" by Richard Hutter, and used by permission. For information about the artist, visit richardhutter.com.

Purchase Sheet Music

Sheet music for Baby Blue Roses for TRUMPET & PIANO is available from Art of Sound Music.

Sheet music for Baby Blue Roses for CLARINET, EUPHONIUM, SAXOPHONE, TROMBONE & VIOLA is available from SheetMusicPlus and from J.W.Pepper.

Performance History - Trumpet

World premiere of 2-minute version: January 16, 2016, by Dr. Ben Fairfield, trumpet, and Chris Steele, piano, at the Trumpet Festival of the Southeast, Birmingham, Alabama.

February 12, 2016, Kam Martin, trumpet, and Ariya Tai, piano, performed the 2-minute version at Henderson State University, Arkadelphia, Arkansas.

World premiere of the extended 3-minute version: February 18, 2016, by Walker Beard, trumpet, and Joshua Vigran, piano, at the Firehouse Space, Brooklyn, New York.

April 20, 2016: Chase Christensen, trumpet, and Ann Bauer, piano, at the Fine Arts Recital Hall, University of Nebraska at Kearney.

October 19, 2016: European premiere by Tomislav S̆poljar, trumpet, and Lorena Alpeza, piano, at the hall of Pucko Otvoreno Uciliste, Kutina, Croatia, in a recital supported by the Ministry of Culture of Croatia.

November 6, 2016, by Chase Christensen at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.

November 26, 2016, South American premiere by Brandon Lázaro, trumpet, and Xabier Aizpurua, piano, at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música, Lima, Peru.

December 5, 2017, by Michael Tran and Lynn Barnard at the Ohlone Community College's Applied Music Showcase, Fremont, California.

Performance History - Trombone

World premiere August 21, 2016: Antonio Martínez Yeste and Francisco Javier Jiménez Martínez performed on trombone & organ at Parroquia de Nuestra Sra. de los Ángeles, Castril, Spain.