The Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra and the Sonata for Trumpet and Piano by Karl Pilss were written in 1934 and 1935, respectively. They are examples for solo trumpet of the late German Romantic style of melody, harmony, form and structure. Musicians and audience often overlook composer Karl Pilss outside his native Vienna. His ties to the Trompeterchor der Stadt Wien and the National Socialist Party during the years preceding the Second World War have limited widespread acceptance of this composer. Pilss' output includes concertos for trumpet, horn, bass trombone, and piano, sonatas for trumpet, violin, and oboe, wind quintets and octets, piano pieces, choral works, and numerous large and small brass works. Pilss' teacher Franz Schmidt is more widely known. His four symphonies provide examples of post-Romanticism at the beginning of the twentieth century. His characteristic use of melody, harmony, form and structure is in the mold of Richard Strauss. Schmidt did not write any works for solo trumpet. However, his Symphony No. 4 begins and ends with extended passages for solo trumpet. Pilss inherited and adopted many of Schmidt's melodic, harmonic and formal traits. These can be clearly heard in his Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra and the Sonata for Trumpet and Piano. This work discusses in detail the musical and compositional connection between Karl Pilss and his teacher, Franz Schmidt. Musical elements of melody, harmony, form and structure are used to illustrate the close connection between pupil and mentor. The use of the characteristic "Schmidt chord" in Pilss' works cements the link between the two composers. The Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra and the Sonata for Trumpet and Piano deserve wider acceptance on the basis of their musical merit and as unique examples of the late German Romantic style for solo trumpet.
