Leonard Salzedo’s Divertimento for Three Trumpets and Three Trombones was written for the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble in 1959 when both Leonard and Philip were members of the RPO.

As Paul Beniston, principal trumpet of the LPO (which Leonard was a member of in the 1940s) said when they played it in 2020: ‘it’s great effective brass writing, it’s just fabulously crafted.’

Salzedo’s mother Edna

Salzedo’s mother Edna was immensely proud of her son and in the 1970s she noticed that the opening fanfare had been chosen by BBC TV as the theme for their Open University Programmes.

When she told him, Salzedo thought she must be wrong but when he listened, she was right and he was delighted. As was Edna. Like all his family she wanted his work to be better known – and it will be…

Open University

The fanfare was used by the BBC for over 20 years and as such it has a special place in the hearts of many former OU students.

For a while it featured in the Wallace and Gromit film the Wrong Trousers, when Gromit the dog reads Pluto’s Republic as part of his OU course. And of course it still features in Educating Rita.

FABE at the Salzedo Celebration Concert

The Divertimento will open the Leonard Salzedo Celebration Concert at Conway Hall on 24 September 2022 (buy tickets here) played by Fine Arts Brass Ensemble. Now in their 35th year, in the words of Classical Music Magazine, FABE are simply “Exceptional” and, according to the Times, an “Extraordinarily brilliant ensemble playing with scintillating sparkle.” They will open the second half with the Toccata written especially for them. There is a delightful story in the programme about Leonard talking about the piece after the premiere, white wine in hand, …

If you already have a ticket, you can buy a programme in advance to collect at the concert, click here You click on tickets and just buy a programme

Are you in a brass ensemble or band?

You can buy the scores of the Divertimento here

You can buy the scores of the Toccata here