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Historical
outline of individual instruments
Brass
Trumpet
Before the 17th century
- Trumpets were, for a
long time, straight lengths of tubing. Around 1400, instrumt makers
started to bend tubing, first into an S-shape, then into an S-shape
folded back to make a loop.
17th century
- By the early 17th century,
the trumpet’s body became more standardized.
- Throughout the 17th
and early 18th centuries, the trumpet did not undergo many changes
except for the shape of the bell flare or narrowness of the bell
throat.
- In 1623, the Imperial
Guild of Trumpeters and Kettledrummers was formed in the Holy Roman
Empire. The Guild had a few functions: (1) to limit the number of
trumpet players, and (2) to make sure the trumpet remained exclusive
and special by limiting where it could be played and by whom.
- During the 17th century,
the trumpet was accepted into “art music”, as seen in
compositions. Two styles of trumpet playing developed: (1) loud
blowing for military signals and outdoor music, and (2) a softer
style of playing.
- During the Baroque
period, the most important centers for trumpet playing were Vienna,
followed by Dresden, Leipzig, Weissenfels, Kremsier, Bologna, London,
and much less Paris and Lisbon.
- By the time Bach arrived
in Leipzig, a strong tradition of trumpet playing was already established.
18th century
- By mid-century, the
Baroque trumpet reached its height and then fell into decline.
- By the late 18th century,
new musical styles did not call for trumpet in the usual way. In
addition, the courts were in decline, and the French Revolution
contributed to the collapse of the Guild of Trumpeters and Kettledrummers.
- In the Classical works
of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, the trumpet appeared mostly in
tutti passages and fanfares at the end of movements which recalled
the trumpet’s earlier function in the court.
19th century
- By the early 19th century,
attempts were made to create a trumpet that could play a chromatic
scale. After some experimentation, the valve system proved to be
most successful. Valves allowed for homogeneity of tone, and were
easier to play than slide trumpets (another attempt to enable the
playinf of a complete scale).
- In 1820, the square
piston valve or box valve was applied to the trumpet. Most of the
early valve trumpets were in F or G.
- Berlioz was one of
the first composers to write for valve trumpet.
- Around 1830, the cornet
in Bb was invented, which influenced the introduction of the Bb
and C trumpets. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries the popularity
of the cornet increased and nearly replaced the trumpet in the orchestra,
especially in France and the United States near the turn of the
20th century.
- The rotary valve was
patented in 1835 and the piston valve in 1838. These are the two
main types of valves on trumpets today.
- During the mid-19th
century, the Bb valve trumpet appeared, and a gradual transition
to playing the Bb trumpet occurred throughout the rest of the century.
At this time, an instrument in C also appeared.
- Starting in 1861, musicians
started playing the D trumpet in works by Bach and Handel.
20th century
- During the 1930s in
the United States, trumpets with larger bores were introduced in
orchestras (also in England after WWII and in France after 1960).
The reason was to balance the volume with other brass instruments,
which had adopted larger bores.
- American and German
trumpets differ in construction and sound. For instance, American
trumpets have more conical tubing than German trumpets. Other differences
are seen in the size of the trumpet bell, the mouthpiece cup, and
the mouthpipe.
- Standards of articulation
have changed over the centuries. The current trend is to play every
note with the same attack, whereas during the Baroque, unequal articulation
was ideal.
- Special techniques,
once seen primarily in jazz, has now been incorporated into symphonic
repertoire – for example, flutter-tonguing, vibrato, glissandos,
rips, singing and playing simultaneously, airy tones, and playing
multiple notes. Jazz playing also influenced orchestral music, as
seen with using different kinds of mutes (e.g. cup mute, Harmon,
wa-wa mute, solotone mute, felt hat, plunger mute).
- A revival for playing
the natural trumpet occurred during the 20th century. In 1960, Otto
Steinkopf and instrument maker H. Finke created a trumpet with vent
holes and a transposing hole, which corrected the intonation of
the 11th and 13th partials.
Orchestra-History
Early
History • Classical
period • Romantic
period • 20th
century to present
Repertoire
Classical
period • Romantic period
• 20th century to present
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