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The trumpet has evolved greatly throughout the common practice
period, and especially in the last two hundred and fifty years. Most significant
in the trumpet’s history is the transformation of the early natural trumpet,
which can only play notes in the harmonic series, to the standard modern
valved trumpet, which can play a full chromatic series of notes. There were a
variety of factors that influenced the creation of this valved instrument, and
this instrument has influenced a great amount of things as well. Many major
changes in the trumpet align with a change in musical period. There is a sort
of “baroque”, “classical”, and “modern” trumpet era.
The Baroque Trumpet (17th century-mid 18th century)
In order to understand how the trumpet started to change in the
middle of the 18th century, one must understand how the trumpet was
designed before then. The pre-classical, or baroque, era trumpet is greatly
different than the one most use today. These instruments had no valves of
course, and are today called, “natural trumpets”. The natural trumpet is
uncomplicated and, one might say, beautiful in its simplicity. Robert Barclay,
an expert on seventeenth and eighteenth century trumpet-making describes
this instrument well in his book The Art of the Trumpet-maker, “It consists
solely of a length of tubing (usually brass) which is folded upon itself once,
runs parallel for three-quarters of its length, and then flares outwards into a
bell for the remainder. The tubing is about 10 or 12 mm. in diameter and
about 2 m. long. As a general rule, the bell expands to ten times the diameter
of the tubing. It is a natural instrument, having no slides, no tone holes, and
no valves or keys. It requires no tuning or voicing during manufacture, apart
from minor adjustments to its length. It is capable of sounding only the notes
of the natural harmonic series.”1 Before the Industrial Revolution, these
instruments were hand made by master craftsmen and families that
specialized in this particular craft. Trumpet embellishments and decorations
were very popular. Nuremberg, Germany became a prominent location for
instrument making. As Edward Tarr describes in The New Grove Dictionary of
Music and Musicians, “In the 16th century Nuremberg began to emerge as the
great centre of brass-instrument making and remained so throughout the
Baroque period; members of the Neuschel and Schnitzer families were the
earliest Nuremberg brass-instrument makers.”2
Also, trumpet playing was very exclusive. There were not a huge
amount of trumpet players. In fact, many trumpet “guilds” were created in
the 17th century. On particular group the, “Imperial Guild of Trumpeters and
Kettledrummers” was formed in the Holy Roman Empire in 1623, with two
goals, “to regulate instruction and thus limit the number of trumpeters, and
to ensure the trumpet’s exclusiveness by restricting where it could be played
Robert Barclay, The Art of the Trumpet-maker (Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1992), 7.
1
Edward H. Tarr, “Trumpet,” in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and
Musicians, (New York: Macmillan, 2002), 256.
2
and by whom.“3 Therefore, the trumpet world of this time, in general, was
very exclusive and personal.
The Classical Trumpet (mid 18th century-19th century)
However, in the mid 17th century, many changes started to occur.
There were a variety of reasons for the changes to occur when they did. One
large factor was the Industrial Revolution. Machines brought about efficient
production and less need for handmade items. Also, music was beginning to
be available for enjoyment by more people, not just a few experts. Therefore,
there were more trumpets to be made. There was less focus on high quality
handmade jobs, and more focus on efficiency. Also, the horn embellishments
became less stylish. As Barclay describes, “Towards the middle of the century
the more sumptuous decoration began to be dropped in favor of a more
refined form with cleaner lines. There are two trends at work here: one
stylistic and the other economic.”4 Quantity over quality was definitely
becoming the focus. Also, the manufacturers of trumpets themselves were
becoming more industrialized, less family dealers and more large companies.
Tarr describes here, “Around 1850, especially in France, England and the
USA, brass-instrument making began to convert to modern industrial
methods of manufacture. Some of the most important 19th-century
manufacturers, and bitter competitors for the international market, were:
Moritz (Berlin), Pelitti (Milan), Sax (Brussels and Paris), Besson (Paris),
3
Tarr, “Trumpet,” 256.
4
Barclay, The Art of the Trumpet-maker, 26.
Červený (Königgrätz; now Hradec Králové), Boosey (London), Hawkes
(London), Conn (Elkhart, IN) and Couesnon (Paris).”5
There was also a great deal of focus on trying to expand the trumpet’s
range from just the harmonic series. Trumpet parts were not very elaborate
and repertoire was fairly measly because of the instrument’s range
limitations. Many people thought of all kinds of different ways to improve the
instrument in this regard. Richard P. Birkmeier describes these
advancements well in his article on the history of the orchestral trumpet,
“Though orchestral demands on the trumpet were in decline, the instrument
itself was beginning a renaissance in design. Trumpet design changes of the
late eighteenth century produced such marvels as the inventions-trumpet,
the stopped trumpet, the keyed trumpet, the slide trumpet, and primitive
precursors of the valved trumpet.” 6 This was one of the most experimental
eras in trumpet design.
Many innovations in horn design led to similar changes in trumpet
design. In Dresden in 1753, hornist Joseph Hampl invented a horn with
changeable crooks. These crooks would enable the player to change the pitch
of their instrument and would also help them in making tuning adjustments.
This instrument with crooks was called the, “Inventionshorner”. This design
5
Tarr, “Trumpet,” 256.
Richard P. Birkemeier, “The History and Music of the Orchestral Trumpet of
the Nineteenth Century,” Journal of the International Trumpet Guild
(February 1985): 23.
6
was applied to the trumpet soon after. Around 1770, the Braun brothers
introduced an instrument that most sources labeled as an “inventionstrumpet”, probably after Hampl’s example.
Also during this time, people discovered that by placing your hand
inside the bell of a horn, you could change the pitch of the instrument. This
technique is called, “stopping”. Again, once discovered on the horn, many
tried to apply this “stopping” technique to trumpet playing. The resulting
tone quality was not desirable. However, it did make it possible to play notes
outside of the harmonic series. This technique was so popular among
trumpet players at the end of the eighteenth century that an instrument was
built in such a way that it made the bell easier to reach for “stopping”. This
instrument was called the “trompette demi-lune”, because of its half moon
shape.
Another attempt at adjusting the trumpet should also be noted: the
slide trumpet. This trumpet featured a slide connected to its tubing that
could be moved to alter the pitch. Slide trumpets were popular during the
Renaissance, but not really used again until the eighteenth century. Slide
trumpets were found throughout Europe, hut their use was limited until the
end of the eighteenth century when they John Hyde popularized them in
England. 7
Birkemeier, “The History and Music of the Orchestral Trumpet of the
Nineteenth Century,” 24.
7
Another creation of this period was the keyed trumpet. The keyed
trumpet was a pivotal step in the path to creating a valved trumpet.
Birkemeier describes how in this passage, “Anton Weidinger, the famous
Viennese court trumpeter is credited with inventing the first truly successful
keyed trumpet around 1790. Weidinger drilled five holes in an E flat natural
trumpet and covered them with spring loaded keys. Weidinger’s instrument
demonstrated conclusively that keyed brass instruments could be built
successfully and became the prototype for the numerous designs that were
to follow.” 8 Once interest in creating keyed brass instruments had been
sparked, all sorts of creations followed, one of the most significant being
Charles Claggett’s “chromatic trumpet” in 1788. Claggett built this instrument
by taking two natural trumpets pitched a half step apart, joining them in a
way so that they shared one mouthpiece and leadpipe, and then placing a
valve in the leadpipe that allowed the player to switch from one trumpet to
another, doubling the amount of pitches that could be played. While this
instrument was not exceedingly popular, it was the first to use a valve
system, which would eventually become a standard.
Even after all of the developments and experimentation of the 18th
century, the natural trumpet was still the most popular. This might have been
because, even though multiple adjustments had been designed for the
Birkemeier, “The History and Music of the Orchestral Trumpet of the
Nineteenth Century,” 24.
8
trumpet, one had not been significant enough to encourage composers to
write more complex music for trumpets. Composers still wrote more for the
natural trumpet than anything. Birkemeier describes this, “Composers wrote
trumpet parts that rarely exceeded the tenth partial, were in octaves
whenever possible, and were traditionally orchestrated with the tympani.
The limited number of notes available on the trumpet restricted composers
to using the trumpet in, at most, two keys without changing crooks… There is
little doubt that composers were not yet ready to exploit the newest
innovations in trumpet design.” 9
Finally, in the early part of the 19th century, valved brass instruments
were created. A History of Western Music describes the connection between
elements of the Industrial Revolution (steam power) and the production of
valved instruments, “Starting in the 1810s, brass instrument makers applied
the valve technology of the steam engine- in which valves controlled the flow
of steam, water, or air- to the design of trumpets and horns, finally enabling
to produce all the notes of the chromatic scale.” 10 However, there was still a
lot of experimentation within the realm of valve-made instruments. There
was no standard in the way valves were used on the trumpet yet. Trumpets
were also made in a variety of keys. More standardization became present as
the 20th century approached.
Birkemeier, “The History and Music of the Orchestral Trumpet of the
Nineteenth Century,” 25.
9
J. Peter Burkholder, Donald Jay Grout and Claude V. Palisca, A History of
Western Music, 8th ed. (New York: Norton, 2010)
10
The Modern Trumpet (20th century-present)
Experimentation in valves and pitch of instrument continued from the
late 19th through the 20th century, and really still occurs a bit today. However,
“standards” started to become present. One standard that started to become
established throughout the 20th century was the use of the B flat trumpet. For
a while, trumpets were centered around F. But towards the end of the 19th
century, the transition to B flat began. As Tarr describes, “The transition from
the long F to the shorter B trumpet began in Germany, where A. Kühnert of
Dresden was one of the first to recognize the possibilities of the shorter
instrument, about 1850 to 1860. In England the F trumpet was reinstated at
the Royal College of Music in 1910 and taught there for a few years, at the
insistence of Walter Morrow, but the new generation of players returned to
the B instrument.” 11 Today, B flat is considered the default key for a trumpet
to be pitched in. It is the trumpet that beginners start on, and that
professionals mostly play on. One element of trumpet manufacturing that has
stood the test of time is the wide variety of keys trumpets are made in. While
B flat is the most common trumpet, E flat and C trumpets are popular,
especially among advanced players playing orchestral parts.
Another trumpet standard that has been established in the last
century or so is the use of three valves. When valves were first created on
11
Tarr, “Trumpet,” 256.
instruments, there was a great amount of experimentation as to how many
should be used; different amounts would throw off certain pitch tendencies
and many wondered what the best set up would be. Over time, many settled
with the three-valve design.
Once the B flat trumpet became standard, it was popular to make
trumpets and mouthpieces designed to play even higher. Piccolo trumpets
and shallow mouthpieces are not very hard to find as accessories in modern
trumpet culture. The jazz trumpet culture of the 20th century also added to
this, “trumpets play high” attitude. Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) was
especially influential. Tarr describes his impact, “Louis Armstrong (1901–71)
was the most influential of early jazz trumpeters. He was the first to use the
higher register to e′′′, and also set standards in jazz phrasing and ‘inflection’ –
the varied attacks, timbres and vibratos common to jazz trumpeting.” 12
Therefore, trumpet “sound effects” are popular in modern repertoire.
Conclusion
In conclusion, a large part of what was going on in the trumpetmaking world through time aligns with what was going historically and
musically in the rest of the world. From the baroque period of natural
trumpets handmade by families, through the classical time when the
Industrial Revolution sparked all kinds of innovation and design, leading to
the creation of valves, and into the last one hundred years or so, where
12
Tarr, “Trumpet,” 256.
standards emerged from the many creations of the classical period, it has
been quite a journey.
It is important for modern players to understand these time periods.
Many pieces in the orchestral world were not originally written for the B flat
trumpet that we play today. Birkemeier mentions this in his article,
“Orchestral music written during the nineteenth century comprises a
significant portion of the literature performed by modern orchestras and
trumpeters spend a considerable amount of time learning the most
important excerpts from this large body of music.” 13 There are so many
trumpet parts that were written in the 19th century, a time in which so much
was going on with the trumpet anatomically. It is essential, as a trumpet
player, or as any instrumentalist, to understand what state your instrument
was in during the time of a piece of music. After all, the baroque natural
trumpet and modern valved trumpet are almost like two completely different
instruments to play. “The modern trumpet and its pre-industrial forebear,
the natural trumpet, vary so widely mechanically and acoustically, and
require playing techniques at a wide variance, that they might almost be
regarded as different instruments. “ 14 Understanding the history of trumpet
making, and especially understanding the role valve production had in
Birkemeier, “The History and Music of the Orchestral Trumpet of the
Nineteenth Century,” 23.
13
14
Barclay, The Art of the Trumpet-maker, 1.
trumpet making is crucial to becoming a complete and masterful trumpet
player.