The baroque trumpet is a
musical instrument
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make Music, musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person ...
in the
brass
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...
family.
[ Smithers, Don L. 1988 ''The Music and History of the Baroque Trumpet before 1721''. 2nd edition. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press.] It is designed to allow modern performers to imitate the
natural trumpet
A natural trumpet is a valveless brass instrument that is able to play the notes of the harmonic series.
History
:''See: Clarion''
The natural trumpet was used as a military instrument to facilitate communication (e.g. break camp, retreat, e ...
when playing music of that time, so it is often associated with it. The term 'baroque trumpet' is often used to differentiate an instrument which has added vent holes and other modern compromises, from an original or replica natural trumpet which does not.
[Barclay, Robert. 1998. A New Species of Instrument: The Vented Trumpet in Context. ''Historic Brass Journal'', vol. 10: p.1-13.] Notable baroque trumpet players include
Alison Balsom
Alison Louise Balsom, Lady Mendes, (born 7 October 1978) is an English trumpet soloist, arranger, producer, and music educator. Balsom was awarded Artist of the Year at the 2013 Gramophone Awards and has won three Classic BRIT Awards and thr ...
,
Niklas Eklund
Niklas Eklund (1969 – 10 April 2025) was a Swedish trumpeter.
Life and career
Eklund was born in Gothenburg in 1969 into a musical family; his father, Bengt, was a noted trumpeter and conductor. Eklund studied with his father, as well as at t ...
, Brian Shaw, and
Caleb Hudson.
History
The Baroque trumpet was invented in the middle of the 20th century, it is based on the
natural trumpet
A natural trumpet is a valveless brass instrument that is able to play the notes of the harmonic series.
History
:''See: Clarion''
The natural trumpet was used as a military instrument to facilitate communication (e.g. break camp, retreat, e ...
of the 16th to 18th centuries.
Modern reproductions
The term "baroque trumpet" has come to mean a version of the original natural trumpet, with changes to suit modern players, who tend to play both the modern trumpet and this hybrid. The hybrid instrument is most often employed by
period instrument ensembles when choosing
historically informed performance
Historically informed performance (also referred to as period performance, authentic performance, or HIP) is an approach to the performance of Western classical music, classical music which aims to be faithful to the approach, manner and style of ...
practice. Originals are seldom used, because they are too valuable.
Some modern performers use natural trumpets unchanged in design since the
Baroque era
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo (i ...
. However, the majority now choose baroque trumpets constructed with vents, which were not used in the Baroque.
[Barclay, Robert. 1992. ''The Art of the Trumpet-Maker''. Oxford: Oxford University Press.] The use of natural versus baroque trumpets is controversial. In general, however, most professional trumpeters regard the modern baroque trumpet, with at least one vent hole, as a necessary compromise to ensure acceptable intonation and secure
attack for players of modern trumpets, while still providing an approximation of the original sound.
Tuning
The most important reason for using a baroque trumpet is to allow alternative tunings for problematic notes. The harmonic series is mostly "in tune" but there are a few notes which are "off-centre". It is normal for natural trumpet players to lip notes into tune (see
natural trumpet
A natural trumpet is a valveless brass instrument that is able to play the notes of the harmonic series.
History
:''See: Clarion''
The natural trumpet was used as a military instrument to facilitate communication (e.g. break camp, retreat, e ...
), but players moving from the modern trumpet are not accustomed to lipping notes to that extent, which leads them to use the baroque trumpet.
Temperaments of the period centre on
just intonation
In music, just intonation or pure intonation is a musical tuning, tuning system in which the space between notes' frequency, frequencies (called interval (music), intervals) is a natural number, whole number ratio, ratio. Intervals spaced in thi ...
and
meantone temperament
Meantone temperaments are musical temperaments; that is, a variety of Musical tuning#Tuning systems, tuning systems constructed, similarly to Pythagorean tuning, as a sequence of equal fifths, both rising and descending, scaled to remain within th ...
. The harmonic series of the trumpet requires less lipping for these period temperaments than when playing in the
equal temperament
An equal temperament is a musical temperament or Musical tuning#Tuning systems, tuning system that approximates Just intonation, just intervals by dividing an octave (or other interval) into steps such that the ratio of the frequency, frequencie ...
that modern players are used to.
The out-of-tune f
2 and a
2 (written, relative to a fundamental of C) are usually sounded only briefly in passing. Baroque composers such as
Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...
and
Handel
George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti.
Born in Halle, Germany, H ...
were careful not to ask their trumpeters to "dwell" on the f
2 and a
2 for any length of time. The other out-of-tune notes (B in both octaves) are even less frequently used, while the 11th harmonic is closer to an F# and usually played as such. Within the context of
meantone temperament
Meantone temperaments are musical temperaments; that is, a variety of Musical tuning#Tuning systems, tuning systems constructed, similarly to Pythagorean tuning, as a sequence of equal fifths, both rising and descending, scaled to remain within th ...
, the 11th harmonic is very nearly in tune.
Inaccurate harmonics
With twice the length of tubing of a modern trumpet, the natural trumpet has harmonics much closer together, meaning that the risk of a performer hitting the wrong harmonic is higher. But also it is almost impossible to hit a harmonic that conflicts with the harmony, and the effect is a direct parallel of an expressive
ornament.
Lipping notes into tune increases the chance of a missed note, but the improved acoustics of a trumpet constructed without the need for vents somewhat makes up for the difference.
A common view is that in an era of recordings, conductors usually prefer trumpet players to have accuracy in pitch and tuning rather than the authentic sound, with the result that players use the baroque trumpet, a compromise between the natural trumpet and the modern trumpet.
Construction
Some baroque trumpets have been made using modern manufacturing methods, not the hand-hammered technique employed by master craftsmen such as Schnitzer, Haas, Hainlein, Ehe, and others. There is evidence, for example, that the bore anomalies of museum originals may favor certain notes, making it possible to "lip" the out-of-tune notes with greater ease. This characteristic is absent in factory-made instruments, with their geometrically perfect bore. Or made from gold and silver.
Bore anomalies include (but are not limited to) imperfectly soldered seam tubing and telescoping joints. Each of the five joints — crook or bit to 1st yard; 1st yard to distal bow; distal bow to 2nd yard; 2nd yard to proximal bow; and proximal bow to bell section — represents a "choke-point", the upstream tubing being shrunk to telescope into the expanded downstream ferrule. The slight acoustical perturbations so produced suggest a further eroding of the harmonic series' rigidity, and a consequently greater flexibility is available to the player. As a side note, these joints are a friction fit without the use of solder.
:"Acoustically, the introduction of nodal vent holes, which need to be positioned relative to the total length of tubing, necessitates tuning slides (usually made from machine-drawn tubing), separate back bows, "yards" and mouth-pipes for different keys; meaning thicker walls, bows and variations in bore and conicity in the wrong places; needing compensation with a conical lead-pipe, which changes bell acoustics, and so on."
[Holier Than Thou, Mike Diprose, Early Music Review 138, October 2010]
Sound
A natural trumpet is audibly different from a baroque one constructed with vents, even if the holes are covered, and when a vent is uncovered it is noticeably weaker and less resonant. Modern performers who choose to play vented instruments avoid the difficulty of vented notes being heard clearly, since baroque scores generally only use the particular out-of-tune notes in passing.
:"
se isnegating the possibility of playing many of the articulations indicated by composers or using a wooden transposing mute."
Posture
Pictures of natural trumpet players show the instrument nobly pointing upwards, held in one hand. Baroque trumpets usually require two hands, with the instrument pointing downwards. The breathing space of the player is less open.
How it works
When opened, the vent hole creates a
node
In general, a node is a localized swelling (a "knot") or a point of intersection (a vertex).
Node may refer to:
In mathematics
* Vertex (graph theory), a vertex in a mathematical graph
*Vertex (geometry), a point where two or more curves, lines ...
, or a position along the vibrating air column, where the pressure variations are at a minimum. This creates a
transposition — in the case of a single thumb vent hole, the entire harmonic series of the trumpet is shifted up by a fourth.
Instruments
One vent
Players in continental Europe most commonly use modern replicas built with one hole, such as with the "Modell Tarr" made by Ewald Meinl Musikinstrumentenbau GmbH of Germany, the hole of which is usually covered by the right thumb. Most of the time, the hole remains covered, allowing the instrument to sound in its original key, whether B, C, D, E, or F. In order to play the out-of-tune 11th and 13th harmonics (notated f
2, and a
2), for example, the player opens the thumb vent hole and plays the f
2 and a
2 as the 8th and 10th harmonics of the new series.
Three or four vents
British players tend to prefer baroque trumpets with three or four holes, allowing the player to make half-step transpositions and blow a relatively easy high C.
[Steele-Perkins, Crispian. 2001. ''The Trumpet''. London: Kahn & Averill.]
An example of a multi-hole baroque trumpet is the coiled ''Jägertrompete'' made by
Helmut Finke,
used by the
Concentus Musicus Wien
Concentus Musicus Wien (CMW) is an Austrian baroque music ensemble based in Vienna. The CMW is recognized as a pioneer of the period-instrument performance movement.
History
Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Alice Harnoncourt co-founded the CMW in 19 ...
on many of their early recordings. However, this model has fallen out of favor with period instrument groups, and is seldom used nowadays.
Mouthpieces
The mouthpiece plays a role in re-creating an "authentic" performance. Many trumpeters continue to use a version of their modern mouthpiece on the baroque trumpet, fitted with a larger shank. This is unfortunate, since the art of playing in the highest ''clarino'' (clear) register depended to a great extent on the typical shallow-cupped mouthpiece of the period. When using the shallow-cupped mouthpiece, there is not only a greater ease in the upper register but also a lighter, less forceful sound. The latter blends better, is less tiring to the player, and is far more appropriate when performing with other baroque-style instruments.
See also
*
Natural trumpet
A natural trumpet is a valveless brass instrument that is able to play the notes of the harmonic series.
History
:''See: Clarion''
The natural trumpet was used as a military instrument to facilitate communication (e.g. break camp, retreat, e ...
References
External links
Crispian Steele-Perkins interviewby Bruce Duffie
Early Trumpet History and Connection to the Baroque-Era Natural Trumpet
{{Authority control
trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...
Natural horns and trumpets