A ''buccina'' () or ''bucina'' (; ),

anglicized Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...

buccin or bucine, is a

brass instrument A brass instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by Sympathetic resonance, sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips. The term ''labrosone'', from Latin elements meani ...

that was used in the ancient

Roman army The Roman army () served ancient Rome and the Roman people, enduring through the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC), the Roman Republic (509–27 BC), and the Roman Empire (27 BC–AD 1453), including the Western Roman Empire (collapsed Fall of the W ...

, similar to the '' cornu''. An '' aeneator'' who blew a ''buccina'' was called a "''buccinator''" or "''bucinator''" ().

Design

It was originally designed as a tube made of either bronze or shells. However, as time went on more materials started to be used. It measured in length, of narrow cylindrical bore, and played by means of a cup-shaped mouthpiece. The tube is bent round upon itself from the mouthpiece to the

bell A bell /ˈbɛl/ () is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be m ...

in the shape of a broad C and is strengthened by means of a bar across the curve, which the performer grasps while playing to steady the instrument; the bell curves over his head or shoulder.

Usage

The ''buccina'' was used for the announcement of night watches, to summon soldiers by means of the special signal known as ''classicum'', and to give orders.

Frontinus Sextus Julius Frontinus (c. 40 – 103 AD) was a Roman civil engineer, author, soldier and senator of the late 1st century AD. He was a successful general under Domitian, commanding forces in Roman Britain, and on the Rhine and Danube frontier ...

relates that a Roman general, who had been surrounded by the enemy, escaped during the night by means of the stratagem of leaving behind him a ''buccinator'' (trumpeter), who sounded the watches throughout the night. In the final section of his orchestral work '' Pini di Roma'' (''Pines of Rome''), Respighi calls for six instruments of different ranges notated as "Buccine" (Italian plural), although he expected them to be played on modern

saxhorn The saxhorn is a family of valved brass instruments that have conical bores and deep cup-shaped mouthpieces. The saxhorn family was developed by Adolphe Sax, who is also known for creating the saxophone family. The sound of the saxhorn has a ...

s or

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet, but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B♭, though ...

s. He also calls for three in the opening movement of his ''

Feste romane ''Roman Festivals'' (Italian: ''Feste Romane''), P 157 is a tone poem in four movements for orchestra completed in 1928 by the Italian composer Ottorino Respighi. It is the last of his three tone poems about Rome, following '' Fountains of Rom ...

'' (''Roman Festivals''), but again notes that they may be replaced by trumpets.

History

The instrument is the ancestor of both the

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 ...

and the

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

; the German word for "trombone", ''Posaune'', is linguistically derived from ''Buccina''. The ''buccina'' was revived during the French Revolution, along with the "tuba curva". Both instruments were first used in the music that

François Joseph Gossec François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * François Amoudruz (1926–2020), French resistance fighter * François-Marie Arouet (better known as Voltaire; ...

composed for the translation of the remains of

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...

to the Pantheon on 11 July 1791.Constant Pierre, Les Hymnes et Chansons de la Révolution française, aperçu général et catalogue, avec notices historiques, analytiques et bibliographiques
1904, pages 210–213.

References

External links

in ''Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities''. * {{Portal, Ancient Rome Brass instruments Ancient Roman legionary equipment Ancient Roman musical instruments Early musical instruments Natural horns and trumpets