Trumpet facts
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The History of the Modern Trumpet
First, I must state that thoroughly covering this topic is too complex for a short essay and I’m not the most qualified person to write a definitive history. Rather, my intention is share my point of view and tidbits that come from my particular familiarity with the instruments. My interest has recently been sparked by conversations with other knowledgeable people and some research connected with assembling pages for my website. In this, I hope to spark some interest and possibly a conversation with the reader. In other words, approach this as a work in progress and let me know where I’ve made mistakes or have left something out, hopefully leading us to a better understanding of the subject and a document that we can share with those interested in learning.
The time period of gestation for the “Modern Trumpet” is roughly 1815 to 1910, or from the invention of a workable valve for brass instruments to the explosion of popularity of the French style Bb trumpet. I know that there may be discussion on the topic of what
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The history of the trumpet: its invention, evolution and famous trumpet makers
The trumpet has always had a heraldic role in music-making, with composers such as Bach, Handel, Mahler, Strauss, Stravinsky and Prokofiev making full use of its heroic nature in their writing with fanfares and bold announcements from the brass. The trumpet is also an ideal voice for expressing 20th-century anxiety and stress, and enjoys renewed popularity with contemporary composers. Here, we run you through the history of the trumpet, and how its beginnings as a valveless natural trumpet gave way to the multifaceted instrument played all over the world today.
History of the trumpet: when was it invented?
Early man fashioned trumpets from animal horn, wood, and then metal. Development of this natural trumpet peaked with mid-18th-century virtuosi, who could produce up to 24 notes from their single trumpet tube. In ancient Greece and Rome, the trumpet became irrevocably linked with the sounds of war, used by royalty in its military music. The modern-day bugle continues this military tradition
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History of the trumpet
The chromatic trumpet of Western tradition is a fairly recent invention, but primitive trumpets of one form or another have been in existence for millennia; some of the predecessors of the modern instrument are now known to date back to the Neolithic era. The earliest of these primordial trumpets were adapted from animal horns and sea shells, and were common throughout Europe, Africa, India and, to a lesser extent, the Middle East. Primitive trumpets eventually found their way to most parts of the globe, though even today indigenous varieties are quite rare in the Americas, the Far East and South-East Asia. Some species of primitive trumpets can still be found in remote places, where they have remained largely untouched by the passage of time.[1]
For the most part, these primitive instruments were "natural trumpets": that is to say, they had none of those devices (fingerholes, keys, slides or valves) by which the pitch of an instrument might be altered. It is in fact quite exceptional to come across a chromatic trumpet – primitive or otherwise – whic
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