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.
What are the different types of trumpet throughout history?
After the reign of the natural trumpet, the historical slide trumpet was developed in the late 14th-century for use in wind bands. These were natural trumpets with sliding leadpipes, but the range of the slide was relatively limited.
While the most common type of trumpet is the B-flat trumpet, there are also trumpets in A, C, D, E-flat, E, low F, and G also widely available. Piccolo trumpets are available in different models, with tubing about half the length of the standard trumpet, which makes it sound an octave higher. The bass trumpet is pitched the same as the trombone, and usually performed by a trombone player.
The trumpet is often confused with the cornet, a similar instrument with a differnet tubing shape. The cornet has a slightly mellower tone. The flugelhorn is another instrument from the same family, but has an even mellower sound still than the cornet.
Berlioz often used cornets in his orchestral writing, and penned a treatise on instrumentation in 1855 which read: ‘A phrase that would appear tolerable, when performed by violins or the woodwind, becomes flat and intolerably vulgar when emphasised by the incisive, brash and impudent sound of the cornet.’
Who are the famous trumpet makers from history?
The slide trumpet was used in the late-18th century and was particularly used in orchestral writing. The best-known maker of the English slide trumpet was Kohler, who made two designs with three piston valves each.
Bach has been making trumpets since 1885 and is one of the most widely-known trumpet manufacturers working today. They are particularly good for amateur instruments, as are Yamaha, a brand that has been around since the late 19th century and also manufactures a wide range of different instruments.
Gautrot aîné produced woodwind and brass instruments during the 19th century and was one of the largest in Europe, pioneering the use of steam power. Courtois is another famous maker, having started life in a family-run workshop during the French Revolution. Besson began manufacturing band instruments at the beginning of the 19th century in Paris. Its founder Gustave-Auguste Besson was an expert in acoustic science and developed a new cornet which revolutionised the instrument.
How has the trumpet changed over time?
The history of the trumpet shows its evolution through many styles and iterations. In the 17th century, the trumpet began being used in chamber and ensemble playing. At this time, however, it was still natural trumpets that were being used – i.e. trumpets without valves, which were only able to be played using harmonics. This made it a much more challenging instrument to approach.
After the era of the natural trumpets, the Industrial Revolution spawned a mechanical trumpet (c.1816). Soon, completely chromatic trumpets, with three valves, giving access to seven interlocking tubes, were the norm. Later trumpet technology refined this basic desing, producing easier high notes, and a ‘bigger’ sound with a more sophisticated instrument.
Find out more about the jazz trumpet and the best jazz trumpeters in history here.
Where were trumpets first made?
With all history, the further back you go, the foggier the specifics get, but it’s believed that the metal trumpet dates back to 2000 BC in Egypt. This will have been a natural trumpet, with sounds made using harmonics.
What was the first piece of trumpet music ever written?
While it is unclear what the first piece of trumpet music was, it’s believed that the trumpet repertoire dates back to 1500 BC. The so-called ‘Golden Age of the Trumpet’ in the Middle Ages and Renaissance was probably a particularly ripe time for trumpet music development, however. The natural trumpets of this era would have had virtuoso players and a vast body of music to perform.
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