Natural Trumpet Music and the Modern Performer A
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NATURAL TRUMPET MUSIC AND THE MODERN PERFORMER A Thesis Presented to The Graduate Faculty of The University of Akron In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Music Laura Bloss December, 2012 NATURAL TRUMPET MUSIC AND THE MODERN PERFORMER Laura Bloss Thesis Approved: Accepted: _________________________ _________________________ Advisor Dean of the College Dr. Brooks Toliver Dr. Chand Midha _________________________ _________________________ Faculty Reader Dean of the Graduate School Mr. Scott Johnston Dr. George R. Newkome _________________________ _________________________ School Director Date Dr. Ann Usher ii ABSTRACT The Baroque Era can be considered the “golden age” of trumpet playing in Western Music. Recently, there has been a revival of interest in Baroque trumpet works, and while the research has grown accordingly, the implications of that research require further examination. Musicians need to be able to give this factual evidence a context, one that is both modern and historical. The treatises of Cesare Bendinelli, Girolamo Fantini, and J.E. Altenburg are valuable records that provide insight into the early development of the trumpet. There are also several important modern resources, most notably by Don Smithers and Edward Tarr, which discuss the historical development of the trumpet. One obstacle for modern players is that the works of the Baroque Era were originally played on natural trumpet, an instrument that is now considered a specialty rather than the standard. Trumpet players must thus find ways to reconcile the inherent differences between Baroque and current approaches to playing by combining research from early treatises, important trumpet publications, and technical and philosophical input from performance practice essays. This thesis seeks to construct a paradigm by which trumpet players can make informed performance decisions. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................... vi CHAPTER I. THE NATURAL TRUMPET AND MODERN TRUMPET ..................................... 1 II. PHYSICAL AND IDIOMATIC DEVELOPMENT ................................................. 9 III. THE EARLIEST TRUMPET INSTRUCTION ..................................................... 13 The Surviving Treatises ...................................................................................... 13 Early Trumpet Repertoire ................................................................................... 17 IV. THE IMPERIAL TRUMPET GUILD ................................................................... 22 V. TOWN MUSICIANS AND THE TRUMPET ....................................................... 28 VI. THE TRUMPET’S ACCEPTANCE INTO ART MUSIC ...................................... 31 VII. PEDAGOGICAL INSTRUCTION ....................................................................... 34 VIII. TRUMPETS IN THE WORKS OF J.S. BACH ..................................................... 45 IX. CURRENT IMPLICATIONS ................................................................................ 52 Confusion and Issues of Clarity Among Instruments .......................................... 52 Using Modern Instruments for Baroque Works ................................................... 59 Uncertainty and Its Implications for Modern Pedagogy ...................................... 64 iv X. CONCLUSIONS ………………………………………………………………….68 WORKS CITED ………………………………………………………………………..73 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1.1 The harmonic series for a natural trumpet ............................................................ 2 1.2 Comparison of trumpet lengths ........................................................................... 3 1.3 The parts of the Baroque trumpet and mouthpiece ............................................... 4 1.4 Sample trumpet input impedance spectrum .......................................................... 6 1.5 The changes in mouthpiece manufacturing over time .......................................... 8 7.1 The type of huffing called “breaking” ................................................................ 36 7.2 The type of huffing called “beating” .................................................................. 37 7.3 Articulation guideline #1 ................................................................................... 37 7.4 Articulation guideline #2 ................................................................................... 37 7.5 Articulation guideline #3 ................................................................................... 37 7.6 The appoggiatura as applied to long note values ................................................ 38 7.7 The appoggiatura as applied to dotted note values ............................................. 39 7.8 Short note values for the appoggiatura ............................................................... 39 7.9 The trill ............................................................................................................. 39 7.10 The inverted mordent ........................................................................................ 40 7.11 The mordent ...................................................................................................... 40 7.12 The slide ........................................................................................................... 40 7.13 The bebung or schwebung ................................................................................. 41 vi 7.14 The disjunct double appoggiatura ...................................................................... 41 8.1 Haussman’s famous painting of Gottfriede Reiche ............................................. 46 8.2 Typical ranges of trumpet parts throughout the Baroque Era .............................. 48 9.1 Zugtrompete fully extended .............................................................................. 56 9.2 A coiled Jaegertrompete .................................................................................... 56 9.3 Cornetto ............................................................................................................. 58 vii CHAPTER I THE NATURAL TRUMPET AND MODERN TRUMPET The trumpet of the Baroque Era was different from its modern counterpart in several ways. Though there were many names used for trumpets at the time, the most common Baroque trumpet is now known as the natural trumpet. This instrument gets its name because it can only play those notes that naturally lie in its harmonic series, unlike the modern chromatic trumpet. This greatly limited what notes composers could write for trumpets and what keys the latter could play. As a result, most trumpet parts of the Baroque Era are in the instrument's extreme upper register, as this is the section of the overtone series where the most notes are available. The overtone series does not correspond to equal temperament, where the octave is divided equally into twelve half steps; instead many of the notes are naturally shaded sharp or flat compared to today's standards. Several of the partials in the harmonic series are so out-of-tune that they were 1 considered unusable. These include the seventh, eleventh, thirteenth, and fourteenth harmonics.1 Figure 1.1: The harmonic series for a natural trumpet.2 The most common key of trumpets in the Baroque was D, which was called choritönigen, or choir pitch.3 Natural trumpets in D were approximately eight feet long, roughly twice the length of a modern trumpet, making the fundamental harmonic an octave lower. The overall range of the trumpet was typically four octaves, though some players could play higher, and relatively few could actually play the fundamental.4 The key of D was the most versatile for both military and art playing. Trumpets in E-flat were less common, but also used throughout Europe. Trumpets in F were standard military instruments in Germany during the Baroque Era, and were common in France, as they were also well suited to playing chamber music.5 There were also trumpets in G (five feet), C (eight feet), and Bb (nine feet) that were less common. Players could lower the pitch of the instrument by inserting crooks or raise the pitch by using plugs or dampers. 1 Pietzsch, Hermann. Die Trompete. Rev ed. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University Music Press, 1972. 14. 2 Smithers, Don L. The Music and History of the Baroque Trumpet before 1721. 2nd ed. Carbondale, Ill.: Southern Illinois University Press, 1988. 24. 3 Pietzsch, 12. 4 Fromme, Arnold. “Technique on Brass Instruments during the Seventeenth Century.” Journal of Research in Music Education Autumn (1972). 333. 5 Pietzsch, 14. 2 By the late Baroque and early Classical eras, these means allowed the trumpet to play in a variety of keys.6 Figure 1.2: Comparison of trumpet lengths.7 Edward Tarr gives a detailed description of the physical appearance of the Baroque trumpet in his book, The Trumpet. The instrument consists of two lengths of tubing also called yards, and the bends between these sections of tubing are called bows. The end of tubing by the mouthpiece was separated from the bell section by a wooden block, which was wound with a woolen cord to strengthen it. The bend by the bell flare was attached to the bell by a small wire or thin strip of leather. The sections of metal were not soldered, as is the process now; rather, they were inserted into one another. The seams were made airtight with rosin or beeswax, and five ferrules strengthened where