Trumpet In The 19th Century

Prior to the 19th century, the trumpet was simply a long brass tube with a bell and mouthpiece that we refer to today as the natural or Baroque trumpet. It could only play the pitches within the harmonic series that it was keyed in. If other pieces were required, because of a key change for instance, the trumpet player had to change crooks. This lengthened or shortened the total tubing and changed the key. To add a few tones between the notes of the harmonic series, small holes were drilled in specific places along the tubing of the horn. One horn maker developed a system of keys to be attached on a natural trumpet with extra holes. This allowed the trumpet to play chromatically, however the horn played terribly inefficiently and tone suffered greatly. …show more content…
The addition of the valves allowed the trumpet full use of the chromatic scale without sacrificing tone or volume. The use of pistons also allowed the trumpet’s overall tubing to be shorter allowing the harmonic series to begin an octave higher making the trumpet easier to play. With the development of the valved trumpet came the composition of virtuosic solos in the mid-19th century. One such piece is Carnival of Venice by Jean-Baptiste Arban. This piece featured extremely fast chromatic notes unlike anything the trumpet had seen before. Arban wrote entire passages based around the chromatic scale and greatly emphasized chromatic neighbor tones throughout the entire piece. Previously the trumpet player’s virtuosity was limited by the notes in the harmonic series. The invention of the piston valve removed the limit