History of the Trumpet

The trumpet has been around for a very long time. Early man discovered that animal horns, open at both ends and played with pursed lips, would make loud, resonant sounds that carried long distances. Craftsmen decorated these prized horns and eventually began recreating them in metal and ceramic to form the earliest man made trumpets.

1500 BC

Trumpets were being crafted to high standards across the world in Africa, Europe and Asia from sheets of silver and bronze metal. Some were ceremonial trumpets and others were purely functional, so these instruments were made in a wide array of styles and decoration.

Their intended purpose was mostly wartime signalling, warning sounds and religious ceremonies in places like Egypt, Greece and the Near East. Bronze and silver trumpets were discovered in Tutankhamen's grave, bronze lurs from Scandinavia, metal trumpets of the same time period have been discovered in China.

14th to 15th Century

Towards the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance, technical improvements in metalworking and instrument design in general lead to the trumpet being used in a more musical context and of course the “baroque era” is often referred to as the “Golden Age of the natural trumpet”. The "natural trumpet" and its attendant Baroque period compositions by Bach, Handel, Vivaldi and others represents the pinnacle of this sound, though the natural trumpet persisted through the Classical and Romantic periods. At this time, the tromba da tirarsi emerged, an instrument that was fitted with a single slide on the mouth pipe to create a chromatic scale.

It was also during this period that the upper, "Clarino" register on the instrument was developed. The natural trumpets of this era consisted of a single coiled tube without valves and therefore could only produce the notes of a single harmonic series; changing keys required the player to swap out the crooks of the instrument.
During this period, a vast body of music was written for virtuoso trumpeters.

16th Century

During this period the trumpet was used for both courtly and military purposes. Trumpet making was also popular in Germany during this same period of time. During this time, the use of the trumpet for musical works also began. At first, the low register of the trumpet was used, then later on musicians began to utilize the higher pitches of the harmonic series.

17th to 18th Century

The trumpet was at the height of it’s popularity during this period and was used by famous composers such as Leopold (Mozart's father) and Michael (Haydn's brother) in their musical works. The trumpet of this time were in the key of D or C when used for courtly purposes and in the key of Eb or F when used by the military. Musicians of this period played specifically in different registers.
A new pitch changing idea came in the 18th century, when horns began to be fitted with an invention called "crooks" or "shanks." These were short sections of extra tubing that could be added to the trumpet to tune its primary note to a new pitch. One trumpet could now serve the use of many, though the player still had to stop playing and physically change the crook to choose a new primary tone.

The keyed trumpet emerged at the end of the 18th century as the invention of Anton Weidinger, a Viennese trumpeter. This instrument was one of the first to allow the trumpeter to play a full chromatic scale in any register by manipulating keys that open and close tone holes along the trumpet's tube. Haydn in particular was an enthusiast of the keyed trumpet, though the nature of its design hampered the tone in comparison to that of the natural horn. Soon after, the invention of valves relegated the keyed trumpet to limited use.

19th Century

In 1818, a German horn player named Heinrich David Stolzel created the first working brass instrument valve in partnership with Friedrich Bluhmel 1818, known as a box tubular valve. The modern valve trumpet was born. Once perfected, this invention allowed almost perfect intonation and beautiful tone across the full range of the trumpet.

Remarkably, the natural horn (with crooks) continued to dominate orchestral use until the end of the 1800s, though the valve design was eventually to become the standard we know today. The valves ensured a trumpet that was fully chromatic because they effectively changed the tube length. A combination of three valves provides all the variation a chromatic trumpet needs.

This late development of the instrument's chromatic ability has meant that the repertoire for the instrument is relatively small compared to other instruments.

In 1842 the first trumpet factory was founded by Adolphe Sax in Paris, this was quickly followed by large-scale manufacturers in England and America. Standardized parts, developed by Gustave Auguste Besson, became available in 1856. In 1875 C. G. Conn founded a factory in Elkhart, Indiana, and to this day most brass instruments from the United States are manufactured in this city.

In recent times, there has been a revival of natural trumpets, rotary trumpets, and trumpets that sound higher than the standard B-flat. Overall, however, modern trumpets produce high, brilliant, chromatic musical tones in contrast with the low, powerful, inaccurate trumpets of the past.

20th Century

The 20th century saw an explosion in the amount and variety of music written for the trumpet. It has made significant contributions to the history of music, especially to jazz. The recording age was kind to the trumpet. Its sharp, piercing tone cut right through in recordings, so the trumpet became a favourite with arrangers and composers of the time. Today, the trumpet is used in virtually every form of music from classical to jazz, rock, blues and many others.