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. Artisans 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 worldwide in Africa, Europe and Asia from silver and bronze metal sheets. Some were ceremonial trumpets, and others were purely functional, so these instruments were made in various styles and decorations.

Their intended purpose was mainly wartime signalling, warning sounds, and religious ceremonies in Egypt, Greece and the Near East. Bronze and silver trumpets were discovered in Tutankhamun's grave, bronze lurs from Scandinavia and metal trumpets of the same 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, led to the Trumpet being used in a more musical context. Of course, the "baroque era" is often called the "Golden Age of the natural Trumpet". The "natural Trumpet" and its attendant Baroque period compositions by Bach, Handel, Vivaldi and others represent the pinnacle of this sound. However, the natural Trumpet persisted through the Classical and Romantic periods. At this time, the tromba da tirarsi emerged, an instrument fitted with a single slide on the mouth pipe to create a chromatic scale.
During this period, the upper "Clarino" register on the instrument was also 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. During this time, the use of the Trumpet for musical works also began. At first, the low register of the Trumpet was used, and then later, musicians began to utilize the higher pitches of the harmonic series.

17th to 18th Century

The Trumpet was at the height of its popularity during this period. It 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." Short sections of extra tubing 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 complete 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. However, 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 tubular box valve. The modern valve trumpet was born. Once perfected, this invention allowed almost perfect intonation and beautiful tone across the trumpet's full range.

Remarkably, the natural horn (with crooks) dominated orchestral use until the end of the 1800s. However, the valve design eventually became the standard we know today. The valves ensured a fully chromatic trumpet because they effectively changed the tube length. Combining three valves provides all the variation that 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; large-scale manufacturers quickly followed this 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. 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 past's low, powerful, inaccurate trumpets.

20th Century

The 20th century saw an explosion in the amount and variety of music written for the trumpet. It has significantly contributed to music's history, especially 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.