The Trumpet as an Orchestral Instrument

Extract

Trumpets seem to have been originated by someone discovering that sound could be produced by blowing into the opened end of the horns of animals, spiral shells, or hollow reeds, and on the use of metals being known trumpets of silver, copper, and brass were made in the form of horns and spiral shells. The chatzotzeroth of the Hebrews and the Egyptians was a straight conical tube; the salpinx of the Greeks likewise. The schophar and keren of the Hebrews were horn-shaped, and the buccina of the Romans was made after the fashion of a spiral shell. Judging from the conical shape of these instruments one naturally comes to the conclusion that they were not musical. They would emit only one sound—a terrific blare—which was no doubt useful for giving signals, calling an assembly, or striking terror in the heart of an enemy, &c., but there was no music.