Unlike stringed instruments, brass instruments were not
near as popular. One reason for this being the difficulty involved in
playing these rather primitive instruments. Later developments made them
much more accessible to musical participants. Music written during this
time period was rather complex so playing any Baroque piece on top of one of
these already difficult instruments would have been nearly impossible.
What is known as the “natural trumpet” became increasingly
popular throughout the Baroque era. Before the Baroque period it was used
for military purposes such as announcing a retreat or breaking up camp.
Girolamo Fantini among others was one of the first that recognized
this instrument’s capabilities in orchestral settings by changing the embouchure
used. By doing this he could add two notes therefore producing an entire
harmonic scale. Over the following years this instrument fell out
of popularity because of its need for highly skilled musicians. The
invention of the keyed trumpet around 1815 was the final straw of the natural
trumpet’s demise.
The
natural horn, an extremely popular instrument of this time, has a similar story
to the natural trumpet. It also ended its commission during the early
1800s due to the introduction of the “keyed” version. This instrument had
several notes missing in its range. To compensate, a musician had to use
“bending” or “hand stopping” to produce the missing notes. “Bending” is
changing embouchure slightly to lower or raise a pitch by just a fraction.
“Hand stopping” is inserting a cup shaped hand into the bell. This
changes the pitch as well as the timbre. Pretty complicated methods…
Although brass instruments were not always the
most popular choice during the Baroque Period, this era was again the
foundation for the modern orchestra by introducing two crucial orchestral
instruments: the trumpet and horn.
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