Books › A descriptive catalogue of the musical instruments recently exhibited at the Royal Military Exhibition, London, 1890 …, 1891 › scan 158
Scan 158
A descriptive catalogue of the musical instruments recently exhibited at the Royal Military Exhibition, London, 1890 …, 1891
6 lines. Read by computer on 1 October 2026. Printed page 138. See the scan on archive.org.
1The mouthpieces used for clarino parts were necessarily very small; the intonation, therefore, especially of the lower and middle notes, left much to be desired, and the players endeavoured to correct faults by means of what is technically termed "pinching." It is probable also that trumpets which were intended for clarino parts were of a smaller bore; and such a trumpet is now in the possession of Mr. Harper. Parts thus written were found up to the middle of the 18th century, when, as a means of remedying the defective intonation of certain notes, the use of crooks or tons de rechange came to be largely employed. Trumpets then came to be used in F instead of in D, and with shanks for E, Eb, D, Db, C, B, Bb, and even for A; and by means of employing several trumpets crooked in different keys it was made possible to enrich the harmonies, and to make almost every harmonic progression possible, provided of course that the band was numerous enough. Here then we see the starting point of the so called "brass" band.
3The horn, developed from the jäger trumpet mentioned by Praetorius, at first did not differ much in quality of tone from the trumpet; its tubing was differently disposed for the sake of portability, and it was played with a shallow mouthpiece somewhat like that of the trumpet. Of French or German origin, it superseded the oliphant, or ivory hunting horn, which was akin to the modern bugle; and being improved by French makers, and a conical bore substituted for the cylindrical, the musical quality of the cor de chasse rapidly became evident; and it was introduced into the wind bands of the period in combination with trumpets and trombones. The instrument was perfected by the maker Raoux, of Paris, and horns of his make are greatly prized by players.
5Used principally in the hunting field for signals and calls, of which there were a very great number, the use of which is utterly unintelligible to an Englishman, the horn was adopted into the orchestra in France by Campra in the opera "Achille et Déidamie" produced in 1735. There is reason for believing that the cor de chasse was employed previously by Lulli in "La Princesse d'Elide." It had, however, been employed in England as early as 1720 by Handel in his opera "Radamisto"; and its use in Germany dates from about the same period.
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.