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The trumpet can be found in antiquity
and among all primitive civilizations. Early trumpets were
tubes made of wood, bamboo, or gourd. In ancient Egypt trumpetlike
instruments were made of silver, and ancient Greek instruments
of ivory still exist. The modern trumpet began to evolve around
1300 with the introduction of a metal instrument with a wide
flared bell and short cylindrical bore. The trumpet's sound
is produced by a forceful stream of air through the player's
lips cupped in a mouthpiece, thus creating a vibrating column
of air. In the later 14th and 15th centuries the tubing was
shaped like the letter S rather than flared forward. Toward
the end of the 15th century the trumpet's tubing was wound
in a loop. Throughout the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries this
so-called natural trumpet--as opposed to later trumpets with
valves or slides--was the norm.
Trumpet music traditionally conveyed
festive or martial feelings, and many fine parts were written
by baroque composers, including Bach ('Mass in B Minor') and
Handel ('Dettingen Te Deum'). Classical composers who wrote
notably for the instrument include Haydn, whose 'Concerto
for Trumpet in E Flat' is a mainstay of the repertoire.
Trumpets with keys and with valves,
which were capable of producing a wider range of notes and
of sustaining more accurate pitch, were developed in the early
19th century, a time of transition for the instrument. Although
trumpets were built in many keys--trumpets in E flat, F, G,
and A flat were not uncommon--by the end of the 19th century
the standard trumpets were in the keys of B flat and C.
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From Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia © 1999 The
Learning Company, Inc
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