![Three cornetts](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Three_cornetts.jpg)
The cornett, cornetto, or zink is an early wind instrument that dates from the
Medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
,
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
and
Baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
periods, popular from 1500 to 1650. It was used in what are now called
alta capella
An alta cappella or alta musica (Italian), haute musique (French) or just alta was a kind of town wind band found throughout continental Europe from the thirteenth to the eighteenth centuries, which typically consisted of shawms and slide trumpet ...
s or wind ensembles. It is not to be confused with the modern
cornet
The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopr ...
.
The sound of the cornett is produced by lip vibrations against a cup mouthpiece, similar to modern brass instruments. A cornett consists of a conical wooden pipe covered in leather, is about long, and has finger holes and a small horn, ivory, or bone mouthpiece. The range is from A3 to A5, however the bottom note can be lipped as far as G3 and a good player can get up to E6.
Construction
The ordinary treble cornett is made by splitting a length of wood and gouging out the two halves to make the gently conical, curved bore. The halves are then glued together, and the outside planed to an octagonal cross section, the whole being bound in thin black leather. Six front finger holes and a thumb hole on the back (like on the
recorder
Recorder or The Recorder may refer to:
Newspapers
* ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper
* ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US
* ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...
) are bored in the instrument, and are slightly undercut. The socket for the mouthpiece at the narrow end is reinforced with a brass collar, concealed by an ornamental silver or brass mount. The separate cup mouthpiece is usually made of horn, ivory, or bone, with a thin rim and thread-wrapped shank. Because it lacks a little-finger hole at the bottom, its lowest note is the A below middle C, though another tone lower could be produced by slackening the lips to flatten the note.
At least three existing specimens of bass cornett reside in the collection of the Musée de la Musique, Paris.
Music for the cornett
![Cornett, by Tobias Stimmer](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Cornett%2C_by_Tobias_Stimmer.jpg)
Historically, two cornetts were frequently used in consort with three
sackbut
The term sackbut refers to the early forms of the trombone commonly used during the Renaissance music, Renaissance and Baroque music, Baroque eras. A sackbut has the characteristic telescopic slide of a trombone, used to vary the length of th ...
s, often to double a church choir. This was particularly popular in
Venetian churches such as the
Basilica San Marco, where extensive instrumental accompaniment was encouraged, particularly in use with
antiphonal
An antiphonary or antiphonal is one of the liturgical books intended for use (i.e. in the liturgical choir), and originally characterized, as its name implies, by the assignment to it principally of the antiphons used in various parts of the ...
choirs.
Giovanni Bassano
Giovanni Bassano (c. 1561 – 3 September 1617) was an Italian composer associated with the Venetian School of composers and a cornettist of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras. He was a key figure in the development of the instrumental en ...
was a virtuoso early player of the cornett, and
Giovanni Gabrieli
Giovanni Gabrieli (c. 1554/1557 – 12 August 1612) was an Italian composer and organist. He was one of the most influential musicians of his time, and represents the culmination of the style of the Venetian School, at the time of the shift f ...
wrote much of his
polychoral
An antiphon (Greek ἀντίφωνον, ἀντί "opposite" and φωνή "voice") is a short chant in Christian ritual, sung as a refrain. The texts of antiphons are the Psalms. Their form was favored by St Ambrose and they feature prominently ...
music with Bassano in mind.
Heinrich Schütz
Heinrich Schütz (; 6 November 1672) was a German early Baroque composer and organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach, as well as one of the most important composers of the 17th century. He ...
also used the instrument extensively, especially in his earlier work; he had studied in Venice with Gabrieli and was acquainted with Bassano's playing.
The cornett was, like almost all Renaissance and Baroque instruments, made in a complete family; the different sizes being the high
cornettino
The cornettino (plural cornettini) is the descant instrument of the cornetto family. Cornettini usually have a primary scale of C or D major, with middle C or the adjacent D the pedal note of the instrument. The regular cornett is the 'treble' inst ...
, the cornett (or curved cornett), the
tenor cornett The tenor cornett or lizard was a common musical instrument in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. This instrument was normally built in C and the pedal (lowest) note of the majority of tenor cornetts was the C below middle C. A number of survivin ...
(or lizard) and the rare
bass cornett. The
serpent
Serpent or The Serpent may refer to:
* Snake, a carnivorous reptile of the suborder Serpentes
Mythology and religion
* Sea serpent, a monstrous ocean creature
* Serpent (symbolism), the snake in religious rites and mythological contexts
* Serp ...
largely supplanted the bass cornett in the 17th century. Other versions include the
mute cornett
The mute cornett was an important variant of the treble cornett and it was used in compositions by European composers in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. A significant number of mute cornetts have survived and are preserved in various European ...
, which is a straight narrow-bore instrument with integrated mouthpiece, quiet enough to be used in a consort of viols or even recorders.
The cornett was also used as a virtuoso solo instrument, and a relatively large amount of solo music for the cornetto (and/or violin) survives. The use of the instrument had declined by 1700, although the instrument was still common in Europe until the late 18th century.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...
,
Georg Philipp Telemann
Georg Philipp Telemann (; – 25 June 1767) was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer against his family's wishes. After studying in Magdeburg, Zellerfeld, and Hild ...
and their German contemporaries used both the cornett and cornettino in cantatas to play in unison with the soprano voices of the choir. Occasionally, these composers allocated a solo part to the cornetto (see Bach's cantata ''
O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht, BWV 118
''O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht'' (O Jesus Christ, light of my life), BWV 118, is a sacred motet composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. It is known to have been performed at a funeral, and was possibly a generic work intended for funerals.(ac ...
'').
Alessandro Scarlatti
Pietro Alessandro Gaspare Scarlatti (2 May 1660 – 22 October 1725) was an Italian Baroque composer, known especially for his operas and chamber cantatas. He is considered the most important representative of the Neapolitan school of opera.
...
used the cornetto or pairs of cornetts in a number of his operas.
Johann Joseph Fux
Johann Joseph Fux (; – 13 February 1741) was an Austrian composer, music theorist and pedagogue of the late Baroque era. His most enduring work is not a musical composition but his treatise on counterpoint, '' Gradus ad Parnassum'', which has ...
used a pair of mute cornetts in a Requiem.
It was scored for by
Gluck
Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire, he g ...
, in his opera ''
Orfeo ed Euridice'' (he suggested the
soprano trombone
The soprano trombone (sometimes called a slide trumpet, especially in jazz) is the soprano instrument in the trombone family of brass instruments. It is usually pitched in B an octave above the tenor trombone, and has a bore, bell and mouthpiec ...
as an alternative) and features in the TV theme music ''Testament'' by
Nigel Hess
Nigel John Hess (born 22 July 1953) is a British composer, best known for his television, theatre and film soundtracks, including the theme tunes to '' Campion'', '' Maigret'', '' Wycliffe'', '' Dangerfield'', ''Hetty Wainthropp Investigates'', ...
, released in 1983.
History
![Cornets à bouquin1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Cornets_%C3%A0_bouquin1.jpg)
The cornett in its current form was developed in the late 15th or early 16th centuries, as an improvement over earlier designs of horn that had been around since at least the medieval era. These early instruments were played with one hand covering four or fewer fingerholes and the other stopping the bell to create additional tones, much like on a
French horn
The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...
. In Northern Europe, these horns, referred to in Scandinavian languages as
bukkehorns, were made from natural animal horns, whereas similar instruments from central Europe were made from wood turned on a
lathe
A lathe () is a machine tool that rotates a workpiece about an axis of rotation to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, deformation, facing, and turning, with tools that are applied to the workpiece to c ...
; the fusion of these two instrument-building traditions as the cornett advanced in melodic capability explains the coexistence of the straight and curved cornetts, with the form of the latter most likely being a skeuomorphic trait derived from animal horns.
Playing the cornett
![Hra-na-cink-evangkostel-v-Miroslavi2011](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Hra-na-cink-evangkostel-v-Miroslavi2011.jpg)
The cornett is generally regarded to be a difficult instrument to play, requiring a lot of practice. The instrument is similar in design to the Russian
Vladimir horn or rozhok. The main tube of the cornett is around the length of a modern clarinet or oboe, but the mouthpiece is that of a brass instrument, relying on a combination of the player's lips and the alteration of the length of the sound column via the opening and closing of the finger holes to alter the pitch.
Baroque theorist
Marin Mersenne described the sound of the cornett as "a ray of sunshine piercing the shadows". The instrument's upper register sounds somewhat like a modern
trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
or cornet, the lower register more closely resembling a trombone. Cornett intonation is flexible, which enables it to be played perfectly in tune in a range of tonalities and temperaments.
As a result of its design, the cornett requires a specialized
embouchure
Embouchure () or lipping is the use of the lips, facial muscles, tongue, and teeth in playing a wind instrument. This includes shaping the lips to the mouthpiece of a woodwind instrument or the mouthpiece of a brass instrument. The word is of ...
that is, initially, tiring to play for any length of time. Violins often replaced cornetts in consort music, and cornetts similarly substituted for violins in consort music and sacred music. Like its successor, the
serpent
Serpent or The Serpent may refer to:
* Snake, a carnivorous reptile of the suborder Serpentes
Mythology and religion
* Sea serpent, a monstrous ocean creature
* Serpent (symbolism), the snake in religious rites and mythological contexts
* Serp ...
, the cornett was also used to reinforce the human voice in choirs. Due to their similarities, cornettists frequently also play trumpets or recorders.
The cornett and authentic performance
As a result of the recent
historically informed performance
Historically informed performance (also referred to as period performance, authentic performance, or HIP) is an approach to the performance of Western classical music, classical music, which aims to be faithful to the approach, manner and style of ...
movement the cornett has been rediscovered, and modern works for the instrument have been written.
See also
Cornettino
The cornettino (plural cornettini) is the descant instrument of the cornetto family. Cornettini usually have a primary scale of C or D major, with middle C or the adjacent D the pedal note of the instrument. The regular cornett is the 'treble' inst ...
,
Tenor cornett The tenor cornett or lizard was a common musical instrument in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. This instrument was normally built in C and the pedal (lowest) note of the majority of tenor cornetts was the C below middle C. A number of survivin ...
,
Mute Cornett
The mute cornett was an important variant of the treble cornett and it was used in compositions by European composers in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. A significant number of mute cornetts have survived and are preserved in various European ...
,
Alto Cornett
The cornett, cornetto, or zink is an early wind instrument that dates from the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods, popular from 1500 to 1650. It was used in what are now called alta capellas or wind ensembles. It is not to be confused wi ...
,
Serpent
Serpent or The Serpent may refer to:
* Snake, a carnivorous reptile of the suborder Serpentes
Mythology and religion
* Sea serpent, a monstrous ocean creature
* Serpent (symbolism), the snake in religious rites and mythological contexts
* Serp ...
,
Sackbut
The term sackbut refers to the early forms of the trombone commonly used during the Renaissance music, Renaissance and Baroque music, Baroque eras. A sackbut has the characteristic telescopic slide of a trombone, used to vary the length of th ...
.
References
External links
*
The French Wikipedia cornett page shows photos of two existing specimens of the bass cornett
A third bass cornett in the collection of the Musée de la Musique, ParisA page about the cornett, one of the more well-known modern makers of cornetts
Extant cornetts at
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
Ivory Cornetto, 1570–80, GermanyTenor Cornetto, 17th century, France
Modern performance
Online sound recordings of modern performance, by ''Antiqua''L'Arpeggiatawith Christina Pluhar as conductor, (winner of the 2010 Dutch Edison) makes use of one or two cornetts
City of Lincoln Waites''(The Mayor of Lincoln's own Band of Musick)''
Concerto Palatino a leading ensemble centered on the cornetto and trombone and directed by Bruce Dickey and Charles Toet.
The English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble a performance group that makes use of the cornett
A French period performance group directed by cornettist Jean Tubery.
His Majestys Sagbutts & Cornetts(est. 1982), the pre-eminent, internationally renowned British cornett and sackbut ensemble.
*
Johann Rosenmüller Ensemble The Johann Rosenmüller Ensemble is a German early music group formed by the German cornetto player and conductor Arno Paduch in 1995.
The group's performance and discography focuses on the rediscovery of unknown music of the 17th and 18th centurie ...
, a performance group directed by the German cornetto player Arno Paduch
QuintEssential – Sackbut and Cornett ensemble
{{Authority control
Baroque instruments
Brass instruments
Early musical instruments
Horns
Renaissance instruments