Trumpeter

History

Improvements to instrument design and metal making in the late Middle Ages and Renaissance led to an increase in the trumpet's utility as a musical instrument. The natural trumpets of this era consisted of a coiled tube without valves which could only produce the notes of a single overtone series. Changing keys required the player to change crooks of the instrument. The development of the upper, "clarino" register by specialist trumpeters—notably Cesare Bendinelli—would lend itself well to music of the Baroque era. This was known as the "Golden Age of the natural trumpet," during which a vast body of music was written for virtuoso trumpeters. Interest in the natural trumpet was revived in the mid-20th century, and its use has become more common. Many modern players in Germany and the UK who perform Baroque music use a version of the natural trumpet fitted with three or four vent holes to aid in correcting out-of-tune notes in the harmonic series.