Evolution of The Modern Trumpet - A Presentation of The Stearns Collection by Eric Hartz

EVOLUTION OF THE MODERN
TRUMPET
A PRESENTATION OF THE
TEARNS COLLECTION
FALL 2012
HILL AUDITORIUM LOWER LOBBY
CONCEPT & DESIGN BY:

ERIC HARTZ, CURATOR
RON BERNDT, BRASS & SCHOOL MUSIC CONSULTANT
DIRECTOR OF THE COLLECTION: DR. STEVEN BALL

EVOLUTION OF THE MODERN
TRUMPET
The following presents the instruments, the
narra ve descrip ons, and the graphics that were
displayed in the lower lobby of the University of
Michigans Hill Auditorium from the fall of 2012
through the fall of 2014 in conjunc on with
celebra ons of the 100th anniversary of Hill
Auditorium celebrated during the 2012-2013 school
year.
The exhibit, and the accompanying lifelong learning

lecture February 27th 2013, were a joint produc on
of the School of Music Theater and Dance, The
Friends of the Stearns Collec on, and the Stearns
sta and volunteers .
EVOLUTION OF THE MODERN TRUMPET
PRE-CURSORS: ANCIENT TIMES TO 1830
Ancient peoples sounded alarms and celebrated holidays using

improvised aerophones such as the ancient Hebrew shofar. Usually
made of animal horn or shell, these were the first trumpets. Trumpets of
this type abound in history and legend. The Greek god Triton is said to
have stirred and calmed the waves by blowing a trumpet and Joshuas
trumpets were said to have leveled the walls of ancient Jericho.
Moreover, trumpets appear to have evolved separately, but in parallel in
cultures across the globe.
Shown above: Wikipedia image of a traditional Hebrew shofar made of

rams horn.
Instrument images from the Stearns on-line database

copyright University of Michigan, all rights reserved.
Name of Instrument: shofar

Maker / Brand:
Stearns Catalog #: 0773
Country of Origin: Palestine
Region of Origin: Middle East
Instrument Category: Aerophone
Date of Fabrication: Before 1921
Description: This Shofar--a ram's horn blown during Jewish rituals--

appears to be steam-bent in Ashkenazi (North European Jewish)
tradition. It does not have any carvings or fittings.
By Roman times, the military signaling uses of trumpets had become

well known and essential to battlefield command and control. Roman
signal hornssuch as the cornubegan to resemble the modern bugle
or post horn. These were made of metal, blown with a mouthpiece cup,
and projected a characteristic brass trumpet sound from their flared
bells. In imperial times, these instruments assumed ceremonial roles
that are still filled by herald trumpets of similar dimensions and sound
today.
Shown above: Wikipedia image of a Roman Cornicen


Name of Instrument: cornu in Eb

Maker / Brand: Giuseppe Pelitti
Country of Origin: Milan, Italy
Region of Origin: Europe
Date of Fabrication: 1883
Description: This instrument falls under the category of "Fanciful

Reproductions of Roman Instruments" by Giuseppe Pelitti completed
from 1835 to 1893. This Cornu in E Flat (Keyed) is made of brass with a
wooden transverse brace. It has two brass keys of modern cup type
mounted in brass saddles with brass springs. It has spear head
decoration on the brace.
Prior to the invention of valved instruments in the 19th Century, the

trumpet and horn parts of orchestral works were played primarily on
natural trumpets and post horns. These produced a single overtone
series, but talented players could bend pitches to introduce additional
notes and lip trills. Instrument images from the Stearns on-line database
Name of Instrument: natural trumpet

Maker / Brand: Johann Carl Kodisch
Country of Origin: Nurnberg, Germany
Description: The city of Nuremberg was a leading center of brass
manufacturing from the 16th through the 18th Centuries. Many brass
instruments from this time have survived including this 17th Century
trumpet by Johann Carl Kodisch. Kodisch's instruments are
characterized by a wider flare than his contemporaries permitting a
larger canvas for decorative engraving. This example has elaborate
floral patterns surrounding an image of a galloping horse--the maker's
mark--and the initials ICK (Iohannes Carl Kodisch). At the base of the
garland are embossed scallops; the rim resembles a braided cord.
Modern brass instruments evolved from saxhorns, named for Adolf Sax
who was an early brass instrument inventor. Saxhorns represent a
melding of the ancient hunting and signaling horns that played only a
single overtone series with wind instruments that were chromatic by
means of finger holes. The latter were usually made of reed or bored-
out wood. Keyed bugles emerged in the second decade of the 19th
century as the first form of a modern brass instrument.

Name of Instrument: keyed copyright University of Michigan, all rights reserved.
bugle in Eb
Maker / Brand: B. Mahilllon, jeune
Country of Origin: Brussels, Belgium
Date of Fabrication: mid-19th C. (c. 1835)
Description: This Keyed Bugle in E Flat is made of brass with six brass
keys of modern cup type mounted on pillars attached to diamond-
shaped plates. Keys have steel leaf springs. It has a receiver I-slide with
clamp; receiver is funnel-shaped. It has an open R4 key with ball and
VALVED HORNS & DESIGN INNOVATIONS: 1830 TO 1930
By 1850, many brass instrument makers around the world were

producing the first families of cornets (in multiple keys), alto horns, tenor
horns, baritones, tubas and basses. Returning veterans of the Civil War,
having experienced bands in almost every Northern and one of every
three Southern regiments, established local bands and fueled a rapid
expansion in demand for brass instruments. Virtuoso performers began
to emerge working the circuit of such local bands and drawing many
new players to the cornet.
In Boston, Samuel Graves and Elbridge Wright each began firms that
would, in 1869, merge to become the Boston Musical Instrument
Company. Just down the street, David Hall began what would become
Hall & Quinby, and later, Vega Standard. These early horns utilized
Stlzel (bottom-fed piston) or rotary valves.
Shown above: The front and back of the 1869 Boston Catalogue
Name of Instrument: cornet in Bb

Maker / Brand:
Country of Origin: France (?)
Date of Fabrication: ca. 1850
Description: This Cornet in B Flat is made of brass with German silver

fittings and Stoelzel piston valves. It has F, G, and A flat crooks; also B
flat and A shanks. The second and third buttons are replaced. It has four
mouthpieces.



Maker / Brand: Hall & Quinby
Country of Origin: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Region of Origin: North America
Date of Fabrication: 1870s
Description: This cornet, which features three rotary valves bears the
signature "Hall and Quinby, Boston," and was manufactured sometime
between 1871 and 1876. Brass instruments with valves became popular
in American brass bands in the mid-nineteenth century when the valved
cornet was as widely used as the keyed bugle. By the 1870's however
the piston valve had replaced the rotary valve on most cornets and
trumpets manufactured in the United States. This example is made of
German silver (shanks are missing).
Shown above: The full upright and over the shoulder lines of the
Boston Musical Instrument Manufactory ranging from cornet to bass.
Through the American Civil War period into Reconstruction, piston

valves gained increasing popularity and ultimately dominance. By the
late 1870s, with a multitude of firms such as Col. Charles G. Conns
new company that constructed primarily piston valve horns, the
advocates of rotary valves in the United States began to fade away.
Meanwhile, in Bohemia and Central Europe, advanced rotary valve horn
designs emerged that continue to be made to this day.
Shown above: Wikipedia image of cornet virtuoso Herbert L. Clarke and

a late 19th century advertisement for the Boston 3-star cornet.
Name of Instrument: cornet in Eb

Maker / Brand: Conn and Dupont
Country of Origin: Elkhart, Indiana, USA
Description: This Cornet in E flat is made of silver-plated brass with
Prinet valves (top springs). It has a receiver I-slide with clamp; the main
tube does not have a tuning slide. It has knobbed caps (the second was
replaced). Its serial number is 471. The cartouche is signed, "Superior
Class / MADE BY / CONN & DUPONT / ELKHART, IND."
Colonel C.G. Conn's first manufacturing venture was in the fabrication of

mouthpieces, however, following his meeting of Gene Dupont circa
1875, he began making instruments. The Conn/Dupont partnership was
dissolved in March of 1879. The serial number 471 identifies this
instrument as having been built in 1876, making it one of the first Conn
instruments ever built. Today, Conn-Selmer is now the owner of almost
all US band instrument names, therefore, this instrument is a significant
artifact both historically and musically. Instrument images from the Stearns on-line database
Name of Instrument: trumpet in G

Maker / Brand: Anton Holly
Country of Origin: Plzen, Bohemia
Instrument Category: Aerophone Instrument images from the Stearns on-line database
Date of Fabrication: mid-19th C. copyright University of Michigan, all rights reserved.
Description: This cornet bears the inscription "Anton Holly, w Plzui." It

has three disc valves and fittings of German silver. Disc valves were
popular for cornets with certain instrument manufacturers during the
middle nineteenth century, but were eventually dropped from production
due to an inherent problem with maintaining an airtight seal. The
instrument is made of brass with nickel-plated fittings, buttons, guard,
and bell garland.
At the same time, trumpets were becoming far more common in

orchestral use. The earliest mass-produced trumpets to resemble the
modern piston valved form were made by Besson in France. By 1910,
trumpet design had begun to influence cornet design and the short
cornet gave way to the Holton New Model, the King Long Model from
H.N. White, and many others. By the late teens, many firms were
building quality trumpets loosely patterned on the early Bessons.
Name of Instrument: Instrument images from the Stearns on-line database

trumpet in Bb
Maker / Brand: E. Besson
Country of Origin: Paris, France
Date of Fabrication: 1907.
Description: This Trumpet in B Flat is made of brass with worn gold
plating and three pistons; it is marked, "Besson Brevette SGDG 96 Rue
Dangoul__ Grand Prix 1900, 04, 05, 10. Hors Concours". Its serial
number is 86002. This instrument was donated by Armando Ghitalla.

Name of Instrument: trumpet

Maker / Brand: J. W. York & Sons
Country of Origin: Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
Date of Fabrication: circa 1920
Description: This Trumpet was made in Grand Rapids, Michigan by J.
W. York & Sons.
Patterned on a deign by Couesnon, this is a trumpet in B-flat or A, which

is selectable by the rotary valve behind the tuning slide.
In the early 1900s, H.N. White adapted a Besson cornet wrap in their
famous, long model and large bore cornet, increasing its size and bore
while augmenting the amount and degree of conical expansion. When
others followed with more resonant, larger cornets, the tight wrap faded,
however, Kings Long name stuck, though its wrap more closely
resembled the Large Bore Model.
Shown above: A 1906 H.N. White King Famous Medium Bore Cornet
[East Lake, Ohio, 1906]
Collection of Ron Berndt
King sold to bands as a primary

market in the days before student
lines and this band has 4 of 5 cornets
playing King models, including Arnold
Berndt, class of 25, holding a Long
Model at age 8
IMAGE PROVIDED BY BIRMINGHAM HISTORICAL MUSEUM
Ernst Albert Couturier was a virtuoso performer who toured briefly for
Conn and then Holton before pursuing the manufacture of his own horns.
He was obsessed with achieving a pure conical bore expansionand
he succeeded. Astonishingly, he even met his customers demands for
moving slides with a unique technique for half-reversed slides utilizing
variable tubing thickness.
Shown above: A Couturier cornet (with slides), Serial #3939

[LaPorte, Indiana, 1919]
Collection of Wm. Berndt
Foster Reynolds apprenticed at the York Instrument Company continuing

a line of masters dating back to the early Boston craftsmen. As shop
manager at H.N. White in the 1920s, he pioneered the sterling silver bell
thatin both trumpets and cornetscreates a bright clear tone with rich
overtones. Bach, Schilke, Reynolds apprentice Zig Kanstul, and many
others still offer such bells today.
Shown above: An H.N. White King Silvertone cornet

[East Lake, Ohio, 1941]
CONSISTENCY & AFFORDABILITY: 1930 TO PRESENT DAY

Name of Instrument: trumpet in Bb

Maker / Brand: Martin
Country of Origin: Elkhart, Indiana
Date of Fabrication: 1960-61
Description: This Trumpet in B Flat is
the Martin Committee model; its serial number is 211171. The
instrument has three piston valves; it is gold-plated with handsome
engravings. This instrument was donated by U of M Professor and First
Trumpet for the Boston Pops, Armando Ghitalla.
By the 1930s, American firms built trumpets such as the Martin

Committee and Bach Stradivarius that are largely indistinguishable from
the horns of the 21st century. While brass weights, bell materials, brass
alloy in general and leadpipe designs have continued to evolve and
increasingly specialize depending on the required tone and projection
characteristics, the basic form of the modern trumpet was mature by the
great depression.
Shown above: Vincent Bach (holding trumpet) in his factory

Following World War I, Conns Carl Greenleaf

started Pan American in 1924, and H.N. White
(King) bought Cleveland in 1925 with the
recognition that the school band market had
expanded to include students purchasing their own
horns. Later, Holtons Collegiate model for
students appeared in the 1930s. After WWII, Foster
Reynolds, left King and his own company to join
Olds. His Olds Ambassador, built to the same tolerances as the
companys professional horns, was released as a cheaper alternative in
1948. George Bundy added the Bundy line to Selmer in 1949 and Conn
responded with the Director line in 1955, essentially a re-naming of the
Pan-American following the earlier merger with Conn.
Shown above: A Pan American Trumpet that has been

modified for a deep funnel cornet mouthpiece,
probably for use in a 1930s club setting.
[Elkhart, Indiana, 1929]
As rapidly as school music programs

appeared in new districts during the
depression and grew in numbers there, they
expanded again in the 1950s. By the 1960s,
student instruments were the main market for
manufacturers. This continues to the present
day.
Shown above: A Bach TR300 student

trumpet which is the student horn released by
Conn-Selmer following the retirement of the
Bundy name. As Vincent Bach designed the
Bundy trumpet, it is fitting that the present
day student horns bear his name.
Horn Exhibited : [Elkhart, Indiana, 1988]

Collection of Daniel Walter
As trumpets became more dominant and incorporated the
advancements made by men such as Reynolds, the long cornet would
survive, but in more limited use. The final form of the long cornet was
achieved by firms such as Martin in the mid-20th Century.


Maker / Brand: Martin
Country of Origin: Elkhart, Indiana
Description: This Cornet in B Flat is a Martin Custom Committee with
the Serial Number 209062. It is a lacquered brass instrument with three
pistons and a gold brass bell. This instrument was donated by U of M
Professor and First Trumpet for the Boston Pops, Armando Ghitalla.
In the late 20th Century, specialization offered the player both lightweight
and heavyweight horns. The lightweight models are generally more
flexible and responsive to the player while the heavyweight horns offer
greater resistance to distortion at high dynamics. Further options include
assorted tapers of leadpipe, which affect intonation and the ability to
focus in on a pitch, as well as many choices of bell alloy. Inexpensive
horns became available using a higher copper content in both leadpipes
and bells thus making possible a thinner, more responsive brass body
while preserving a solid core tone with rich overtones. By the 2010s a
multitude of global manufacturers were producing trumpets in every price
range and of every quality.
Shown above: A Jupiter Advanced-Student JTR606-MRL trumpet with

rose brass bell and lead pipe
[Taiwan, 2010]
INEXPENSIVE STUDENT HORNS

Catalog Images from the Woodwind & Brasswind Winter 2012 Catalog.
STEP-UP INTERMEDIATE HORNS

ADVANCED & PROFESSIONAL HORNS

ADDITIONAL EXHIBIT PHOTOS

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EVOLUTION OF THE MODERN

CONCEPT & DESIGN BY:

DIRECTOR OF THE COLLECTION: DR. STEVEN BALL

The exhibit, and the accompanying lifelong learning

Ancient peoples sounded alarms and celebrated holidays using

Shown above: Wikipedia image of a traditional Hebrew shofar made of

Instrument images from the Stearns on-line database

Name of Instrument: shofar

Description: This Shofar--a ram's horn blown during Jewish rituals--

By Roman times, the military signaling uses of trumpets had become

Shown above: Wikipedia image of a Roman Cornicen

Instrument images from the Stearns on-line database

Name of Instrument: cornu in Eb

Description: This instrument falls under the category of "Fanciful

Prior to the invention of valved instruments in the 19th Century, the

Name of Instrument: natural trumpet

Instrument images from the Stearns on-line database

By 1850, many brass instrument makers around the world were

Name of Instrument: cornet in Bb

Description: This Cornet in B Flat is made of brass with German silver

Instrument images from the Stearns on-line database

Instrument images from the Stearns on-line database

Name of Instrument: cornet in Bb

Through the American Civil War period into Reconstruction, piston

Shown above: Wikipedia image of cornet virtuoso Herbert L. Clarke and

Name of Instrument: cornet in Eb

Colonel C.G. Conn's first manufacturing venture was in the fabrication of

Name of Instrument: trumpet in G

Description: This cornet bears the inscription "Anton Holly, w Plzui." It

At the same time, trumpets were becoming far more common in

Name of Instrument: Instrument images from the Stearns on-line database

Instrument images from the Stearns on-line database

Name of Instrument: trumpet

Patterned on a deign by Couesnon, this is a trumpet in B-flat or A, which

King sold to bands as a primary

Shown above: A Couturier cornet (with slides), Serial #3939

Foster Reynolds apprenticed at the York Instrument Company continuing

Shown above: An H.N. White King Silvertone cornet

Instrument images from the Stearns on-line database

Name of Instrument: trumpet in Bb

By the 1930s, American firms built trumpets such as the Martin

Shown above: Vincent Bach (holding trumpet) in his factory

Following World War I, Conns Carl Greenleaf

Shown above: A Pan American Trumpet that has been

As rapidly as school music programs

Shown above: A Bach TR300 student

Horn Exhibited : [Elkhart, Indiana, 1988]

Instrument images from the Stearns on-line database

Name of Instrument: cornet in Bb

Shown above: A Jupiter Advanced-Student JTR606-MRL trumpet with

INEXPENSIVE STUDENT HORNS

STEP-UP INTERMEDIATE HORNS

ADVANCED & PROFESSIONAL HORNS

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