Program notes
The documentary series Une histoire de la musique à travers ses instruments (A History of Music Through its Instruments) takes a look at the history of the instruments used in Western music. Here you can find out more about the trumpet.
Trumpets, i.e. a straight or curved instrument consisting of a long cylindrical tube and a pavilion, can be found in many civilisations. There are ancient and medieval trumpets, Celtic carnyx (Celtic warrior instrument from the second century BC), the Roman cornu, or the “natural” trumpet of the eighteenth century (an instrument with no piston that only played treble notes). In the early nineteenth century, the instrument makers Stötzel and Blümel gave birth to a trumpet with even greater possibilities, allowing musicians to compose scores with a larger register.