[TPIN] Symphonic cornets dnd valve history

[Glenn Bengry]

Andy,

     As far as I know, the original tradition began with Berlioz in the 
1840's writing for the two pairs.  The reason for the cornet parts was that 
the cornet a piston was developed in France before the piston trumpet.  
therefore the chromatic and diatonic passages could only be played by 
cornets.  The traditional natural tpt parts continued to be written for as 
they had for over a century.  I think that in the very late nineteenth 
century, valved trumpets became more common than they had been, and the 
"cornet" parts could be written for the tpt.    The tradition continued to 
change in all idioms.  A great example is Louis Armstrong played a cornet  
early in his career but began to use a tpt which influenced everyone that 
came along after that.  B ix played a cornet(died in '31)  Bunny Berigan who 
played lead with Benny Goodman';s band on the famous 1935 tour was playing a 
tpt by the early 30's.  Same can be said about the Ellington band.  Rex 
Stewart, I believe, played cornet, but when Bubber Miley joined the band, I 
think he was playing a tpt too.  The first two decades of the twentieth 
century also saw the Sousa Band and others playing  cornet solos with 
Herbert Clarke and Del Staigers and all those guys.  Now, even though the 
military bands still have a cornet section.  most of the players use a 
hybrid cornet/trumpet.  I know that Woody English, who plays 1st cornet in 
the Army Band in DC plays a hybrid.

      I think that trumpet design really developed in France also and that 
the French Besson was and still might be the Stradivarius of brass 
instruments both in quality and the fact that many of the "secrets" of the 
craft  may well have gone to the grave with old man Besson even though the 
family still built outstanding instruments and made some contributions to 
the design.

    We think we keep making improvements in design etc.  but when you 
occasionally play some of these old instruments you wonder what ever 
happened to some of the old knowledge and craftmanship.  It kind of 
underscores the significance of losing Bach instruments in the near future.

     All of you knowledgab le brass historians check my facts for me and 
fill in some of the history.  It is an endlessly fascinating tale for us 
trumpet/cornet players.

>From: "Andy Del" <trumpetplayer at optusnet.com.au>
>To: <Trptmast at aol.com>, <jon at yakatus.com>, <tpin at tpin.okcu.edu>
>Subject: RE: [TPIN] Symphonic cornets
>Date: Wed, 5 Jul 2006 06:29:42 +1000
>
>Hi Paul
>
>I'm curious as to why you think this is the case. Didn't the composer
>wrote for two different instruments, which had (in the time of
>Tchaikovsky for example) different playing traditions and very different
>timbres?
>
>Cheers
>
>Andy
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: tpin-bounces at tpin.okcu.edu [mailto:tpin-bounces at tpin.okcu.edu] On
>Behalf Of Trptmast at aol.com
>Sent: Wednesday, 5 July 2006 5:32 AM
>To: jon at yakatus.com; tpin at tpin.okcu.edu
>Subject: Re: [TPIN] Symphonic cornets
>
>The actual use of cornets is optional.
>
>Paul R
>_______________________________________________
>TPIN mailing list
>TPIN at tpin.okcu.edu
>http://tpin.okcu.edu/mailman/listinfo/tpin
>
>_______________________________________________
>TPIN mailing list
>TPIN at tpin.okcu.edu
>http://tpin.okcu.edu/mailman/listinfo/tpin

_________________________________________________________________
Is your PC infected? Get a FREE online computer virus scan from McAfee® 
Security. http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963