Cornet

Cornet

A B♭ cornet
Brass instrument
Classification	Wind Brass Aerophone
Hornbostel–Sachs classification	423.232 (Valved aerophone sounded by lip movement)
Developed	Early 19th century from the post horn
Playing range
Written range:
Related instruments
Trumpet French horn German horn Vienna horn Flugelhorn Bass trumpet Flumpet

The cornet (/ˈkɔːrnɪt/,^[1] US: /kɔːrˈnɛt/) 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 soprano cornet in E♭ and a cornet in C. All are unrelated to the renaissance and early baroque cornett.

History[edit]

The cornet derived from the posthorn^{[clarification needed]} by applying rotary valves to it in the 1820s in France.^[2] By the 1830s, however, Parisian makers were using piston valves instead.^[3] Among the first manufacturers of modern cornets was Parisian Jean Asté in 1828.^{[dubious – discuss]} Cornets first appeared as separate instrumental parts in 19th century French compositions.^[4]

This instrument could not have been developed without the improvement of piston valves by Silesian oboe player Friedrich Blühmel and Heinrich Stölzel in the early 19th century. These two instrument makers almost simultaneously invented valves, though it is likely that Blühmel (or Blümel) was the inventor, and Stölzel who developed a practical instrument.^[5] They jointly applied for a patent and were granted this for a period of ten years. Later, and most importantly, François Périnet received a patent in 1838 for an improved valve which is the basis of all modern brass instrument piston valves.^[6] The first notable virtuoso player was Jean-Baptiste Arban, who studied the cornet extensively and published La grande méthode complète de cornet à piston et de saxhorn, commonly referred to as the Arban method, in 1864.^[7] Up until the early 20th century, the trumpet and cornet coexisted in musical ensembles. Symphonic repertoire often involves separate parts for trumpet and cornet. As several instrument builders made improvements to both instruments, they started to look and sound more alike. The modern day cornet is used in brass bands, concert bands, and in specific orchestral repertoire that requires a more mellow sound.^[8]

The name cornet derives from corne, meaning horn, itself from Latin cornu. While not musically related, instruments of the Zink family (which includes serpents) are named "cornetto" or "cornett" in modern English to distinguish them from the valved cornet described here. The 11th edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica referred to serpents as "old wooden cornets".^[9] The Roman/Etruscan cornu (or simply "horn") is the lingual ancestor of these. It is a predecessor of the post horn from which the cornet evolved and was used like a bugle to signal orders on the battlefield.^[8]

Relationship to trumpet[edit]

The cornet was invented by adding valves to the post horn in circa 1828.^[2] The valves allowed for melodic playing throughout the register of the cornet. Trumpets were slower to adopt the new valve technology, so for the next 100 years or more, composers often wrote separate parts for trumpet and cornet. The trumpet would play fanfare-like passages, while the cornet played more melodic passages. The modern trumpet has valves that allow it to play the same notes and fingerings as the cornet.^[10]

Cornets and trumpets made in a given key (usually the key of B♭) play at the same pitch, and the technique for playing the instruments is nearly identical. However, cornets and trumpets are not entirely interchangeable, as they differ in timbre. Also available, but usually seen only in the brass band, is an E♭ soprano model, pitched a fourth above the standard B♭.

Unlike the trumpet, which has a cylindrical bore up to the bell section, the tubing of the cornet has a mostly conical bore, starting very narrow at the mouthpiece and gradually widening towards the bell. Cornets following the 1913 patent of E.A. Couturier can have a continuously conical bore. The conical bore of the cornet is primarily responsible for its characteristic warm, mellow tone, which can be distinguished from the more penetrating sound of the trumpet. The conical bore of the cornet also makes it more agile than the trumpet when playing fast passages, but correct pitching is often less assured.^[8] The cornet is often preferred for young beginners as it is easier to hold, with its centre of gravity much closer to the player.

The cornet mouthpiece has a shorter and narrower shank than that of a trumpet so it can fit the cornet's smaller mouthpiece receiver. The cup size is often deeper than that of a trumpet mouthpiece.^[9]

Short model traditional cornet, also known as a "Shepherd's Crook" shaped model (Webster's Dictionary 1911).

One variety is the short model traditional cornet, also known as a "Shepherd's Crook" shaped model. These are most often large–bore instruments with a rich mellow sound. There is also a long-model or "American-wrap" cornet, often with a smaller bore and a brighter sound, which is produced in a variety of different tubing wraps and is closer to a trumpet in appearance. The Shepherd's Crook model is preferred by cornet traditionalists. The long-model cornet is generally used in concert bands in the United States, but has found little following in British-style brass and concert bands.^[11][12] A third and relatively rare variety—distinct from the long-model or "American-wrap" cornet—is the "long cornet", which was produced in the mid-20th Century by C.G. Conn and F.E. Olds and visually is nearly indistinguishable from a trumpet except that it has a receiver fashioned to accept cornet mouthpieces.^[13][14]

Echo cornet[edit]

The echo cornet has been called an obsolete variant. The echo cornet has a mute chamber (or echo chamber) mounted to the side acting as a second bell when the fourth valve is pressed. The second bell has a sound similar to that of a Harmon mute and is typically used to play echo phrases, whereupon the player imitates the sound from the primary bell using the echo chamber.^[15]

Playing technique[edit]

Connie Jones playing a long-model cornet.

Like the trumpet and all other modern brass wind instruments, the cornet makes a sound when the player vibrates ("buzzes") the lips in the mouthpiece, creating a vibrating column of air in the tubing. The frequency of the air column's vibration can be modified by changing the lip tension and aperture or "embouchure", and by altering the tongue position to change the shape of the oral cavity, thereby increasing or decreasing the speed of the airstream. In addition, the column of air can be lengthened by engaging one or more valves, thus lowering the pitch. Double and triple tonguing are also possible.

Without valves, the player could produce only a harmonic series of notes like those played by the bugle and other "natural" brass instruments. These notes are far apart for most of the instrument's range, making diatonic and chromatic playing impossible except in the extreme high register. The valves change the length of the vibrating column and provide the cornet with the ability to play chromatically.^[9]

Ensembles with cornets[edit]

Brass band[edit]

British brass bands consist only of brass instruments and a percussion section. The cornet is the leading melodic instrument in this ensemble; trumpets are never used. The ensemble consists of about thirty musicians, including nine B♭ cornets and one E♭ cornet (soprano cornet). In the UK, companies such as Besson and Boosey & Hawkes specialized in instrument for brass bands. In America, 19th-century manufacturers such as Graves and Company, Hall and Quinby, E.G. Wright and the Boston Musical Instrument Manufactury made instruments for this ensemble.

Concert band[edit]

The cornet features in the British-style concert band, and early American concert band pieces, particularly those written or transcribed before 1960, often feature distinct, separate parts for trumpets and cornets. Cornet parts are rarely included in later American pieces, however, and cornets are replaced in modern American bands by the trumpet. This slight difference in instrumentation derives from the British concert band's heritage in military bands, where the highest brass instrument is always the cornet. There are usually four to six B♭ cornets present in a British concert band, but no E♭ instrument, as this role is taken by the E♭ clarinet.

Fanfare orkest[edit]

Fanfare orkesten ("fanfare orchestras"), found in only the Netherlands, Belgium, Northern France and Lithuania, use the complete saxhorn family of instruments. The standard instrumentation includes both the cornet and the trumpet; however, in recent decades, the cornet has largely been replaced by the trumpet.

Jazz ensemble[edit]

In old style jazz bands, the cornet was preferred to the trumpet, but from the swing era onwards, it has been largely replaced by the louder, more piercing trumpet. Likewise the cornet has been largely phased out of big bands by a growing taste for louder and more aggressive instruments, especially since the advent of bebop in the post World War II era.

Legendary jazz pioneer Buddy Bolden played the cornet, and Louis Armstrong started off on the cornet but his switch to the trumpet is often credited with beginning of the trumpet’s dominance in jazz.^[16] Cornetists such as Bubber Miley and Rex Stewart contributed substantially to the Duke Ellington Orchestra's early sound. Other influential jazz cornetists include King Oliver, Bix Beiderbecke, Ruby Braff, Bobby Hackett, and Nat Adderley. Notable performances on cornet by players generally associated with the trumpet include Freddie Hubbard's on Empyrean Isles by Herbie Hancock and Don Cherry's on The Shape of Jazz to Come by Ornette Coleman.

Notable cornetists[edit]

Historic[edit]

• Nat Adderley, jazz artist and brother of the famous alto saxophonist Cannonball Adderley,
• Jean-Baptiste Arban, one of the most influential cornet performers and pedagogues,
• Louis Armstrong, trumpet player and singer, and one of the most influential artists in the history of jazz and American music, who, early on in his career, played the cornet before switching over to the trumpet.
• Bix Beiderbecke, one of the best known jazz cornet players, he had a huge influence on many future jazz musicians
• Buddy Bolden, often considered the father of jazz, although his playing is unrecorded.
• Don Cherry was one of the major innovators of the free jazz, and world music pioneer, famous for his work with Ornette Coleman; also a proponent of the pocket trumpet.
• Herbert Lincoln Clarke, one of the finest cornet soloists (for Patrick Gilmore, Victor Herbert, and John Philip Sousa) and band leaders at the turn of the 20th century.
• Bobby Hackett, a swing-era cornet (and trumpet) player associated with Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Vic Schoen, and Jackie Gleason
• W.C. Handy, influential composer and band leader, has been called the "Father of the Blues".
• Bohumir Kryl, also soloist with John Philip Sousa and founder/conductor of his own leading concert band.
• Jules Levy, soloist with Patrick Gilmore, self-proclaimed "World's Greatest Cornetist", and arguably the first cornetist to record (on Thomas Edison's tinfoil phonograph).
• Red Nichols, cornetist, composer and jazz band leader.
• Joe "King" Oliver, the first important recorded jazz cornetist, he greatly influenced Louis Armstrong, who played in his band.
• A. J. Turner, first director of the Stonewall Brigade Band, prominent professor in Staunton, Virginia.
• Lu Watters

Contemporary[edit]

• Bobby Bradford, solo jazz recording artist and musical associate of saxophonist Ornette Coleman and clarinetist John Carter.
• Mark Charig, British cornetist and trumpeter, played with Centipede and King Crimson.
• Jim Cullum, Jr., jazz musician and preservationist of Dixieland.
• Olu Dara, jazz musician and father of noted rapper Nas.
• Dave Douglas, New York based jazz musician and composer, with a long association with John Zorn's Masada.
• Digby Fairweather, leader of Digby's Half Dozen, frequent accompanists to Paul Jones and George Melly.
• Clifton Hyde, musician in the Blue Man Group.
• Robert Schulz – a cornetist who played with the legendary Turk Murphy before leading his own Frisco Jazz band.
• Bill Taft, American cornetist, lead singer and guitarist, played with Benjamin Smoke in Atlanta's Smoke (band). Has appeared as cornetist on songs by The Indigo Girls and currently fronts eccentric Atlanta band Hubcap City.
• Chris Tyle, traditional/swing jazz and recording artist, leader of the Silver Leaf Jazz Band of New Orleans.
• Warren Vaché, Jr., mainstream jazz and recording artist
• Roger Webster, Principal cornet player of Grimethorpe Colliery Band and formerly, Black Dyke Band.

See also[edit]

• Flugelhorn

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• The Cornet Compendium