Klarinet Archive - Posting 000482.txt from 2004/07

From: "John P. Varineau" <jvarineau@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Notation
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2004 11:23:59 -0400

As I understand it, and to simplify things substantially, trumpet players
in the baroque were divided into two camps. Of course all of this music
was written for the natural trumpet. There were those who specialized in
the high frilly stuff, in that part of the range where the natural
harmonics are very close to each other, making it possible to play scalar
passages. These parts were often called "clarino." Then there were
those who specialized in the lower range of the trumpet where the natural
harmonics are much further apart, so the notes are confined to the
principal tones of the supporting triads. These players were called the
principal players.

Here is a quote from "The Technique of Orchestration" by Kent Kennan and
Donald Grantham:

"In order to understand the trumpet parts in certain works of Bach and
his contemporaries, it is necessary to know that at that time there
existed the art of "clarino playing," which involved producing the very
high partials of the instrument. Trumpet parts often extended to the
sixteenth harmonic (four octaves above the fundamental) and occasionally
even higher. Festive Baroque works for chorus and orchestra, such as
Bach's 'Ein' Feste Burg' and Handel's 'Messiah' almost always included
two or three trumpets and timpani. When trumpets were emplyed, Baroque
composers usually preferred to write for three. The first and second
trumpet parts were true "clarino" parts, florid and often contrapuntial
in nature. Trumpet III, referred to as 'principale' or 'tromba
principale', played a line that often closely resembled (or duplicated)
the timpani part in a higher octave"

Hope this helps.

John Varineau

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