Copyright © 2000, 2001 by Richard I. Schwartz

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CHAPTER 1

At the height of its accoutrement, the French Bb cornet à pistons had three valves, shanks for Bb and A, and crooks for Ab, G, F, E, Eb, and D. Semitone shanks were also used to supply the keys of B, F#, and Db (Carse 1965, 245). The English Bb cornet à pistons, however, was usually only provided with straight shanks for Bb and A, and coiled crooks for Ab and G. Sometimes crooks for low F and Eb were applied (Herbert 1991, 174). The Eb cornet was usually only supplied with a shank for Db. Caussinus points out in Solfège-méthode…de cornet à pistons that the tone of the cornet à pistons changed depending on which crook was used (Carse 1965, 245):

Low Db to E   -   mediocre and dull

F to Ab – sonorous and pleasant

A to B – hard and bright

In the mid-nineteenth century, the crooks below F began to disappear on the Bb cornet à pistons until the two most common shanks were the ones in Bb and A. It is a fact, however, that Couesnon & C^ie. had manufactured crooks down to F and offered them in their 1915 catalogue, but this was not the norm.

It must be mentioned again that the Eb soprano cornet was the supreme soprano brass instrument for a long time, until c1880, when bands looked more to the Bb cornet for the lead.

Cornets in pitches other than Bb and Eb soprano existed in the nineteenth century, but became obsolete. Piccolo cornets in A, Bb, and C were some of those pitches. Cervený manufactured a piccolo Bb cornet as early as 1862, but the instrument was not widely adopted. In 1876, Cervený patented a family of "Cornetts" that were used by German and Austrian military bands. They won the attention of the Czar of Russia and the King of Prussia. Gradually, however, they fell into disuse. These instruments had very wide conical bores and should certainly not be confused with the "true" cornet. A rotary valve Altkornette in Eb was manufactured for, and used by many German and Austrian bands beginning in 1830, but was gradually replaced by the Althorn, which first appeared about the same time.

If the key of any given cornet was normally changed by means of shanks or crooks. Slides had to be adjusted to accommodate the new key. Extra tubing for the main tuning slide sometimes also accomplished the same goal. Even a quick change rotary or piston mechanism was attached before or after the valves, or to the main slide to change key. Some cornets would have a marking on a slide to indicate a specific pull for a new key, or even had a marking rod to accomplish the same task. Transposition, therefore, was not a component in the cornetists training in the nineteenth century.

In 1886, A. Lecomte & Co. (active in Paris from 1859 to p1910) patented a unique key change mechanism for brass instruments (GR #38809) [apparently a sketch of a cornet accompanies the application] that would change the key of a Bb instrument to the key of Eb [a fourth higher]. One piston is connected to a horizontal arm which simultaneously opens or closes two valves. When the piston is up, the air travels through the lower tubes and is in Bb; and when the piston is depressed, the air goes through the upper tubes and the instrument is in Eb. The principle could be applied to all brass instruments with piston, cylinder, or other valve mechanism (Dullat 1987, 26-27).

The C cornet was also a popular instrument in the nineteenth century for playing in church and for informal gatherings. It was not considered an orchestral instrument, since it could easily play straight from a hymnal or from a keyboard arrangement of any composition. Its use, therefore, was limited to these venues and never it did assume a significant enough of a role to survive the early twentieth century.

There was a lack of a standardized frequency for tuning in the nineteenth century and three basic pitch levels existed at which to tune brass instruments: (Scott 1988, 21-25)

1. Diapason Normal, A=435
2. American Standard Pitch, A=440
3. High Pitch, A=452.5, otherwise known as Old Philharmonic Pitch. This pitch level was actually used in England until 1929.

This "high pitch" level could even be as high as A=462.5 (Lewis 1991, 17-23). Such "high pitch" instruments are more properly referred to as "military band, high pitch" instruments (Scott 1988, 22).

Apparently an "International Standard" was already known by 1899 (C. G. Conn n.d., 10). A citing for its exact frequency rate, however, was not found by the author of this document.

In the late nineteenth century, pitch varied greatly even within various localities. Some models of cornets were even built to "low pitch," "high pitch," and "International Standard." Conn built such instruments in the late nineteenth century. Performers would often bring more than one cornet to a job to see which one played best in tune. The American Federation of Musicians attempted to standardize A=440 in 1917, but it was not universally accepted until after 1920. Sometimes A=440 was often termed "low pitch" because so many other instruments were constructed even higher. A convention of the time was to stamp "L P" on leadpipes to indicate that the instrument was a "low pitch" (A=440) cornet.

Pitch could be altered in the usual fashion by adjusting the slides. In the early twentieth century, Conn actually manufactured "New Wonder Cornets" that had an hourglass shaped fine tuning device attached after the slides. Instrument No. 2350 in the Shrine to Music Museum is such a cornet (Scott 1988, 152). See Acoustical Problems of Three Valves in this document for related information.

The lateral position of Valve - Bell - Leadpipe changed as the nineteenth century progressed. Early cornets had valves to the left, bell in middle, and leadpipe to the right (as the player looks at the cornet, i.e., with mouthpiece to the lips). The French and English configurations also became more distinct. French cornets had valves to the left, bell in the middle (with the finger hook on the bell), and leadpipe to the right. English cornets and cornopeans had bell to the left, valves in the middle, and leadpipe to the right. English model cornets frequently had no finger hook at all.

It is necessary here to only briefly discuss the instrumentation of brass bands on both continents, as the cornet had an important influence on its evolution. For more extensive information, however, there are many texts (some cited in this section) which deal with the development of these instruments in great depth.

Even though clarinets [and piccolo] were the soprano instruments in British brass bands in the early nineteenth century, they were gradually replaced or supplemented by keyed bugles, saxhorns, cornopeans, and all eventually replaced by the cornet (Newsome 1998, 4, 23-24, 28-29). Some ensembles even consisted entirely of Saxhorns, as with the famous DISTIN family brass quintet/quartet. The quality of such a balanced ensemble was confirmed at the first Belle Vue brass band contest in 1853, at which the Mossley Temperance Band took first place with an ensemble consisting entirely of DISTIN built Saxhorns. The first known British all-brass band occurred at Blaina, in Gwent, South Wales. The band bought cornopeans from [Ludwig] Embach and made the switch to all brass in 1832. The first known English all-brass band was formed in York in 1833 by Daniel Hardman and James Walker. The band was created to perform at civic functions. It had a large compliment of twenty-four members and was comprised of cornopeans, French horns, trumpets, trombones, and ophicleides. The next known English all-brass band was formed also in York by the Bean brothers. Beginning in 1836, the term "Brass Band" was a recognizable term and the first brass band music was published. It was also the all-brass band which became the popular band medium in Britain, as opposed to the mixed reed and brass ensemble, otherwise known as a military band, wind band, or concert band (Newsome 1998, 5, 35). This conversion process was ubiquitous, gradual, and in the case of some bands, permanent. A British band to make an early and permanent switch to all-brass was the Black Dyke Band. A proprietor of a local mill became their patron and, in 1855, bought the band an entire set of brass instruments. Even though their name did not appear on the Champion’s list until 1862, they have become one of the many highly acclaimed and respected British brass bands in the world.

The instrumentation of British brass bands gradually evolved over the nineteenth century. British brass bands of the 1840’s would usually have one cornet in Eb (changeable to Db), two cornets in Ab, and one cornet in Ab (changeable to Bb). Other instruments included two French horns in Eb, one valved trumpet in Eb, one alto trombone, one tenor trombone, one bass trombone, one ophicleide, and tympani (Herbert 1991, 176).

By the 1860’s, the most well-equipped British brass bands had one or two soprano cornets in Db (some in Eb) and five cornets in Ab (some in Bb). Other instruments were usually none to one alto saxhorns in Ab, two to three tenor saxhorns or althorns in Db (some in Eb), one to two baritones in Ab (sometimes in Bb), one tenor trombone in C (some in Bb), one bass trombone usually in G, one to two ophicleides in C (some in Bb), one bass sax or euphonium in Bb or Ab (some in C), and two contrabass saxhorns or bombardons in Eb (some in Db) (Herbert 1991, 181-182). At Belle Vue, bands were restricted to a maximum of nineteen players, but, in 1873, the number was raised to twenty-four. It remained at that number for seventy-five more years.

The term "bombardon" was applied first to the twelve-keyed ophicleide made in Vienna, and was later used by Wilhelm Moritz for some of his tubas. These instruments were either called the tuba in the orchestra or the bombardon in the band. The ophicleide remained popular for many years after 1840, gradually being replaced by the bass Saxhorn and then the euphonium by 1850. The bombardon in Eb replaced the ophicleide as the bass instrument in the brass band. Cerveny is normally credited with constructing the contrabass in BBb and CC in c1845. It came to England in 1850, but took many years to appear in amateur bands (Newsome 1998, 25-26).

From 1873 to this day, instrumentation of British contest brass bands has remained essentially the same, i.e., one Eb cornet, eight Bb cornets, one Bb flugelhorn, three Eb tenor horns, two Bb baritones, two Bb tenor trombones, one bass trombone, two Bb euphonium, two Eb basses, and two Bb basses (Herbert 1991, 184).

The instrumentation of non-contest brass bands, however, was never standardized. Small village bands during the nineteenth century had valve trombones, clarinets, and, no doubt, ophicleides throughout the century (Herbert 1991, 184). Although some compositions for brass bands contained percussion parts for concert performances, percussion was not allowed in contests (Newsome 1998, 86, 140).

The evolution of instrumentation in the American brass band was similar to that of the British brass band. Bands were often mixed groups in the early nineteenth century, consisting primarily of piccolos, flutes, clarinets, trumpets, French horns, trombones, keyed bugles, and ophicleides. Woodwinds were often not regarded very highly as melodic instruments, since they were not strong enough to "counterbalance the powerful sound of a dozen pealing horns…The Piccolo Flute is particularly out of place in a small Band, and as it is heard whistling away an octave or two above everything else, the effect is so disconnected and its sound so ill assorted, as to be really ludicrous" (Patton 1875). Woodwinds, therefore, were gradually replaced by saxhorns, and eventually cornets. As in Britain, there were some ensembles consisting entirely of either Saxhorns, or a matched set of over-the-shoulder brass instruments. Most nineteenth-century all-brass ensembles in America, however, consisted essentially of two Eb cornets, two Bb cornets, three Eb Altos, two Bb Tenors, one Bb Baritone, one Bb Bass, and one Eb Bass. This instrumentation is confirmed by the many manufacturer catalogues of the nineteenth century (Kreitner 1990, 145). Large mixed professional bands, such as those of Gilmore and Sousa, were the exception to the rule. Most small amateur bands were of the brass band genre and were often called Cornet Bands. In the mid-nineteenth century small mixed amateur bands did exist, but they not the norm. It was not until the late nineteenth century that woodwinds gradually made their re-appearance into the amateur band scene in America. Often called "Reed Bands," these ensembles would at best have piccolos, flutes, clarinets, saxophones, double reeds, French horns, trombones, tenors, baritones, and basses. A diversified instrumentation, however, was too difficult to procure for most small town bands. It was not until the 1920’s when the School Band Movement made a variety of band instruments accessible to millions of American students and stimulated a national interest in mixed ensembles.

A point here must be made concerning the present day loss of the many instrumental timbres experienced by bands of the nineteenth century on both continents. Bands today, brass or mixed ensembles, are generally much more limited in timbres than they were in the nineteenth century on both continents. Ophicleides, keyed bugles, slide trumpets, keyed trumpets, bombardons, saxhorns, and crookings of many different instruments into all sorts of keys made a wide palate of timbres available to the nineteenth century performer and composer of band music. This is an unfortunate situation, for different timbres lead to a rich aural and tonal awareness, one which today has become much less varied and more homogenized.

Even the cornet in America had been usurped by the trumpet from its position of the supreme solo soprano brass instrument during the middle to late twentieth century. The trumpet was more commonly played and taught than the cornet, and was substituted for the cornet in a variety of venues, even though composers wrote parts for both instruments in the same score. Today, however, the cornet is receiving a resurgence of interest. For example, the instrument is represented in popular movies (e.g., Brassed Off ), re-releases of old recordings on compact disk (Cornet Soloists of the Sousa Band: Herbert L. Clarke, Crystal Records, Inc., CD 450, 1996), and many new recordings of the cornet works of the nineteenth century by contemporary artists, only a few of which are listed below:

1. Carnaval (Wynton Marsalis, cornet soloist, and The Eastman Wind Ensemble under the direction of Donald Hunsberger), CBS, Inc., MK 42137, 1987.
2. Golden Age of Brass, volumes 1 and 2 (David Hickman, cornet, and Mark H. Lawrence, Trombone & Baritone and the American Serenade Band under the direction of Henry Charles Smith), Summit Records; volume 1, DCD 114, 1990; volume 2, DCD 121, 1991.
3. New Columbian Brass Band (many soloist, including Vince DiMartino on cornet), Walking Frog Records, WFR 111, 1995.

The recordings above, by no means, represent a complete list, but appear in this document only to give the names of a few of the more easily accessible CD’s with compositions by such incredible nineteenth century cornet soloists as Herbert L. Clarke, Herman Bellstedt, John Hartmann, Thomas Short, Jules Levy, and Alessandro Liberati. See Chapter 2 for biographical information about these soloists and Chapter 4 for more information about their solos for the cornet.

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