Cornet

The cornet derived from the posthorn, by applying rotary valves to it in the 1820s in France.[2] However by the 1830s, Parisian makers were using piston valves.[3] 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 horn players Friedrich Blühmel (or Blümel) and Heinrich Stölzel in the early 19th century. These two instrument makers almost simultaneously invented valves, though it is likely that Blühmel was the inventor, while Stölzel developed a practical instrument.[5] They were jointly granted a patent for a period of ten years. François Périnet received a patent in 1838 for an improved valve which became the model for 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 co-existed 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]

The cornet's valves allowed for melodic playing throughout the register of the cornet. Trumpets were slower to adopt the new valve technology, so for 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.

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.

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.[10][11]

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]

• Flugelhorn

• The Cornet Compendium