For centuries, natural trumpets have taken on countless forms—from Bendinelli's pretzel-shaped trumpet of the 16th century to the inventiontrompette of the 19th century. Yet today, we often categorize natural trumpets under a single label: Baroque. Is that really accurate?
A snapshot in time: from F.G.A. Dauverne's Méthode pour la Trompette (1857), when natural trumpets in various forms were played alongside valve trumpets and cornets, keyed trumpets/bugles, and slide trumpets. Coiled trumpets and the curved short-profile Demilune trumpet were in use earlier in the century to facilitate hand-stopping.
Beyond Baroque
While the term “Baroque trumpet” is commonly used when referring to historical trumpet performance, much of the natural trumpet repertoire actually comes from the 19th century. This includes numerous method books written to prepare trumpeters for the era’s operatic and orchestral works, shaping the foundation of modern brass playing as we know it today.
Classical period repertoire: Watch Cody Beard play a duet for trumpets in different keys from Dauverné's Méthode pour la Trompette (1857) - possible on the BFB Baroque™ because of it's short profile. (This is way harder than it looks- a great challenge for collegiate trumpet performance majors)