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 Piccolo trumpet in B♭ | |
| Brass instrument | |
|---|---|
| Other names | Sopranino trumpet |
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 423.233 (Valvedaerophone sounded by lip vibration) |
| Developed | Modern piccolo developed from the valved Bach trumpet in D, late 19th century |
| Playing range | |
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| Related instruments | |
| Builders | |
Thepiccolo trumpet is the smallest member of thetrumpet family, pitched one octave higher than the standard B♭ trumpet. Most piccolo trumpets are built to play in either B♭ or A, using a separateleadpipe for each key. The tubing in the B♭ piccolo trumpet is one-half the length of that in a standard B♭ trumpet. Piccolo trumpets in G, F, and even high C are also manufactured, but are rarer.[citation needed]
The piccolo trumpet should not be confused with thepocket trumpet, which plays in the same pitch as the regular B♭ trumpet.[2]
The piccolo trumpet in B♭ is a transposing instrument, which sounds a minor seventh higher than written.[3][4] Not often called for specifically, it is often used at the player's discretion to cover high material as appropriate.[citation needed]
The piccolo trumpet in D, also known as theBach trumpet, was invented and first used in the late 19th century by the Belgian instrument makerVictor Mahillon to play the high trumpet parts in music byBach andHandel.[5] Built initially in a long linear form with three piston valves, by the early 20th century it was mostly made with the more compact wrap of modern C and B♭ trumpets.[6] The trumpet in D was called for by several composers, includingStravinsky (The Rite of Spring,Petrushka),Ravel (Boléro), andBritten (Peter Grimes).[7]
Czech instrument makerČervený first made a piccolo cornet in high B♭ in 1862, but it did not catch on.[8] The modern four-valve piccolo trumpet was advanced byAdolf Scherbaum andMaurice André at theConservatoire de Paris. Scherbaum was first to specialize in the piccolo trumpet repertoire, discover new baroque works, and create original transcriptions, and André continued this work in collaboration with instrument builderSelmer Paris over a long career.[9] The instrument enables players to play the difficult high trumpet parts of Baroque music, such as Bach's secondBrandenburg Concerto andMass in B minor.[6]
The sound production technique is basically the same as that used on the larger B♭ trumpet. Air pressure and tonguing are different, and players use a shallowermouthpiece for the piccolo trumpet. Almost all piccolo trumpets have four valves instead of three; the fourth valve usually lowers the pitch by a fourth. This extends the low range and provides alternate fingerings and improved intonation for some notes.
The piccolo trumpet solo inthe Beatles' "Penny Lane", which introduced the instrument to pop music, was played byDavid Mason.Paul McCartney was dissatisfied with the initial attempts at the song's instrumental fill (one of which is released onAnthology 2), and was inspired to use the instrument after seeing Mason's performance in aBBC television broadcast of the secondBrandenburg Concerto and askingGeorge Martin what the "tremendously high" trumpet was.[10] Eventually Mason recorded the solo using a piccolo trumpet in A.[11] The piccolo trumpet was also used to quote Bach's Invention no. 8 in F major (BWV 779) during the fade-out of "All You Need Is Love".[citation needed]
Use of the instrument is now commonplace in many musical genres.Maurice André,Otto Sauter,Guy Touvron,Reinhold Friedrich,Adolf Scherbaum,Ludwig Güttler,Wynton Marsalis,Matthias Höfs andHåkan Hardenberger are some well-known piccolo trumpet players.[citation needed]
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