Publication date:
08 May 2014Length of book:
256 pagesPublisher
Rowman & Littlefield PublishersISBN-13: 9780810888814
Humanity has blown horns and trumpets of various makes and models, lengths and diameters since prehistoric times. In Horns and Trumpets of the World, the eminent scholar Jeremy Montagu surveys the vast range in time and type of this instrument that has accompanied everything in human history from the war cry to the formal symphony, from the hunting call to the modern jazz performance.
No work on this topic offers as much detail or so many illustrations—over 150, in fact—of this remarkable instrument. Montagu’s examination starts with horns constructed from such unusual materials as seaweed, cane, and bamboo, and continues the journey of exploration through those of shell, wood, ivory, and metal. The chronological scope of Horns and Trumpets of the World is equally vast: it looks at instruments of the Bible and from the Bronze and Iron Ages respectively before diving headlong into those from the Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical periods, and, following the Industrial Revolution, those that have appeared in the modern era. Drawing on the many instruments from the author’s own extensive collection, Montagu offers details, including measurements, at levels rarely seen in other surveys of this world of instrumentation.
Horns and Trumpet of the World should appeal to not only scholars and collectors, but professional brass players and manufacturers, as well as museums and institutions with a vested interest in our musical heritage.
No work on this topic offers as much detail or so many illustrations—over 150, in fact—of this remarkable instrument. Montagu’s examination starts with horns constructed from such unusual materials as seaweed, cane, and bamboo, and continues the journey of exploration through those of shell, wood, ivory, and metal. The chronological scope of Horns and Trumpets of the World is equally vast: it looks at instruments of the Bible and from the Bronze and Iron Ages respectively before diving headlong into those from the Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical periods, and, following the Industrial Revolution, those that have appeared in the modern era. Drawing on the many instruments from the author’s own extensive collection, Montagu offers details, including measurements, at levels rarely seen in other surveys of this world of instrumentation.
Horns and Trumpet of the World should appeal to not only scholars and collectors, but professional brass players and manufacturers, as well as museums and institutions with a vested interest in our musical heritage.
Montagu focuses here on horns' and trumpets' histories, construction and design, and performance issues. Drawing from his extensive experience as a performer and as a curator of Oxford's Bate Collection of Musical Instruments, he incorporates the works of numerous other performers, historians, and organologists of the past hundred years or so. This narrative functions at once as a catalog of horns and trumpets in Montagu's collection, a documentary on the purposes and functions of these instruments, and a personal account of the author's experiences in collecting and playing instruments. Montagu defines the differences and similarities between trumpets and horns in their diverse guises throughout the world. Arranging this volume historically and by materials used for constructing the instruments, Montagu covers the instruments' broad spectrum in a very personal, practical, and colloquial style. Multiple black-and-white photographs and illustrations support descriptions of the instruments and other items from the author's collection. . . .Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.