Cornettist
A B♭ cornet
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| Brass instrument | |
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| Classification | |
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 423.232 (Valved aerophone sounded by lip movement) |
| Developed | Early 19th century from the post horn |
| Playing range | |
Written range:
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| Related instruments | |
The cornet (/ˈkɔːrnᵻt/,US /kɔːrˈnɛt/) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B♭, though there is also a soprano cornet in E♭. Both are unrelated to the renaissance and early baroque cornett.
The cornet was initially derived from the post horn around 1820 in France. Among the first manufacturers of modern cornets was Parisian Jean Asté in 1828. Cornets first appeared as separate instrumental parts in 19th century French compositions.
This instrument could not have been developed without the improvement of piston valves by Silesian oboe player Friedrich Blühmel and Heinrich Stölzel in the early 19th century. These two instrument makers almost simultaneously invented valves, though it is likely that Blühmel (or Blümel) was the inventor, and Stölzel who developed a practical instrument. They jointly applied for a patent and were granted this for a period of ten years. Later, and most importantly, François Périnet received a patent in 1838 for an improved valve which is the basis of all modern brass instrument piston valves. 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. Up until the early 20th century, the trumpet and cornet coexisted 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.
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