Fanfares and Finesse: A Performer’s Guide to Trumpet History and Literature by Elisa Koehler (review)

Fully grasping the rich and diverse history of the trumpet can be a bit overwhelming since it is an instrument that (more so than most stringed instruments) continually evolved for centuries before finally settling on what we now know as the modern trumpet. Elisa Koehler, an active trumpeter and professor of music at Goucher College, has masterfully succeeded in creating a book whose purpose “is to consolidate information about the trumpet family—some of it for the first time—into an accessible format and to render it easy to find” (p. xiv). Furthermore, rather than presenting this as a simple history of the instrument, Koehler instead brings historical scholarship and performance pedagogy together “to introduce techniques and issues related to playing period instruments” (p. 1), which makes this volume useful to the active trumpeter, not just the scholar.

The volume is divided into two main categories following a general introductory chapter. Chapters 2 through 11 deal with various predecessors to and variations on the trumpet along with some performance issues such as pitch and transposition. This first section has a plethora of pictures that are helpful to better understand many of the physical differences between these related instruments as well as proper playing positions. The latter portion of the book, chapters 12 through 21, focuses on the repertoire and performance practice issues. While each category of the book proceeds in a roughly chronological manner, I agree with Koehler’s advice that the reader should “feel free to skip around and read the chapters out of order” (p. xv) after reading the first introductory chapter. Following that, each chapter is generally self-referential and on a fairly specific topic thereby standing alone. Whether one decides to read from cover to cover or only certain chapters, the author’s passion and expertise is consistently apparent throughout the entire work.

Chapters 2, 3, 4, and 5 address the natural trumpet, modern baroque trumpet with vent holes, cornetto, and slide trumpet. Each chapter, with the exception of the fifth, treats its subject similarly. First, a factual and historical overview of each instrument is provided. Next, these chapters present practical information about how a modern trumpet player can begin to approach playing these historical instruments and what benefits to modern playing a trumpeter might experience as a result. Despite this general formula, each chapter does not slavishly provide the same information for each new topic. For example, tips about starting to play the natural trumpet are covered, but the cornetto chapter focuses more on selecting an instrument and finger technique. The fifth chapter differs from the others in that it does not provide performance tips: instead it focuses on explaining technical aspects of the Renaissance, baroque, and English slide trumpets.

The next five chapters focus on instruments that generally include valves. Chapter 6 focuses on the evolution from natural instruments through hand-stopping and then finally the valve. Various types of bugles and flugelhorns are quickly discussed in the next chapter before a more detailed examination of the cornet in chapter 8. The real treasure of this section occurs in chapter 9, “Changing of the Guard: Trumpets in Transition.” In addition to providing basic factual information about the development and introduction of the modern trumpet, Koehler also highlights several historic moments, such as virtuoso solo competitions pitting the trumpet against the cornet or keyed bugle, which spurred the adoption of the trumpet as the de facto choice for this instrumental voice. Information about the original instrumentation of standard works is also discussed, which is helpful for understanding what instrument one might choose to perform a piece or how to interpret the music based on the characteristics of the original instrument. A similar, but less detailed, discussion about “smaller trumpets” and their twentieth-century standardization occurs in chapter 10.

Chapter 11, the conclusion to...