Clarion (Instrument) Information
The clarion or claro is a type of cylindrical brass instrument dating from the 11th to 14th centuries. It is the ancestor to the trumpet and was used by cavalries in camp and as a signal during war. It had a narrower, and perhaps shorter, tube and produced a more acute and shrill tone than the modern trumpet.
The word comes from the Latin word clarus meaning "clear," "penetrating," "loud" and "shrill".
Clarin or clarino also came to refer to melodic playing in the upper register of the trumpet "with a soft and melodious, singing tone, as distinct from 'principale playing' (Principalblasen), which meant to play with a powerful, blasting tone [in the lower register]."[1] Before valves were added to the trumpet, a full diatonic scale was only possible in its upper register, where the harmonics are close together. Clarino playing was cultivated by specialists, but the skill died out in the middle of the eighteenth century and was not revived until the historically informed performance movement of the twentieth century. The best-known clarino part in the repertoire is in Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 by J. S. Bach.
References
- ^ Reine Dahlqvist and Edward H. Tarr, "Clarino," Grove Music Online, http://grovemusic.com [Accessed: 23 November 2006].
- This article incorporates content from the 1728 Cyclopaedia, a publication in the public domain.
- Forsyth, Cecil (1982). Orchestration. Dover Publications Inc. ISBN 0-486-24383-4
Categories: Brass instruments
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