Brass Bulletin No. 43

Jean-Pierre Mathez

Mass media, record-industry economics and the return of cornet virtuosity collide in a sharp warning about fashion, manipulation and musical independence.

Stephen J. Weston

Once central to French orchestras, the ophicleide lost its place to the tuba—a disappearance shaped as much by institutions and repertoire as by sound.

Jean-Pierre Mathez

Behind Rome’s musical prestige, RAI brass players describe shrinking salaries, insecure orchestral careers and the compromises required simply to remain musicians.

All sorts of old, rare and unusual musical instruments bought and sold by Tony Bingham

Thomas Aitken

Behind a Hampstead shopfront, Tony Bingham’s trade in ophicleides, natural horns and cornets kept rare instruments circulating between collectors and players.

Essential ornaments

Peter Damm

Natural horn technique left little room for excess: Peter Damm sets 18th-century ornamentation against the practical limits of range, style and notation.

The “Classical” Period 1927-1945 — The Golden Age of the Trumpet

Michel Laplace

Between Armstrong’s rise and bebop’s arrival, the trumpet became jazz’s dominant voice, reshaping technique, orchestras, sound, mutes and virtuosity.

Diverse makers

Thomas Stevens

As trumpet makers rethink their standard instruments, Monette, Malone and Blackburn bring leadpipe design into a new dialogue between players and workshops.