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Brass Chamber Music in Hungary

Frigyes Varasdy

The Trumpets in the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest

Special Hungary

The most beautiful instruments of the National and Military Museums

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

The most beautiful instruments of the National and Military Museums

The Military Museum and National Museum in Budapest own some instruments and documents which are of great beauty and, furthermore, are little known (see also Leo Kappel’s article in this issue).

We thank the director of the Military Museum, the deputy director of the National Museum, Dr. Tibor Kovacs and Mrs. Eszter Fontana for kindly enabling us to have access to these treasures.

The photographs taken at the National Museum (MNB) are by Eva Soltész, those at the Military Museum (MMB) by Ferenc Németh.

Trumpet in E♭. Solid silver, richly decorated. “I. WIENER PRODUKTIV GENOSSCHFT”. 1889. (MMB)

Trumpet in E♭. Solid silver, richly decorated. “I. WIENER PRODUKTIV GENOSSCHFT”. 1889. (MMB)

Tuba, Vienna, 19th century. “K.K. Hof + aus: priv./Instrumenten Fabrik Leopold UHLMANN/Mariaholf Barnabietengasse 6/WIEN... — Tuba, Vienna, 19th century. “K.K. Hof + aus: priv./Instrumenten Fabrik Leopold UHLMANN/Mariaholf Barnabietengasse 6/WIEN” (MMB)

Volunteer Czech huntsmen — 1859. Lithograph from the Court and State Press, Vienna. (MMB)

“Battle of Mohács, 1526”. A copy made after the picture of an unknown Turkish painter from the 16th century by Gyula Tur... — “Battle of Mohács, 1526”. A copy made after the picture of an unknown Turkish painter from the 16th century by Gyula Tury (1866-1932) in 1896. (MNB)

The retaking of Buda from the Turks in 1686. Watercolour by Gyula Benczur. (MMB)

Natural trumpet in F (1798) by Ignaz Kerner, Vienna. (MNB)

Aquamanic. The knight and his oliphant, a marvellous bronze from the beginning of the second millennium found in Kisjeno... — Aquamanic. The knight and his oliphant, a marvellous bronze from the beginning of the second millennium found in Kisjeno near Arad (now Rumania). (MNB)

Once upon a time there was a knight who loved music and who had all his armour engraved with the timpani, trumpets, harp... — Once upon a time there was a knight who loved music and who had all his armour engraved with the timpani, trumpets, harps and other pipes which gave him pleasure. (MNB)

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Approximately 1’500 years passed between the making of the Roman trumpet (discovered almost intact in Hungary) and the t... — Approximately 1’500 years passed between the making of the Roman trumpet (discovered almost intact in Hungary) and the time when the Viennese craftsman Ignaz Kerner made his splendid trumpet. (MNB)

A strange combination of shell and (Baroque?) mouthpiece. A sound which is lost in the mists of time... (MNB)

The retaking of Fülek castle in 1593. Engraving on copper by Wilhelm Peter Zimmermann. (MMB)

Brass Bulletin 48, IV / 1984 pages 48–61

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