Brass Instruments: History and Uses
BRASS instruments were originally used for hunting, for military occasions, and for religious purposes. In the eighteenth century, they began to be used in orchestras, when court orchestras and military bands associated with the same household played together.
All of the brass instruments are characterized by the use of a cup mouthpiece. Cup mouthpieces date back as far as 3000 year ago; they were used on northern european horns called lurs. Lurs were bronze, conical trumpets built in at least two detachable parts, with the cup mouthpiece cast as part of the smallest part. Here is a picture of a pair of Nordic lurs.
Most orchestras and bands today include at least French horns, trumpets, trombones, and tubas. Baritone horns, euphonia (tenor tubas), Wagner tubas (invented for use in Wagner's Ring Cycle as a cross between the horns, trumpets, trombones, and bass tuba), and helicons (later modified by John Philip Sousa and now known as sousaphones) are also used occasionally.
|
