Brass musical instrument. Brass instruments of a symphony orchestra

The history of the signal horn goes back many, many centuries, and maybe even millennia (it’s difficult to say more precisely)...

What they didn’t make it from... From animal horns, from sea shells, from wood, from birch bark, then they began to make it from metals: from silver, copper, brass, stainless steel, “in a desperate situation” they even made it from cardboard and plastic.

The most famous ancient surviving horns are made from elephant tusks and covered in elaborate carvings. They were called Oliphants. Legends speak of the incredible power of the sound of Oliphant's horn. But a modern brass horn is much superior in timbre and loudness to a bone horn.

Horns were used to produce sound signals during military operations and, of course, during hunting. Later they were used by sailors, postal workers, and railway workers - everyone who needed to give warning signals. But in most areas of human activity, horn sounds have been gradually replaced by modern means of communication. All that remains is the image of horns on the coats of arms of postal and fire departments; horns are collecting dust in museums, where visitors cannot immediately understand what kind of exhibit it is. But in some areas of life they are still used.

As soon as horns began to be made of metal, it became possible to compactly twist a pipe of sufficiently long length, and therefore change its acoustic properties. The horn became louder, it was already possible to set its sound and produce not one, but several notes. Jean-Baptiste Lully introduced the hunting horn into the musical orchestra, which probably marked the beginning of European hunting music, and the hunting horn became the progenitor of many modern wind instruments.

What is a hunting horn, horn or bugle? This may be a primitive, but musical instrument that can be made of different materials in the form of a cone-shaped or straight pipe, sound production on which is made by vibrating the lips of the signalman, by blowing air through compressed lips that are pressed to the mouthpiece. If, instead of a mouthpiece, a tongue is attached to the horn, which vibrates and produces only one tone, then I cannot dare to call this instrument a horn, but only the name “dudka”, “beep” or “dudelka” asks.

Most often, a hunting horn takes the form of a twisted copper, brass, or other metal tube with a bell on one side and a replaceable mouthpiece on the other. This is the so-called natural horn. These horns of different sizes are most often used for hunting in Europe. With skill, you can blow several notes from such a horn and play a fairly complex melody. The signals used by European hunters are mainly used during driven hunts. In Russia, for hunting with hounds, and sometimes during driven hunts, various horns and “horns” have also been used for centuries, among which there are native Russian hunting horns and Russian horn signals. Let's talk about them.

The development of the Russian hunting horn, of course, is associated primarily with complex hound hunting, a phenomenon that in Russia has acquired many traditions, giving rise to new breeds of dogs, horses, and new fashion. Dog hunting inspired writers, artists and musicians, changed the way of life of many generations and became a unique cultural layer of world significance... During the heyday of dog hunting, Russia developed its own form of hunting horns and its own signal system appeared specifically for dog hunting, in which the hunting horn was an indispensable attribute of each participant. It was a means of communication and notification. The signals given by participants in hound hunts are colorfully described in the works of E.E. Dryansky, L.N. Tolstoy, A.S. Vysheslavtseva, N.N. Karazin and others. Here is an approximate set of them: “Release the hounds”, “At the fox”, “At the wolf”, “To the right”, “To the left”, “Calling the hounds”, “Gathering”, “Throwing the hounds”, “The beast is taken”, “To fight” " and others.

The signals were not the same everywhere. “Old Russian signals are usually played more or less drawn out, at full blast, starting with a low note and moving from there to a high note. Polish signals, on the contrary, begin with a high note, and German ones are distinguished by greater virtuosity and short, dry notes and are similar to military ones,” “these signals, learned by hunters by ear, trumpeted more according to legend, moving from hunt to hunt, from locality to locality, sometimes changed at the whim and arbitrariness of the owners of the hunts, they have recently reached such diversity that it can be very difficult to navigate during hunts for outsiders, as well as for outsider hunters. This confusion is also increased by the fact that over time, signals from Poland, the Baltic provinces and the west were introduced into our Russian hunt, and here, remade in their own way by home-grown hunters, they became completely incomprehensible to anyone... Wanting to achieve uniformity in this In fact, and to restore ancient, completely Russian signals, the editors of (“Nature and Hunting”) took advantage of the X regular dog show and the presence of experienced dogs and hunters at it, checked the signals of different hunts, chose from them only completely Russian ones, and put them on notes,” – wrote L.P. Sabaneev.

In the 18th century, an orchestra consisting of hunting horns was created in Russia:

“At the request of Naryshkin, the court conductor and horn player Jan Maresh modified these instruments: some became smaller, others larger, and others remained the same. Horns, which were made from copper for hunting, began to be made from sheet brass, and their length varied from ten centimeters to three meters. Now each of them already had its own specific tone. Maresh coordinated them in halftone sound and created a single horn orchestra. The main difficulty of playing in such an orchestra was to count the pauses well and play your note on time. A special system of notes was used to record the works of the horn orchestra. The repertoire of the orchestras turned out to be surprisingly rich - they played Haydn, Mozart, and Gluck.

Empress Elizabeth, having heard Naryshkin's invention, was completely delighted and ordered the immediate organization of a horn orchestra at court. Horn orchestras quickly gained popularity among the Russian aristocracy. The Naryshkins and Golitsyns, the Saltykovs and Razumovskys raced to create their own orchestras. In a short period, several dozen of them were created in St. Petersburg and Moscow. The Jaeger and Horse Guards regiments also had their own horn orchestras. Not a single significant event took place without their participation. They were also used as an instrument of foreign policy - in the literal sense of the word. The effect of the sound of a horn orchestra was considered the key to success when negotiating with foreign delegations.

The fashion for unique horn orchestras, characteristic exclusively of Russia, lasted for about a hundred years, but then faded away.

The principles of playing Russian horns have their own specifics and are unknown to world musical practice. Each musician on one instrument at a certain time produces only one note - a natural tone. The orchestra creates a slightly oscillating sound picture, which is supported by the acoustics of the hall. Repeated attempts to revive Russian horn music over the past 150 years have not led to success.”

And now in St. Petersburg, enthusiasts organized the “Hunting Horns Workshop” and not only recreated a hunting horn of the 19th century, but were able to organize the production of all types of horns and horns that were used in Russian hound hunting. These instruments not only copy the shape, but also have the same original mouthpiece as in the old days. The workshop's assortment includes several semicircular horns of different sizes, which were used by greyhounds, horns in the form of a “goat's leg”, which were used by vzhlyatniks, also of several sizes, as well as straight ones. For hunting in our cold conditions, in addition to metal, you can use both plastic and elk antler mouthpieces.

The "goat's foot" or semi-circular horn of the Greyhound does not collect moisture as much as the "horn", so it does not need to be blown out before sounding in the cold season. This horn has a special sound. Even the most demanding and conservative riders will be satisfied with the rich sound. And having a real Russian hunting horn, it’s easy to make out the notes, listen to recordings and learn the signals that Russian hunting used 200 years ago

No matter how technological progress develops, the hunting horn still continues to be an important tool when hunting with hounds. It is the sound of the horn that the racers train their dogs to return from the rut. (You can’t explain to a dog where to go using a walkie-talkie.) To do this, they give a signal every time they feed. Those living in apartments have to go outside to feed in any weather in order to consolidate the skill and “feed with a horn.” Therefore, if early in the morning in the dark or in the evening you heard the powerful booming call of a hunting horn in the city, then most likely it is a hound feeding his dog.

In addition to classical hunting with hounds, following the example of European colleagues, you can use horn signals in driven hunts. Give signals before the beginning and at the end of the enclosure, indicate with a special signal which animal is in the enclosure (for example, “wolf”), trumpet “gathering”, “the animal is taken”, etc. In some farms, even if they have walkie-talkies (which are not always enough for all participants in the hunt), they use horn signals. In addition to the traditional coloring, clearly presented horn signals are informative and more practical because they eliminate noise on the number, unlike a walkie-talkie.

Let's hope that, like our ancestors in the 19th century, our horn in the 21st century will continue to sound during the hunt.

“Having dealt with the matter, the hunters gave one after another three signals to the hunter that “the animal has been accepted.” About ten minutes after that, greyhounds from various points announced the same thing with their horns... Eight were received on our side. On the right side they hunted a she-wolf with three young and two young ones. Finally, the call was given to “Hunters to the convention!” The hunter's horn was already buzzing near the edge. When we had already arrived at the snares, Theopen had just crawled out of the slum and, standing in the meadow, blew his horn incessantly; a small group of dogs had already gathered near him; the rest fell one after another from different sides...” E. Dryansky, “Notes of a Small Herb.”

Text: Vladimir Kostenko

Photo: Valentina Feofilaktova and from the archive of the “Hunting Antlers Workshop of V. Goloveshko and P. Chukavin”

Equipment and materials: DVD player or laptop, TV, video design, set of thematic cards “Brass Instruments”, table of epithets.

Board design: topic of the lesson, supporting words, illustrative material.

Lesson objectives:

Introduce students to the timbres of brass instruments.
Develop attention, observation, and public speaking skills.
Expand students' horizons.

Developed skills and abilities:

Students must identify by ear the timbres of musical instruments of a symphony orchestra (violin, viola, cello, double bass, harp, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon).
Be able to find the desired image of the instrument and compare it with the sounding timbre.
Be able to give a verbal description of the sounded fragment (character, means of musical expression, your attitude to music).
Learn to identify the basic timbres of brass instruments (horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba).

Lesson type: combined.

Characteristics of students: first year of study, department of wind and folk instruments; age 9-10 years.

Lesson plan:

Organizing time.
Checking homework, repeating the material covered.
Explanation of new material.
Consolidation of new knowledge.
Summing up the lesson and assessing student activities.
Homework.

During the classes

1. Organizational moment.

Gather students' attention. Attention guys, we are starting our lesson!

2. Checking homework, repeating the material covered.

Guys, for several lessons now we have been getting acquainted with the timbres of various musical instruments. Let's remember what timbre is? (Students' response). Does the character of the music depend on which instrument plays it? (Students' response). At home you had to repeat two groups of instruments of a symphony orchestra. Let's conduct an oral survey on the topics covered.

Blitz survey by topic - “Stringed instruments”, “Woodwind instruments”:

Name the stringed instruments. (Violin, viola, cello, double bass).
Name the famous violin makers of the past. (Stradivarius, Amati, Guarneri).
What was the name of the brilliant Italian violin virtuoso of the 19th century? (Niccolò Paganini).
What is the name for playing plucked stringed instruments? (Pizzicato).
Which stringed instrument can only be played while sitting? (Cello).
Which symphony orchestra string instrument has pedals? (Harp).
This woodwind instrument has a gentle, “magical” sound. His name is used in the title of one of V.A.’s operas. Mozart. Also, its timbre is often used to depict birdsong. (Flute).
The name of which woodwind instrument means “bundle of firewood” in Italian? (Bassoon).
What instrument should be added to make the family of woodwind instruments complete: flute, clarinet, bassoon? (Oboe).

Now we will look and listen to how different instruments sound and try to recognize them. Music video quiz ( Annex 1) HD). The task is completed orally. The survey focuses on the nature of the timbre. In addition, you need to find the right card with the image of the tool itself):

Dittersdorf K.D. Concerto for double bass, I movement (double bass).
Brahms I. Sonata for violin and piano No. 2, op.100, III movement Allegretto grazioso (violin).
Weber K.M. Concerto for clarinet and orchestra No. 2, op.74, III part. Alla polacca (clarinet).
Mercadante Saverio Flute Concerto in E Minor, op.57, 1st movement Allegro (flute).
Glier R. Concerto for harp and orchestra in E-flat major, Part I (harp).

I have to say that you all are great. You got it right!

3. Explanation of new material.

Today, guys, we will get acquainted with the brass instruments of a symphony orchestra. Write down the topic of our lesson “Brass Instruments”.

The art of blowing the hollow horn of an animal or a sea shell was known already in ancient times. Subsequently, people learned to make special tools from metal, similar to a horn and intended for hunting, battles or holidays.

The ancestors of modern brass instruments were: the hunting horn, military signal trumpets, postal horns, and ancient Greek fanfares. At first, sounds on these instruments were produced only with the help of the performer's lips.<Рисунок1>, <Рисунок2>. Further, at the beginning of the 19th century, a valve mechanism was invented, which dramatically changed the performance technique and greatly increased the capabilities of brass instruments. What instruments do we call “Brass”:

horn<Рисунок3>, <Рисунок4>;
pipe<Рисунок5>, <Рисунок6>;
trombone<Рисунок7>, <Рисунок8>;
tuba<Рисунок9>, <Рисунок10>.

Not all of the above tools are equipped with valves. They have: horns, trumpets, tubas. The valve, controlled by the performer's fingers, allows you to instantly connect additional ones to the main tube. Several valves connecting tubes of different lengths allow you to obtain additional sounds. The trombone has no valves. Instead, it uses a U-shaped retractable tube - a slide, the movement of which changes the length of the instrument, thus lowering or increasing the sounds produced.

Video examples(Appendix2) (The lesson uses a video with a frame size of 1280x720 pixels (HD). The length of the examples may be longer than those given in the appendix. Additional information is provided as you view the examples):

1. Mozart V.A. Concerto for horn and orchestra No. 1 in D major, II movement Rondo. Allegro (horn).

The German word Waldhorn is a forest horn. This is the literal translation of the name of the instrument. The ancestor of the horn was the hunting horn, which was blown when it was necessary to give a signal during a hunt or some special event, to announce the gathering of troops. In order for the sound to be heard far away, the horn began to be lengthened. And to make it convenient to play, they adapted to “twist” it. A second and a third were added to one turn. That's how the French horn came into being.

2. Harutyunyan A.G. Concerto for trumpet and orchestra in A-flat major (trumpet).

The trumpet is one of the oldest musical instruments. Pipes existed in many civilizations - in Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, even in Ancient China. They were used as signaling instruments. The trumpet played this role for many centuries. In the Middle Ages, trumpeters were mandatory members of the army; only they could, using a signal, quickly convey the order of the commander to other parts of the army located at a distance. In peacetime, trumpets were sounded at festive processions and knightly tournaments; in large cities there was a position of “tower” trumpeters, who announced the arrival of a high-ranking person or the change of time of day, thus acting as a kind of clock. Gradually, thanks to the improvement of trumpet manufacturing technology, composers' interest in these instruments began to grow. During the Baroque era, composers began to include trumpet parts in the orchestra.

3. Serocki Kazimierz Concerto for trombone and orchestra, Part I. Lento espressivo. Allegro (trombone).

The appearance of the trombone dates back to the 15th century. It is generally accepted that the immediate predecessors of this instrument were rocker pipes, when playing which the musician had the opportunity to move the pipe of the instrument. Such trumpets were made to double the voices of a church choir. Their timbre was very similar to the timbre of the human voice. It was only necessary to make the intonation similar, for which they made a slide that gave vibrato. During its existence, the trombone has remained virtually unchanged in its design. The first instruments, which were essentially trombones, were called sacbutes (from the French words: saquer - to pull towards oneself, bouter - to push away from oneself). They were smaller than modern instruments in size and had several varieties according to the registers of singing voices, which were doubled and whose timbre was imitated: soprano, alto, tenor and bass. Small improvements in sacbuts led to the appearance of modern instruments in the 17th century, to which the Italian word trombone began to be applied at that time.

4. Vaughan Williams R. Concerto for tuba and orchestra in F minor, Part I. Prelude. Allegro moderato (tuba).

Initially, the serpent was used as the main bass wind instrument<Рисунок11>, however, it did not produce good and stable bass. The first attempts to create a new low register brass instrument to replace the serpent were made in 1835 by German masters Wilhelm Wiepricht and Karl Moritz. During their experiments, they created a bass instrument and called it tuba. Due to the unsuccessful design, the masters abandoned their invention. But they received a patent for the tool. The tuba owes its modern appearance to the Belgian music master Adolphe Sax. A few years later, the “German imperfection” came to him. He experimentally selected a successful design for the instrument and achieved an excellent sound.

4. Consolidation of new knowledge.

Guys, today we got acquainted with brass instruments, heard how they sound, saw what they look like. Let's try to guess a crossword puzzle that uses the names of the instruments we completed today (Appendix 3).

5. Summing up the lesson and assessing student activities.

6. Homework.

Learn the name of brass instruments. Remember what they look like. Remember their timbres using a video reader for students.

TOOLS
Specify the required tools (there may be several of them in each group).
1. Stringed instruments 1. Flute

2. Woodwind instruments 2. Violin

3. Instrument that is an emblem 3. Lyre

musical art 4. Viola

4. Stringed instruments 5. Oboe

5. Predecessors of the modern 6. Lute

piano 7. Cello

6. Stringed instrument - 8. Bassoon

forerunner of the violin 9. Double bass

7. Lowest string-bow 10. Clarinet

tool 11. Mandolin

8. Tool having approx. 12. Harpsichord

50 strings and 7 pedals 13. Harp

9. The lowest woodwind instrument 14. Kocle

10. Instrument, close "relative" 15. Clavichord

which is the English horn 16. Viola

Job number	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Answer digit

TOOLS
Choose the correct answer.
1. The string quartet does not include... a) viola

b) cello

c) double bass

2. An instrument whose ancestor was a hunting horn - a) pipe

b) horn

c) trombone

3. Tools that look like copper cauldrons, the top of which is covered with leather -

a) drums

b) there-there

c) timpani

4. A keyboard instrument similar to a small piano, but instead of strings, it has metal plates that are struck by hammers. The sound of this instrument is high, gentle, ringing, like crystal.

a) harpsichord

b) celesta

c) xylophone

5. The wind keyboard instrument, which is often called the king of all instruments.

Job number	1	2	3	4	5
Letter answer

№11

ANTIQUE INSTRUMENTS
Decipher the names ancient musical instruments, putting the letters in the correct order.

№12

Percussion instrument shaped like a geometric figure
A type of drum in the shape of an elongated cylinder
Russian folk noise musical instrument
Percussion instrument in the form of two metal disks
Brass instrument with retractable slide
Percussion instrument - a type of gong
Brass instrument (English name - trumpet)
Lowest brass instrument

Tools

Keyboard-plucked 1. Cello
Keyboard and percussion 2. Kocle
Keyboard and wind 3. Clarinet
Stringed-bowed 4. Piano
Plucked string 5. Harpsichord
Woodwind 6. Xylophone
Brass 7. Organ
Percussion 8. Horn

Job number	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Answer digit

TOOLS
Determine the type of tool.

1.Oboe 1. Stringed instrument
2.French horn
3. Trombone 2. Woodwind instrument
4. Flute
5. Cello 3. Brass instrument
6. Clarinet
7. Alto 4. Percussion instrument
8. Cocle
9. Timpani 5. Plucked string instrument
10.Pipe

Job number	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Answer digit

№15

(1) One-part form

(2) First section of sonata form

(3) Second section of sonata form

(4) Form having the structure: A A 1 A 2 A 3 A 4

(5) Form having the structure: A B A C A

(6) Title of the main theme in sonata form

(7) Title of the main theme in rondo form

(8) Form having the structure: A B A

GENRES
Indicate what type of music the genres are:
1. Sonata

2. Cantata

3. Romance 1. Instrumental music

4. Symphony

5. Opera 2. Vocal music

6. Invention

7. Oratorio 3. Vocal and choral music

8. Quartet

9. Ballet 4. Musical and stage work

10. Prelude

Job number	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Answer digit

№17

Genre of instrumental music
Genre of vocal and choral music
Genre of instrumental music
Genre of vocal music
Genre of instrumental music
Genre of instrumental music
Genre of polyphonic music
Chamber music genre

№18 The birthplace of dance
Indicate the nationality of the dances.

1. Halling

2. Sarabande 1. Polish dance

3. Siciliana 2. Hungarian dance

4. Minuet 3. Spanish dance

5. Tarantella 4. French dance

6. Csardas 5. Norwegian dance

7. Krakowiak 6. Italian dance

8. Polka 7. English dance

9. Giga 8. Czech dance

10. Polonaise

Job number	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Answer digit

Jota 1. Hungary

2. Quadrille 2. Italy

3. Courant 3. Spain

4. Polka 4. Norway

5. Csardas 5. Russia

6. Halling 6. America

7. Foxtrot 7. France

8. Galliard 8. Czech Republic

Job number	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Answer digit

Polish dance
Russian song and dance
Ukrainian dance
Moldavian dance
Russian dance
Belarusian dance
Russian song and dance
Polish dance

№20 Dance music

1.	1. A. Khachaturyan Lezginka
2.	2. M. Glinka Polka
3.	3. S. Prokofiev Tarantella
4.	4. M. Mussorgsky Gopak
5.	5. P. Tchaikovsky Trepak
6.	6. L. Mozart Minuet
7.	7. A. Grechaninov Mazurka
8.	8. D. Shostakovich Waltz

Job number	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Answer digit

№21.

(1) French dance

(2) Spanish dance

(3) French dance

(4) Polish dance

(5) Italian dance

(6) Italian dance

(7) Austrian dance

(8) English dance

21 Nov 2015

Brass instruments of a symphony orchestra. Video lesson.

Group brass instruments of a symphony orchestra small in composition. But it immediately attracts attention with the festive, solemn sound of metal. The art of blowing a horn or a shell was known already in ancient times. Subsequently, people learned to make horn-like instruments intended for military and hunting purposes.

These instruments get their name due to the metal from which they are made. Most often it is a special alloy consisting of 60% copper, 10% nickel, 30% zinc, or silver. But in the old days, some of them were made of horn, shell or bone.

There was a time when these instruments were made from noble metals, and musicians believed that valuable metals gave the timbre of the instrument a special shade: silver made the sound fuller, gold - soft, platinum - deep. But if these differences exist, they are noticeable mainly only to the musicians themselves. Later they decided to conduct an unusual experiment. They took a piece of rubber hose, the wall thickness and other dimensions of which corresponded to the clarinet tube, made holes in it and built a clarinet mouthpiece into it. The sound of the improvised clarinet was quite similar to the sound of the real one.

If the sound of woodwinds often reminds us of a shepherd's pipe, then in our minds brass instruments are associated with military signals and marches. And this is no coincidence, since military brass bands use brass instruments. From there they came to the symphony orchestra.

Many people think that a trumpet sounds because they blow into it. If you try this, you will most likely get only hissing. Brass instruments, like woodwind instruments, do not have a reed, through which the air begins to vibrate, producing sound. The copper ones use the musician's own lips as a vibrator. He folds them approximately the same way the reeds are folded in a bassoon or oboe, and the recess in the mouthpiece helps to do this. This specific position of the lips when playing is called embouchure, and instruments are called embouchure.

They do not blow into the pipe so that the air from the musician's lungs passes through it. Yes, this is sometimes impossible: the volume of our lungs is approximately four liters of air, and if we compare them with the volume of a bass helicon, it becomes clear that a person cannot fill it with air with one exhalation. When playing wind instruments, the musician's breath only helps to excite vibrations of the air that is already in the tube.

Let's remember brass instruments.

FRENCH HORN. German Waldhorn - forest horn. This is the literal translation of the name of this instrument. The ancestor of the horn was hunting horns, which were blown when it was necessary to give a signal during a hunt or some special event, to announce the gathering of troops. In order for the sound to become louder and stronger, so that it could be heard at a great distance, the horn began to be lengthened. But playing on such a long tube was inconvenient. Therefore, they began to “twist” the instrument tube. First one turn appeared, then two, three. A modern horn is a narrow, about three meters long, tube rolled into a circle with a cone-shaped extension at the end, turning into a wide bell.

The position of the horn when playing is unusual - with the bell down, towards the musician's right hand, which rests the palm against the wall of the bell, slightly covering it. This position was introduced by the Dresden horn player Anton Gampel around 1750 to make it easier to control the sound of the horn by inserting his hand into the bell. This technique is also widely used by modern horn players. The timbre of the horn is influenced by the shape of the mouthpiece, the cup, like other brass instruments.

The horn plays a very important role in the orchestra. Its sound is soft and noble. It can convey both a sad and solemn mood, and can sound sarcastic and mocking. It is primarily an orchestral instrument, but there is also solo literature for it. When performed by the horn, you can hear a melodious, soulful melody, which, for example, sounds at the beginning of the second part of the Fifth Symphony of P.I. Tchaikovsky. In the “Manfred” symphony, Tchaikovsky assigned four horns to play the main musical theme, which paints a musical portrait of the hero. And in the “Waltz of the Flowers” from the ballet “The Nutcracker,” the horn quartet sounds soft and melodious. The concerto for horn and orchestra by R. M. Gliere is very popular.

PIPE - one of the most ancient brass instruments. Even in the “Old Testament” the use of trumpets in religious ceremonies is mentioned. The chronicle of the Pecheneg siege of Kyiv in 968 speaks of the important role of pipes in the hostilities of the Russian army. The trumpet has been used by many peoples as a signaling instrument since ancient times. She announced danger, supported the courage of soldiers in battle, opened ceremonies, and called for attention.

In ancient times, a warrior stood on patrol on the tower of the fortress wall of the city of Krakow in Poland. He looked vigilantly into the distance to see if the enemy would appear. He held a copper pipe in his hands to give a signal in case of danger. And then one day he saw an enemy army approaching in the distance. The watchman began to play, and an alarm sounded over Krakow. Arrows flew in a cloud towards the patrolman. One of them pierced the trumpeter's chest. Gathering all his strength, he finished playing the signal. Only at the last sound did the trumpet fall out of his hands.

For many centuries, the people have carefully preserved the memory of the hero who saved his city at the cost of his life. And now the call sign of Krakow is an ancient military trumpet signal, ending at the last sound.

At the beginning of the 17th century. The trumpet entered the opera orchestra. At first she played a modest role: only sometimes she played short signals and participated in the accompaniment chords. At that time, only simple melodies based on the sounds of a triad could be played on it. But over time, the instrument was improved, its range increased, and it became possible to play complex and expressive parts on the trumpet. Her bright sound began to attract the attention of composers. And the trumpet sounded in solemn, heroic, and sometimes lyrical episodes. In the 18th century she already occupied a prominent place in the symphony and brass orchestras.

The next tallest brass instrument is TROMBONE. Its name comes from the Italian word tromba (trumpet), supplemented by the augmentative suffix one. In a literal sense, this name can be translated as “tube”. And indeed it is. In the 15th century the pipe was greatly lengthened, for which a retractable slide tube was made. This is how the trombone was born.

The trombone has the same ancestors as the trumpet, but in a sense the trombone turned out to be happier - it was a chromatic instrument from birth, so it has hardly undergone changes. The bell of the trombone, tapering and bending, turns into a narrow cylindrical tube onto which a sliding mechanism is placed. It consists of two fixed tubes along which a U-shaped slide tube slides. By moving the slide with his right hand, the trombonist can smoothly change the pitch of the sound, performing a glissando, and also produce any sounds with equal ease.

The trombone takes pride of place in the group of brass instruments. He has a very strong voice that easily covers the sound of the entire orchestra. And when several trombones play together, it gives the music solemnity and shine. The trombone is very good at heroic and tragic melodies. But most often, three trombones and a tuba, combined into one group, play chords in the orchestra, serving as accompaniment.

TUBA- the lowest sounding instrument of the brass group. Its range is from E counter-octave to F first octave, its timbre is harsh and massive. Unlike other instruments in this group, the tuba is relatively young. She was born in Germany in 1835 because the brass band needed a good, consistent bass. It consists of tubes of different sizes, a bell, a mouthpiece and valves.

As a rule, the role of the tuba in the orchestra is limited to doubling an octave below the third trombone part. It serves as the foundation of the brass group, like the double bass of the strings. It is the tuba that “cements” all the music. It is generally accepted that this instrument is clumsy and immobile. Indeed, it is very difficult to play. A large air flow is required, so the performer sometimes has to breathe on every sound. But you can also play the tuba quickly. True, its sound is very thick, strong, juicy, and fast music with such a sound will be ponderous. The tuba very well conveys the image of the elephant in Saint-Saëns’ play “The Elephant” from the suite “Carnival of the Animals.”

Of course, in orchestral works, solo episodes by the tuba are very rare. One of them is the play “Cattle” from the suite “Pictures at an Exhibition” by M. Mussorgsky, orchestrated by M. Ravel.

Let us repeat once again that the group of brass instruments includes:

trumpet, horn, trombone and tuba.