Contrabass natural trumpet in E♭ built c. 1920 by Evette & Schaeffer. St Cecilia's Hall, Edinburgh
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| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 423.233 (Valved aerophone sounded by lip vibration) |
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The contrabass trumpet is the lowest-pitched member of the trumpet family, sounding below the bass trumpet. Only a few exist. The instrument appeared in the mid-20th century and has no orchestral or jazz repertoire.[1] Usually built in 12′ F a perfect fourth below the B♭ bass trumpet, it has the same length as the F contrabass trombone, cimbasso, or tuba. Some (sometimes called the subcontrabass trumpet) are built larger in 18′B♭— an octave below the bass trumpet and two octaves below the standard B♭ trumpet.
A contrabass trumpet in 18′B♭ played by tuba player Don Butterfield appeared in 1962 on the TV show I've Got a Secret.[3] The instrument was loaned to the show from a Claremont College University musical instrument collection, which is now at the Musical Instrument MuseuminPhoenix, Arizona.[4][2]
In 1967, Roger Bobo, tuba player with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, commissioned a contrabass trumpet from instrument maker George Strucel. Unhappy with the sound of the contrabass trombone in recording the Canzoni e SonatebyGabrieli, they built an instrument in 12′ F in the shape of a large bass trumpet, out of spare tubing and a bass trombone bell from the Bach factory.[5]
Tuba player Carl Kleinsteuber made four similarly configured contrabass trumpets in F in the 1990s. He made them cheaply out of spare brass instrument parts as "fun" instruments, acknowledging the absence of any known repertoire.[6]
In the early 2000s, Latvian trombonist Vairis Nartišs built four instruments in 18′B♭ which he called "subcontrabass trumpets", two of which are now in museums.[7][8]
The contrabass trumpet has no historical repertoire in classical music or jazz. Whilst they have not gained wide appeal, they do occasionally appear in contemporary works. Slovenian composer Igor Krivokapič has scored a contrabass trumpet part in his 2021 Symphony No. 5 Sedem trobent Apokalipse (lit. 'Seven Trumpets of the Apocalypse').[9]
Very few instrument makers offer a contrabass trumpet today. Lars Gerdt in Sweden offers a model in F based on the Roger Bobo instrument.[10] Their weight and unwieldy shape make contrabass trumpets difficult to hold up like a regular trumpet, so they are often played mounted to an adjustable floor rod. The timbre from their cylindrical-bore construction, use of valves and similar range allow them to be readily substituted with a cimbasso.[5]
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