> I have a student interested in a dissertation on the Trumpet > in Scotland. The period up till 1800 has already been tackled > at PhD level by another but I'm sure there must be some > nuggets out there (Jack?). The obvious ones are Nathaniel Gow > who trained as a trumpeter, the references in Purser, Jim > Cameron's Dance Band in the 1950s. > > Does anyone have any other suggestions?
I suspect your student is on a hiding to nothing. At around the time Nathaniel Gow died (1830s), the trumpet was rapidly and completely replaced as general-purpose top-end brass instrument by the cornopean (predecessor of a cornet). A cornopean can do a FAR better job of playing Scottish tunes than a trumpet - apart from everything coming out in B flat you'd have no problem leading a ceilidh band with one - and we know they were adopted by wind (later brass) bands as soon as they were available. So from then on, the trumpet had a limited role as a ceremonial instrument, and in the orchestra, but that was about it. So if that PhD really did the business on pre-1800 music (is it available anywhere?) there's not going to be a lot left. Did it cover the links between trumpet and other music in the early 18th century? - James Thomson's recorder MS of 1702 has quite a few trumpet tunes in it, along with the Scots ones and the English opera music. (He was possibly the father or uncle of the compiler of _Orpheus Caledonius_, which sorta brings them into the ambit of Scottish music by association). But they stand out a mile as being something nobody but a trumpeter would really want to play, and why on earth Thomson thought they'd sound any good on the recorder is beyond me. What might be much more interesting would be to look into the very early history of the wind/brass band in Scotland. These started in the 1830s, but the present repertoire didn't start to solidify for another fifty years. Probably they did a fair bit of late-classical or military repertoire, but the obvious thing for a Scottish band to get up and running with is Scottish music, though I've come across no reference to them playing any. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jack Campin: 11 Third Street, Newtongrange, Midlothian EH22 4PU; 0131 6604760 <http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack> * food intolerance data & recipes, Mac logic fonts, Scots traditional music files and CD-ROMs of Scottish music. ----> off-list mail to "j-c" rather than "scots-l" at this site, please <---- Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music & Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
