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RE: Re: Bach 2nd Brandenburg concerto - wrong note?

>He was adamant that the "tromba in F" must have been a brass instrument
>pitched like a modern orchestral horn.  It would certainly have made it
>less of an Olympic feat to play the thing!

Hi List,

Pardon me if I get this wrong, but wouldn't Bach have been writing for
'Clarino' trumpets? These were instruments longer in size than modern
instruments that were generally played up at the very high end of the
harmonic series. Because there were no effective valves at this time and the
'keyed' instruments weren't terribly playable I seem to remember my college
lecturers telling me these were the standard 'trombas' in Bach's day -
though 'standard' doesn't really apply to Baroque instrumentation.

As to your 'wrong' note, Nigel, I don't know the Brandenburgs that well, but
might it be a case of 'musica ficta' still in place during the period where
the player was expected to 'sharp' or 'flat' a note in particular
circumstances? Might it be one that the editor missed? It does happen - even
in Eulenberg scores.

Yours,

Mike





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