The Rotary Trumpet: A Voyage of Discovery
By Murray Greig

For a number of years now the question of “should we be playing the rotary trumpet for this piece?” has been a frequent talking point in many British orchestras. It has not always been instigated by the trumpet players admittedly, but often requested, and in some cases dictated, by conductors or managements.

Rotary valve trumpets are typically used in German and Austrian orchestras rather than the piston valve instruments that are more commonly used for example in the UK, France and the USA. Although rotary valve trumpets have no more historical authenticity than the piston trumpet for ‘classical’ and ‘early romantic’ music, many orchestral trumpet players have in recent years been using these instruments more and more for repertoire ranging from Mozart and Haydn through to Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann and Brahms. The softer attack and warmer tone quality of the rotary instrument is often better suited to the modern performance of ‘natural trumpet’ repertoire than the more brilliant and incisive piston valve instrument. There is no question, however, that the rotary valve trumpet is the stylistically appropriate and historically authentic instrument for the late 19th and early 20th century Austro-Germanic repertoire of Wagner, Buckner, Mahler and Strauss. One need only take for example performances by leading European orchestras such as the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras to demonstrate the superiority of these instruments for such literature. Whether or not the conductors can actually hear a noticeable difference or whether they think that they should have them “because that’s what they do in Berlin and Vienna” is another question and one that I may expand upon later. (If not now, it will no doubt be later in the bar after work!)

In the UK, players have traditionally played the majority of the orchestral repertoire on the Bb piston valve trumpet. This has no doubt had implications on the resistance to requests from conductors and managements for players to essentially re-learn repertoire on new instruments. Maurice Murphy, legendary principal trumpet of the London Symphony Orchestra recounted in an article for The Brass Herald how when he was asked by a certain conductor to play rotary trumpets in the LSO he politely told him “no” and that if he wanted German trumpets, “perhaps he should hire German trumpet players and then perhaps he could have the night off!” When later asked again, he suggested a German conductor also!

At Opera North we have experimented for many years now to try to find a solution that is acceptable to the conductors, management and ourselves. In the early 1990’s we first began to use rotary valve trumpets for classical repertoire, in particular Mozart operas. The idea of using natural trumpets had been suggested many times and I have played the ‘nat’ alongside modern strings and winds with several other orchestras. However, issues such as acclimatisation, intonation, finance and finding good quality instruments that work well at modern pitch (A = 440) in all the keys required by Mozart, for example Eb, D, C and low Bb, (necessitating two or possibly three instruments) prevented us pursuing this any further.

At this time we tried several different varieties of instruments including Monke, Ganter and Yamaha which were virtually all of the makes available to us in the UK at that time. These instruments were all pitched in Bb as that again what was used in the UK. In hindsight I must say I can’t believe how short sighted I was and looking back am not surprised again that we had little success trying to find the answer to our ‘classical’ problem. Most of the instruments we tried were the ones being purchased by the symphony orchestras to perform Bruckner and Wagner on. Many British orchestras in the 1980’s had acquired full sets of rotary instruments made by well known makers, often at very high prices, but were generally disappointed to find that they weren’t quite what they’d expected. Not to say that there was any particular problem with these instruments, merely it was a case of the UK trumpet player not really knowing what to look for. In our case, simple language barriers often proved enough to prevent us finding out more about the different makes and models available. Even after a “research trip!” to Europe where I was able to try a much greater selection of instruments (this time including Thein, Egger, Lechner etc.) I was still left pretty confused as to what we really needed. Nowadays, with the advent of the internet providing huge amounts of information at the click of a mouse on the makers’ websites, we have all of the information we could possibly need to make well-informed decisions. The original problem had certainly been with us and I’m not suggesting for a minute that good instruments didn’t exist, far from it. However, approaching this whole new world virtually unguided was not at all easy.

The acclimatisation period once we settled on our rotaries was surprisingly easy and short. Admittedly the "feel" is quite different from that of the piston trumpet but essentially you are doing the same thing. I found that the answer, as usual, lies in thinking about the sound that you want to make first and foremost and simply just doing it.

It should be remembered that the rotary valve trumpet is a completely different instrument in virtually every respect to the piston valve instrument. The instrument naturally produces a more tapered attack or decay of each tone and allows a more fluid, legato, or vocal tonal production which is ideal for romantic music of a lyrical nature. The rounded edges of the beginning and end of each tone allow better blending with the other brass sections of the orchestra in chordal passages such as are found in Bruckner; they also permit natural trumpet parts of the classical and early romantic literature to be played at a full volume without sticking out of the orchestral texture. The German rotary valve trumpet should be considered different than and complementary to the French piston valve instrument. They are by nature two different instruments for two different types of music and styles of playing, each having its own unique properties and strengths, each suited to a particular type of literature.

Generally typical Austro-German rotary valve trumpets have a smaller bore than the piston valve instruments commonly used in the UK and USA. On a piston trumpet this smaller bore would certainly affect the blow and tone quality. However, the larger and heavier bells generally used on rotary instruments, larger leadpipe and more cylindrical tubing means that the tone is still full but has advantages in terms of response, efficiency and accuracy.

There have been attempts to build “cross-breed” instruments which take various elements from the piston trumpet and mould them onto the rotary instrument. These however, in my humble opinion, just miss the point as although they may well ease the transition for piston trumpet players, they really don’t sound any different!

Since settling on our Schagerl ‘Europa’ C and ‘Horsdorf Heavy’ Bb trumpets, we have used them in the opera pit for ‘natural trumpet’ works by Gluck, Handel, Mozart, Donizetti and Rossini as well as later works by Humperdinck, Strauss and Zemlinsky, Also on the concert platform we have used them for Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms and Dvorak as well as for more typical Austrian / Germanic repertoire including, Johan Strauss, Mahler, Bruckner and Richard Strauss.

At the moment I can’t see the day when I would want to play anything other than the rotary trumpet in the orchestra for classical repertoire. The sound has great similarities with the ‘natural trumpet’ yet being half the length of its authentic counterpart, has obvious advantages in terms of pitching stability. There are never really any balance issues (and this repertoire at times requires us to play really quietly) and the blend with the horns and woodwinds is so much easier. Interestingly it has been string and wind players that have commented most favourably about the change of instruments.

I thought that there might be some difficulties in getting them to work in the full brass section but this has not been the case. We first tried the rotary trumpets with the trombones in Beethoven 5 and once we got used to what initially seemed like less than usual dynamic from us, (there is far less brightness to the sound in the louder dynamics) they proved again to provide a far more suitable blend. Again listening to the sound you want to make has proved to be the main guide and remembering never to push the sound.

Without sounding like an “advertorial”, I really should mention that our journey would have been that much more difficult without the help and knowledge given to us by Karl Schagerl and his team. From my initial inquiry they have been nothing short of remarkable. Any question I ever had has been answered and comments and suggestions frequently (often quite frankly!) made to assist in us finding just what we needed. Without their expert craftsmanship and experienced ears, we would no doubt still be heading round and round in circles trying to find something that didn’t exist.

Schagerl make three basic types of rotary valve trumpets : The “ Vienna” model which is the lightest and most pure sounding, The “Europa” model which is slightly heavier and the “Horsdorf” model which is the heaviest, darkest sounding of the three.

Schagerl Europa

We opted for the “Europa” models for both our first set of C and Bb trumpets as we felt that far from being a compromise, they were best suited for our needs. If we were playing opera full time then the “ Vienna” models might have been ideal whereas if we only played symphonic works in huge concert halls then we may well have opted for the heavier German style “Horsdorf Heavy” models.

Schagerl Hörsdorf

To compliment these we have recently added a “Horsdorf” and a “Horsdorf Heavy” Bb so that we have more options according to the repertoire.

In a recent performance of Mahler 5 we used a blend of 2 Europa C’s, a Europa Bb, a Horsdorf Bb and a Horsdorf Heavy Bb. Yes, they all have slightly different qualities when heard on their own but certainly as a section there is no problem at all in terms of blend. On the subject of blend, the rotary trumpet, especially when sat in a row along the back of the orchestra, provides a seamless link between the horns and the trombones that the piston trumpet doesn’t always manage.

Schagerl Hörsdorf Heavy

On the C trumpets we have two extra optional “Klappers” (or “split” keys as the trombones refer to them!) These have proved to be a fantastic option. Without getting too technical, when used in conjunction with standard fingerings, they basically stabilise the pitches above the stave. The water key can also be used in this fashion for certain notes. Despite what one might think, this has no effect on the tone whatsoever but gives great stability in pitching. For example the famous “Zarathustra” leap is virtually “un-missable” with the “C” Klapper. (I’m sure I’ll probably be able to prove this theory wrong before too long!) Notorious entrances such as the opening top A’s of Beethoven 7 or the Scherzo from the same piece or the high Db at the end of Strauss’s “Der Rosenkavalier” all become totally secure.

No article about trumpets would be complete without the obligatory “mouthpiece” section so without making too much of a meal of it we have found very little trouble settling on mouthpieces that work well in these instruments but do not affect what we use on the piston trumpets.

Typically rotary mouthpieces seem to be rather deeper and certainly more “V” rather than “C” cupped as well as often having noticeably larger back-bores. We have found plenty of options that include Brieselmeir mouthpieces that are in three parts and thus you can keep exactly the same rim as standard (i.e. 1 ¼ C etc) on top of slightly different cup and back-bore profile. Schagerl make a very nice series too (I use their 2G for most things on the rotary). The other mouthpiece that I have found to work nicely is the Yamaha 16D which is the same rim as my piston mouthpiece but with a slightly deeper cup.

Several other orchestras have recently taken the plunge too and the overwhelming view seems to be “why didn’t we do this before?” The instruments are so well made and a joy to play as well as fitting certain repertoire perfectly. The conductors are happy, the players are happy, what more could one ask for? I really can’t see the day when I would go back to piston trumpets for much of this repertoire so pleasurable has been this voyage of discovery.

Murray Greig

Murray Greig’s musical education began at the age of seven when he began playing the cornet at junior school in Leicestershire. He entered the Royal Northern College of Music in 1984 to study the trumpet with Howard Snell, during which time he won numerous competitions, prizes and scholarships. Murray also played principal trumpet with the European Community Youth Orchestra under Claudio Abbado.

He joined the Orchestra of the Royal Ballet in 1988 before taking up his current position of principal trumpet with the Orchestra of Opera North in 1989. He has also appeared as guest principal trumpet with many other orchestras and ensembles both in the UK and in Europe (Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic, Royal Opera House, City of Birmingham Symphony, Bournemouth Symphony, BBC Philharmonic, Hallé, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, BBC Scottish, Royal Scottish National, Ensemble Modern, Bergen Philharmonic).

Murray is Senior Professor of Trumpet at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester. Many of his former students now hold positions in orchestras throughout the UK and abroad. He has given recitals and master classes throughout Europe and America, as well as at leading British Conservatoires. He also teaches the trumpet at Chetham’s School of Music as well as working as trumpet professor with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain.

In addition to these activities, he enjoys the opportunity to perform as a recital and concerto soloist on both modern and original instruments. He gave the premiere of Arthur Butterworth’s Trumpet Concerto “Alla Veneziana” with the Orchestra of Opera North under Martyn Brabins. He performs organ and trumpet recitals regularly with Gordon Stewart and Jonathan Scott.