In the Field: Natural Trumpets in Berlioz

Introduction

Symphonie fantastique on natural trumpets? In a recent post, Japanese trumpeter Hironori Hosaka—a BFB Brass customer—reflected on his experience performing Berlioz’s landmark symphonic work with the Shinjuku Symphony Orchestra, offering a firsthand account of the challenges involved in using natural trumpets in a modern orchestral context.

Ensembles like the Shinjuku Symphony Orchestra—where natural brass instruments have been used for over two decades—are part of a broader trend, as both period ensembles and modern orchestras have increasingly explored early Romantic repertoire on historical instruments.

Hosaka’s account offers more than a personal reflection; it provides a point of entry for examining the role of high brass in the music of Hector Berlioz (1803–1869). In his orchestral works—where natural trumpets are consistently paired with valved trumpets and cornets—the choice of instrumentation raises fundamental questions of timbre and musical character. While other brass instruments in his scores certainly merit their own study (apologies to the ophicleides, serpents, and horns), the focus here is on high brass.

The discussion begins with some brief context for Hosaka’s remarks, followed by an English translation and a few clarifying observations. It then turns to Berlioz’s use of natural and valved instruments, asking why the natural trumpet persisted in his writing and what his eventual practice of pairing it with the piston cornet reveals about the instruments’ roles within the orchestra. This article argues that, despite his embrace of valve technology, Berlioz continued to write for the natural trumpet because it fulfilled a distinct musical function—one that can only be fully appreciated when these works are heard on the instrument itself.

Thoughts after playing Symphonie Fantastique on a natural trumpet

The concert that took place the other day ended successfully. Personally, I feel that my playing was actually the best during the performance itself.

The instrument I used (BfB Baroque), in its current configuration, cannot be used with vent holes when set up in Bb or A. In Symphonie Fantastique, the first movement (in C) and the fifth movement (in Eb) can be played using the four-hole vent system, but the fourth movement is in Bb, so it has to be played without holes. Fortunately, that movement did not include any F’s that require pitch adjustment, so I was able to manage it without vents. (The instrument used by Kawahara, who played second trumpet, was an invention model, so he played the entire piece without holes.) When playing without holes, if you don’t have a clear image of the pitch in your head, you will almost certainly miss the note. Especially when entering with a single forte attack—it can be quite risky.

What I do is look at the score and find the same pitch in another instrument that plays shortly beforehand. Once I catch that pitch by listening, I quietly keep singing it to myself. I feel that things often go well when I do that.

In the past, when playing without holes, I tended to play more quietly, almost hiding because I was afraid of missing the note, or I would come in slightly later than everyone else. But when you really hit a natural note correctly, it feels better than a note played using holes. So if there’s another opportunity, I might choose to play without the holes.

Below: The BFB Baroque trumpet (on its side) next to a replica by Richard Seraphinoff of an invention trumpet after Karl Missenharter (ca. 1860). Both are shown in the three keys necessary for playing the trumpet parts in Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique.

Natural trumpets in practice

Hosaka’s observations highlight a number of important practical considerations—some of which may not be immediately obvious to modern players. Many modern period renditions of this repertoire feature trumpeters performing on twice-folded replica instruments, often modeled on 18th-century designs and equipped with vent holes. The systematic use of vents is largely a late 20th-century development, introduced to address challenges of intonation and reliability in modern performance. These instruments differ from what Berlioz’s trumpeters would have used, but their timbre is broadly similar. At the 1830 premiere of Symphonie fantastique, trumpeters would have been playing some form of invention trumpet—perhaps like the replica pictured above (without vent holes)— which is configured in a compact way to allow for crooking into many keys.

Today, in the performance of classical and early Romantic repertoire, vents are used primarily for security and, to a lesser extent, for intonation. Since pitches corresponding to the 7th, 11th, and 13th harmonics are relatively rare in much of this repertoire, the need for venting for intonation alone is often limited—one exception being the 7th harmonic which appears frequently in Berlioz’s writing. The fourth vent hole—sometimes referred to as an “octave key”—effectively shortens the sounding length of the instrument by half, shifting the harmonic series up an octave and widening the spacing between harmonics, thereby increasing security for the player.

This helps explain the risks Hosaka describes when “playing without holes.” While many modern period trumpeters rely on venting to stabilize pitch and response, choosing not to use them brings the performer closer to the conditions—and challenges—faced by Berlioz’s contemporaries. Hosaka’s remarks, however, focus primarily on the practical realities of playing the instrument—issues of pitch, security, and execution—while leaving open a more basic question: what, after all, is gained by performing this repertoire on the natural trumpet?

In the works of Hector Berlioz (1803–1869), where natural trumpets consistently appear alongside valved trumpets and cornets, that question becomes especially relevant. Taking a closer look at the instruments themselves—their evolution and role within Berlioz’s orchestration, can offer some clues.

Paris — A concert of the Conservatory Concert Society in a newly restored hall.
Le Monde Illustré, 24 February 1866. Courtesy of Bibliothéque nationale de France (Gallica).

Valved Trumpets vs. Natural Trumpets

Berlioz was among the first composers to make consistent use of valved high-brass instruments in orchestral writing. He began experimenting with them as early as the concert overture Waverley, premiered in 1828 by the Société des Concerts (the first formal orchestral association in Europe) at the Paris Conservatory. His interest in these instruments developed alongside that of François Georges Auguste Dauverné (1799–1874)—first professor of trumpet at the Conservatory, a leading performer at both the Société and the Paris Opera, and an early advocate of valve technology—whose influence likely encouraged composers such as Berlioz and Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868) to explore its possibilities.

In his Treatise on Modern Instrumentation and Orchestration (1855; Eng. trans. 1882), Berlioz lamented the diminished role of the trumpet—by which he meant the natural or “ordinary” trumpet—in the works of composers such as Beethoven, Weber, and Mozart. What the valved trumpet offered, in his view, was not a new kind of instrument so much as an expansion of the trumpet’s existing capabilities. With the addition of valves, the instrument could complete the harmony and increase melodic interest, encouraging a more varied and independent use of the trumpet’s “powers of sound.” Accordingly, Berlioz made consistent use of valved trumpets—and later piston cornets—throughout his career.

The earliest valved trumpets retained much of the character of the natural trumpet. They were long instruments which could be crooked down to comparable lengths of natural trumpets, therefore producing a broadly similar timbre. Berlioz himself noted that the valved trumpet had “lost nothing of the quality of the ordinary trumpet,” suggesting that he perceived no fundamental change in its core sound. In practice, he treated the valved trumpet not as a replacement for the natural trumpet, but as an extension of it: a means of filling in harmonic gaps and introducing chromatic motion within an otherwise limited framework.

This approach is reflected in his scoring. Many of his early orchestral works—including Waverley, Symphonie fantastique (1830), and Harold in Italy (1834)—originally called for two natural trumpets alongside a single valved trumpet.

And yet, despite this apparent equivalence in timbre and the expanded capabilities the valved trumpet offered, Berlioz did not abandon the natural trumpet. This raises an important question: if the new instrument could do more without sacrificing its fundamental character, why did it not replace its predecessor?

Three Valves, or Two?

Dauverné was among the first to obtain a three-valved Stölzel trumpet, sent from Germany to Paris in 1826 by the conductor Gaspare Spontini (1774–1851). He later published Théorie ou tablature de la trompette à pistons (1827–28)—more a user’s manual than a method—explaining the instrument’s background, function, and application. The model described in this publication came with two slides (crooks), one in C and a shorter one in E♭.

Many of the earliest documented orchestral uses of the valved trumpet—including Chelard’s Macbeth, scored for three trumpets (premiered June 1827)—are written for trumpet in E♭, suggesting the use of this early three-valve design. Dauverné, who played first trumpet at the performance, notes that an early import patent was granted to the firm of Labbaye to manufacture the instrument, and that he himself helped to improve it. A contemporary review of Macbeth, however, was critical of these new instruments.

Although it provided a complete chromatic scale throughout its range, the instrument suffered from a number of shortcomings: imprecise and stiff valve action, inconsistencies in tone while operating valves, and problems with intonation. Particularly troublesome would have been the notes A and A♭ in the staff when played via the 7th harmonic, which is naturally low in pitch (See tablature below). The 7th harmonic itself was now “correctable” using the wholetone valve with the 8th harmonic. The design of the third valve posed additional challenges: rather than lengthening the instrument by three semitones, it shortened it by the same amount (an ascending valve), resulting in a particularly unstable configuration, especially when crooking into different keys. While the ascending valve would later be applied more successfully—most notably in French instrument maker Jean Hilaire Asté (Halary)’s introduction of the valve to the horn in 1849 and its eventual adoption in the double horn—it proved problematic in the early valved trumpet.

Three-valved Stölzel trumpet in C or Eb with tablature demonstrating ascending third valve from Dauverné's Théorie... (1827-28)

An important aspect of early valve trumpet and cornet playing—one that may surprise modern trumpeters—is that most of the early instruments were crooked to the key, or a related key, of the piece at hand. This often meant reading parts in C (a kind of “movable-do” approach, as with the natural trumpet) or in keys that favored open notes within the harmonic series, such as F major. In the case of early valved trumpets, which were long to begin with, crooking down further could have significant consequences for intonation. The earliest valved instruments lacked tunable valve slides, meaning that the longer the instrument became, the more out of tune the valve combinations were likely to be. In this context, the third ascending valve likely introduced more problems than it solved.

Sometime soon after receiving this three-valved trumpet, and perhaps after the unsuccessful attempt to copy and improve the instrument, Dauverné worked with Halary to devise a two-valved trumpet for which he wrote Méthode de Trompette à Pistons (1834–35). Although it might appear as a technological backslide, only two valves were required—a semitone and a whole tone, along with their combination—to produce a fully chromatic instrument (apart from one note, Ab below the staff) when applied to the harmonic series of the natural trumpet. The result was an instrument in F that could be crooked down to low C. Critically, Halary equipped the trumpet with valve slides that could be fine-tuned depending on the crook configuration, hence Dauverné’s claim that “it is perfectly in tune, capable of playing in all keys.” It must have impressed someone, because Dauverné received an award for its design at the Paris Exposition in August 1827.

Dauverné may have been overstating that perfection. Evidence of intonation issues with the early valved trumpet can be seen in Berlioz’s revisions in the autograph score of Waverley. The valved trumpet part is indicated in D (possibly problematic for the early three-valve design, given the ascending third valve), alongside two natural trumpets in low A. Although it is generally assumed that the original part was written for the early three-valved trumpet, all of the notes are also achievable on Dauverné’s two-valved instrument. Considering the timeline—and the poor reception of the three-valve trumpet in Macbeth—it is plausible that the newer two-valve instrument was used at the premiere of Waverley in 1828. The revised version of the score, published in 1839, shows substantial alterations, many of which appear to avoid notes associated with unreliable intonation. Although Dauverné claimed that his two-valve design was “perfectly in tune,” it clearly did not eliminate all such problems, and Berlioz’s revisions seem to address issues in both the three- and two-valved designs.

In practice, the two-valve trumpet appears to have offered a more workable balance between flexibility and stability than its three-valve predecessor. Yet even with these improvements, it did not displace the natural trumpet in Berlioz’s writing. Instead, it functioned as a complementary voice, expanding the instrument’s harmonic and melodic possibilities while supporting its traditional role.

Two-valved trumpet made by Halary with adjustable valve slides with range & fingering chart from Dauverné's Méthode de Trompette á Pistons (1834-35)

Why the cornet?

If the valved trumpet extended the capabilities of the instrument without replacing it, why did Berlioz increasingly turn instead to the cornet?

According to Dauverné, the piston cornet was invented in around 1829 when Halary applied the two-valve configuration with adjustable slides to a German post horn.

In most of Berlioz’s early works, the single valved trumpet part was eventually replaced by two piston cornets. In Symphonie fantastique, for example, the autograph score included a valved trumpet in E♭, while later revisions call for two cornets in A and B♭, and by the 1845 edition, a cornet solo had been added in the movement Un Bal (The Ball). This scoring—pairing two cornets with two natural trumpets—became Berlioz’s standard practice. What motivated this shift?

Berlioz’s own writings seem to complicate the question. In his treatise, he notes that the piston cornet was fashionable at the time, and that most French orchestras “provide the composer with two trumpets and two cornets.” He further associates the cornet with "quadrilles, galops, and airs with variations, and other second-rate compositions;"—music associated with popular entertainment rather than the concert hall. He describes its timbre as lacking the nobility of the horn and the loftiness of the trumpet, yet acknowledges that its sound is “not so dissimilar” from the trumpet and that it can effectively complete the harmony when used alongside it.

Taken at face value, this might suggest that Berlioz was an ambivalent advocate of the cornet, but he is often attributed with bringing it into the orchestra in the first place. Could it be that he felt some need to distance himself, in a formal treatise on orchestration, from an instrument so strongly associated with the music of the masses?

A more compelling explanation lies in the cornet’s unique timbre—and what that timbre implies. It's possible that Berlioz did not view the valved trumpet, despite its chromatic capability, as a meaningful expansion of the natural trumpet’s expressive range. The piston cornet, however—with its shorter length, larger mouthpiece and bell, and more conical bore—offered not only a means of filling in harmonic gaps, but a distinctly different sound: more flexible, more vocal, and less overtly heroic than the trumpet.

Cornet á pistons of the type made by Halary with adjustable valve slides showing range & fingerings from Ange Lagoanere's Méthode Complete... (1835)

But this difference is not merely acoustical. In Berlioz’s time, the cornet carried strong associations with popular and urban musical life—dance halls, outdoor concerts, and virtuoso display. In that sense, its sound would have suggested not only a different color, but a different musical character altogether.

The added cornet solo in Un Bal is a telling example. In a movement shaped by elegance, motion, and social display, the cornet’s more lyrical and intimate voice introduces a presence that feels distinct from the ceremonial brilliance of the trumpet. Given the theatrical and programmatic nature of Berlioz’s music, it seems likely that this distinction was not incidental, but expressive.

Seen in this light, the cornet’s role in Berlioz’s orchestra reflects more than practicality or convention. It represents an expansion not only of sound, but of character—bringing into the orchestral texture an element drawn from the sound world of contemporary life.

This broader shift is reflected in later 19th-century—early 20th-century repertoire, where the cornet appears in theatrical orchestral contexts—operatic, ballet, and programmatic works—by composers such as Georges Bizet, Paul Dukas, Giuseppe Verdi, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and Igor Stravinsky. In these settings, often alongside valved trumpets, the cornet continued to function not simply as a substitute, but as a distinct expressive voice.

Three-valved cornet showing terminal crooks for Bb down to Eb from Adolphe Brulon's Nouvelle Méthode... (1853)

Modern Performance Practice

If Berlioz’s use of the cornet was tied to its distinct timbre and expressive character, it raises an important question: what happens when that distinction largely disappears?

It seems evident that cornets and trumpets possessed distinctly different sonorities in the 19th Century, but today that contrast is far less pronounced. In modern instruments, similarities in the bore profile (proportion of conical vs cylindrical tubing) and overall length—one of the most important factors in determining timbre—as well as choice of mouthpiece, have narrowed that gap considerably. [It's worth noting that in the case of the Shinjuku Symphony Orchestra performance described above, Mr. Takahashi’s use of a Bach 5V mouthpiece would lend the cornet a somewhat more historically characteristic timbre.] In Hector Berlioz’s time, however, the difference in length alone between the natural trumpet and the cornet would have produced an unmistakable contrast in timbre and character.

Hearing these parts performed on natural trumpets alongside cornets (even modern ones) reveals a clearer sense of the sonic world Berlioz envisioned, offering a more varied and differentiated texture than is typical on modern instruments. In that light, his continued use of the natural trumpet—long after the introduction of valve technology—appears not as a holdover, but as a deliberate musical choice, one whose purpose becomes fully apparent only in performance.

Bibliography

Anzenberger, Friedrich. “Method Books for Valve Trumpet to 1850: An Annotated Bibliography.” Historic Brass Society Journal 9 (1997), 50-62.

Berlioz, Hector. A Treatise on Modern Instrumentation and Orchestration. Translated by Mary Cowden Clarke. Revised and edited by Joseph Bennett. London: Novello, Ewer and Co., 1882.

Bickley, Diana. "The Trumpet Shall Sound: Some Reasons That Suggest Why Berlioz Altered the Part for Trompette à Pistons in His Overture Waverley." Historic Brass Society Journal 6 (1994), 61-83.

Campbell, Murray, Joël Gilbert and Arnold Myers. The Science of Brass Instruments. Switzerland: Springer Nature Switzerland, 2021.

Dauverné, François-Georges-Auguste. Théorie ou tabulature de la trompette a pistons. Paris, ca. 1827-28.
_____. Methode de trompette a pistons. Paris: Antoine Halary, 1834-35.
_____. Nouvelle méthode complète de cornet à pistons. Paris: A. Petit, 1837.
_____. Méthode pour la trompette. Paris: Brandus, 1857.
_____. Méthode pour la trompette. Translated by Ruby Miller Orval, Rebecca Pike, Jeffrey Snedeker, and Gaetan Chenier, “Method for Trumpet,” Historic Brass Society Journal 3 (1991), 179-261.

Hasselbring, Chris and Nikolai Mänttäri. "Spectral Enrichment" in The Natural Trumpet Tutor. Skokie: BFB Brass, 2025, xiv.

Proksch, Bryan. “Buhl, Dauverné, Kresser, and the Trumpet in Paris, ca. 1800-1840.” Historic Brass Society Journal 20 (2008), 69-91.

Tarr, Edward H. "The Romantic Trumpet." Historic Brass Society Journal 5 (1993), 262-279.

Live Performances

Orchestre Révolutionaire et Romantique conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner in Versailles
Apr 24, 2023
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28QFI3loGwo&list=RD28QFI3loGwo&start_radio=1&t=37s

La Chambre Philharmonique conducted by Emmanuel Krivine
May 26, 2023
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUPTYBZIYkg&list=RDxUPTYBZIYkg&start_radio=1&t=3133s