Trumpeting at the Court of Christian IV

Ólafur Elliði Halldórsson

Exposition

Trumpeting at the Court of Christian IV (2025)

Ólafur Elliði Halldórsson

open exposition

About this exposition

Two of the oldest manuscripts containing trumpet music lie in the Royal Danish Library and were both written in Denmark around the year 1600. They contain hundreds of fanfare-like melodies with little explanation as to how, why, or where they should be played. Written by trumpeters with limited musical education, the manuscripts present a unique challenge in deciphering distinct and personal notation styles. The aim of this research is to shed a new light on the so-called Thomsen and Lübeck manuscripts by stepping into the shoes of the trumpeters of the late renaissance and early baroque. The court of Christian IV (1577-1648), King of Denmark and Norway, was one of the most influential courts of early 17th century Europe and employed a respectable number of at least 123 trumpeters throughout Christian’s 60 year reign. By examining the role and duty of those trumpeters, as well as the culture around trumpet playing in the 16th and 17th centuries we gain a new insight into the festive, vigorous, and loud music of the royal courts. Improvisation plays a big part in interpreting the Danish manuscripts. By applying improvisation techniques described by Italian and German trumpeters in the 17th century, as well as considering the capabilities and limitations of historical instruments, new life is brought to fanfares which might appear monotonous and repetitive at first glance.

type	research exposition
keywords	Trumpet, Denmark, 17th century, improvisation, 16thcentury, baroque trumpet, natural trumpet
date	18/11/2024
published	22/05/2025
last modified	22/05/2025
status	published
share status	private
copyright	Ólafur Elliði Halldórsson
license	CC BY-NC-ND
language	English
url	https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/3197849/3197850
doi	https://doi.org/10.22501/koncon.3197849
published in	KC Research Portal
portal issue	1. Master Research Projects

Copyrights

name	Trompe l'oeil med trompet, himmelglobus og Frederik III's proklamation (1670) by Cornelius Norbertus Gijsbrechts
copyright	puplic domain
license	Public domain
usages	picture

name	Danmark_før_1645
copyright	Vesconte - Eget arbejde
license	CC BY-SA
usages	picture

name	Speer (p. 209)
copyright	Public domain
license	Public domain
usages	picture

name	Sonata 6 "Kaysers"
copyright	Det Kongelige Bibliotek (Digital reproduction: Jens Egeberg)
license	All rights reserved
usages	picture

name	Thomsen Duets (fol. 183r)
copyright	Det Kongelige Bibliotek (Digital reproduction: Jens Egeberg)
license	CC BY
usages	picture

name	Sonata (clarino)
copyright	ÓEH
license	All rights reserved
usages	video

name	Sonata (drones)
copyright	ÓEH
license	All rights reserved
usages	video

name	Sonata (alto e basso)
copyright	ÓEH
license	All rights reserved
usages	video

name	Natural Trumpet Notes
copyright	ÓEH
license	All rights reserved
usages	picture

name	Sonata: Principal
copyright	ÓEH
license	All rights reserved
usages	video

name	L'Orfeo Toccata Score
copyright	IMSLP
license	Public domain
usages	picture

name	Intrada
copyright	Det Kongelige Bibliotek (Digital reproduction: Jens Egeberg)
license	CC BY
usages	picture

name	Intrada (Thomsen)
copyright	ÓEH
license	All rights reserved
usages	video

name	Lübeck "Rotta 2" fol. 8r
copyright	Det Kongelige Bibliotek (Digital reproduction: Jens Egeberg)
license	CC BY
usages	picture

name	Rotta
copyright	ÓEH
license	All rights reserved
usages	video

name	Montacavalla
copyright	Det Kongelige Bibliotek (Digital reproduction: Jens Egeberg)
license	CC BY
usages	picture

name	Montacavalla (Thomsen)
copyright	ÓEH
license	All rights reserved
usages	video

name	Toccata (fol. 175r)
copyright	Det Kongelige Bibliotek (Digital reproduction: Jens Egeberg)
license	CC BY
usages	picture

name	Toccata
copyright	ÓEH
license	All rights reserved
usages	video

name	Mersenne Signals (notes)
copyright	IMSLP
license	Public domain
usages	picture

name	Mersenne Signals (in numbers)
copyright	IMSLP
license	Public domain
usages	picture

name	Sonata (phrase 1)
copyright	ÓEH
license	All rights reserved
usages	video

name	Sonata (phrase 7)
copyright	ÓEH
license	All rights reserved
usages	video

name	Roman Bucina
copyright	Museo nazionale romano di palazzo Altemps, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
license	CC BY-SA
usages	picture

name	Shofar
copyright	© The Trustees of the British Museum
license	CC BY-NC-SA
usages	picture

name	näverlur
copyright	Scenkonstmuseet
license	CC BY-NC-SA
usages	picture

name	Añafiles en las Cantigas de Alfonso X el Sabio
copyright	Public domain
license	Public domain
usages	picture

name	Nafir - Scenkonstmuseet (Sweden)
copyright	Scenkonstmuseet
license	CC BY-SA
usages	picture

name	Guitbert Trumpet Copy (National Music Museum, USA)
copyright	The National Music Museum : USA
license	All rights reserved
usages	picture

name	Schnitzer trumpet 1581
copyright	©KHM-Museumsverband
license	CC BY-NC-SA
usages	picture

name	A Blowing Trumpeter by Jacques de Gheyn II (1565-1629)
copyright	Groninger Museum, Groningen
license	Public domain
usages	picture

name	schnitzer 1581 bell detail
copyright	Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien
license	CC BY-NC-SA
usages	picture

name	Hainlein 1632 trumpet
copyright	© Society for Seventeenth-Century Music
license	All rights reserved
usages	picture

name	Anton Schnitzer (1585)
copyright	Accademia Filarmonica di Verona
license	All rights reserved
usages	picture

name	Schnitzer (1551) Trombone Bell Detail
copyright	Tony Esparis
license	CC BY
usages	picture

name	Bell: Schnitzer (1599) Paris
copyright	Thierry Ollivier
license	CC BY
usages	picture

name	Johann Wilhelm Haas (late 17th c.) Met Museum
copyright	The Metropolitan Museum of Art
license	Public domain
usages	picture

name	Jamestown mouthpiece (c. 1607-1610)
copyright	Jamestown Archaearium
license	CC BY-NC-SA
usages	picture

name	Mouthpiece from the ship "Witte Leeuw" (before 1613)
copyright	Rijksmuseum
license	Public domain
usages	picture

name	Mouthpiece components (Bach catalogue)
copyright	Conn-Selmer Inc.
license	CC BY
usages	picture

name	Agricola p. 32
copyright	IMSLP
license	Public domain
usages	picture

name	Praetorius VIII (crop)
copyright	Die Sächsische Landesbibliothek
license	Public domain
usages	picture

name	Thomsen, "Sonada" (1v)
copyright	Det Kongelige Bibliotek (Digital reproduction: Jens Egeberg)
license	CC BY
usages	picture

name	Speer (p. 210)
copyright	Public domain
license	Public domain
usages	picture

name	Lübeck Register (3r)
copyright	Det Kongelige Bibliotek (Digital reproduction: Jens Egeberg)
license	CC BY
usages	picture

name	Rognoni Selva Vol. 2, p. 5
copyright	IMSLP
license	Public domain
usages	picture

name	Fantini, p. 10 (articulation)
copyright	IMSLP
license	Public domain
usages	picture

name	Trompeterautomat, KK 855 2
copyright	Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien
license	CC BY
usages	picture

name	Trompeterautomat, KK 855 3
copyright	Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien
license	CC BY
usages	picture

comments: 1 (last entry by Inês de Avena Braga - 05/03/2025 at 11:38)

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Trumpeting at the Court of Christian IV (2025)

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