‘Rotary’ trumpets come to UMaine

ORONO – The UMaine School of Performing Arts’ Division of Music has acquired three new German rotary trumpets, which broadens the musical range of its brass collection for student and faculty concerts, said Jack Burt, assistant professor of trumpet. The instruments have rotors like a French horn as opposed to pistons.

Burt and school of performing arts trumpet students will use the three trumpets for research and performance. The instruments were purchased with a grant from the UMaine Scholarly Materials and Equipment Fund.

Two of the new trumpets, in the keys of B flat and C, were made by Robert and Karl Schagerl of Mank, Austria, specifically for the University of Maine.

The trumpets are made predominantly to order by hand, Burt said. The third is a piccolo trumpet in high A and B flat made by the Johann Scherzer company of Markneukirchen, Germany.

The piccolo rotary trumpet – a type heard in the musical accompaniment in the Beatle’s song “Penny Lane” – is well-suited for 18th century baroque scores, Burt said.

All three trumpets were featured during three recent UMaine concerts at Minsky Recital Hall and at Bowdoin College.

Burt, who has two German rotary trumpets of his own said rotary trumpets can emit darker tones, but can become brighter as they get louder and still maintain a mellower, less edgy tone. The traditional piston trumpet has a firmer, compact sound that can seem harsh by comparison.

“I wouldn’t want to say it’s a better or worse type of thing,” Burt said. “It is one additional tool in the arsenal.”

Predominant in German-speaking countries today, rotary trumpets at one time were common in the United States from the start of the German immigration before the American Civil War until the First World War, Burt said.

Burt is a professional trumpet player and teacher, whose research includes studying period music composed specifically for trumpets, and writing about rotary trumpets in music journals.

As anti-German sentiment grew following the outbreak of World War I, the United States developed closer ties to France, which had developed the piston trumpet. The bond initiated a new emphasis on piston trumpets in this country, Burt said, and piston trumpets have remained the standard instrument in the United States.

German rotary trumpets, however, are now being rediscovered by American trumpeters and are seen with greater frequency in concert and recital halls throughout the country, he said.

Burt is a former associate professor of trumpet at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. He previously served as principal trumpet and soloist of the Corpus Christi Symphony and Victoria Symphony orchestras, has performed in Mexico City as principal trumpet for the Orquesta Filarmonica de la UNAM and was a member of the Orquesta Filarmonica de la Ciudad de Mexico. He joined the UMaine faculty last fall.