Instruments of the time 1500-1800

For a long time, this instrument was considered the oldest trombone owned by a museum. As a product of the legendary Nuremberg brass instrument making period during the Renaissance and Baroque, it was an icon of European instrument making. The name of the builder, Erasmus Schnitzer (died 1566), engraved on the bell rim also contributes to this. He came from a family whose members made high-quality brass and woodwind instruments in the 16th century.

However, more recent research has shown that this trombone was assembled from several parts that do not belong together but were made by Nuremberg instrument makers. This may well have happened in the museum in the 19th century, but it cannot be ruled out that the trombone owes its present shape to several repairs in the 17th century: some of the work that can still be identified today requires knowledge of professional instrument making that goes beyond simply plugging together various parts.

In 1859, the Germanisches Nationalmuseum’s acquisition register records the purchase of a large group of obsolete musical instruments from the Nuremberg Protestant Asset Management – most likely including this trombone. There is therefore much to suggest that it was originally used for liturgical music in the Nuremberg church of St. Sebald, and this in turn would at least partly be an explanation for the contemporary repairs.

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The crumhorn is one of the most striking 16th century wind instruments with its walking stick shape. It was made by slowly bending a piece of wood that had been drilled through lengthwise and then turned into a round shape by being exposed to moisture. The buzzing sound of the double reed, which resembles a bassoon mouthpiece and is concealed under a capsule with a blowing slit, should be directed towards listeners and fellow players by the bend.

Due to its complex manufacturing process, crumhorns were expensive and rare instruments whose production was mastered by just a few masters, for example Jörg Wier in Memmingen. Sometimes, however, they were imported, like this crumhorn. The name of the master, whose mark resembles a jester’s cap, is unknown. The music conservatory in Verona, the Accademia Filarmonica, owns several crumhorns with the same mark, which were probably acquired in Venice, an important centre of instrument making, before 1544.

The metal key for the little finger is protected from damage by a capsule and designed in a way not used on later instruments. This is probably why it is one of the oldest surviving crumhorns. In 1856 it was mentioned for the first time in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum collections and therefore probably originates from the holdings of the museum’s founder Hans Freiherr von und zu Aufseß (1801-1872).

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The design idea of the dulcian is to shorten a deep-sounding and therefore acoustically very long woodwind instrument by folding it up, so to speak. To do this, two parallel channels were drilled into a piece of wood with an oval cross-section and connected to each other at one end. Like the bassoon, the dulcian is blown with a double reed, which is connected to the body of the instrument by a bent brass tube.

The halving of the length makes the quite powerful-sounding dulcian transportable, for example for parades or town piper processions. Holes were also drilled on the back of the instrument for the two thumbs, which lead into one of the two tubes and make it possible to play very low notes. A removable, perforated cap sits on the tube mouth. This makes the sound somewhat more intimate and rounded, which made this instrument, also called "muted", more suitable for music in church.

The maker is none other than Johann Christoph Denner (1655-1707), who could be called the "Stradivarius of woodwind instrument making" in the early 18th century. He built all common types of woodwind instruments. His dulcian is one of his last works still indebted to the Renaissance tradition, before the bassoon began its triumphant conquest of the low woodwind register.

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The creator of this bassoon, Johann Heinrich Eichentopf (1678-1769), was one of the most famous woodwind instrument makers in the important trade fair and trading city of Leipzig. His name is closely associated with Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), who is said to have inspired him, among other things, to build an oboe da caccia, a low, curved oboe.

Nothing is known about the previous life of this bassoon, except that it probably came to the Germanisches Nationalmuseum before 1878. Even though only two bassoons made by Eichentopf are known today, there is unfortunately no evidence of their use in St Thomas’ Church in Leipzig under Bach’s direction.

Two developments in instrument making came together with the bassoon: on the one hand, the construction of woodwind instruments out of several, interlocking individual parts, as had emerged in France in the 1660s; on the other hand, the idea, originating in the 16th century, of structurally "folding together" a long, straight tube, as realised, for example, in the dulcian, the one-piece predecessor to the bassoon.

Production out of several parts allowed the whole instrument to be made with more precision and the ascending half of the tube to be lengthened, which added a tone in the low register. The bassoon was therefore ideally equipped for the demands of the basso continuo line in baroque music, but also for virtuoso solo playing.

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This pommer, a powerful-sounding shawm used mainly for outdoor music, probably came from a Nuremberg town piper. In 1522, three brothers from the widespread Schnitzer family came to Nuremberg from Munich. They not only worked as musicians but also as instrument makers, as was not uncommon among town pipers. The carvers not only made the most common woodwind instruments, but also brass instruments such as trumpets and trombones. The most likely candidate to build this instrument is Mathes Schnitzer.

It is an alto pommer. In the 16th century, most instruments were built in several sizes to match and accompany the vocal choir, which consisted of several voice parts. The alto pommer is the second lowest instrument of the instrument choir also known as the "family".

In contrast to the shawm, the highest member of the family, it has a key for the little finger of the hand that grips further down. This key is not preserved here. It originally lay under the barrel-shaped, perforated protective sleeve, the so-called fontanelle, from which the handle of the brass key protruded upwards. The deep-sounding pommer family members could be up to almost three metres long. Contemporary illustrations therefore show that the shawm and pommer were played together with the more transportable dulcians during pageants and processions.

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Almost no other musical instrument combines such a basically simple design with being so difficult to play and having such great expressiveness at the same time as the cornett. The shape, probably inspired by an animal horn, cannot be made on a lathe. Therefore, two half-shells are carved from a wooden board, glued together and bound in leather.The inner bore, which quickly tapers towards the bottom, makes it difficult to maintain a stable tone, and the total of seven finger holes, including one on the back for the thumb, are not placed according to purely acoustic findings. The cornett is blown using a relatively small cup mouthpiece, not preserved here in the original, as is typical for brass instruments.The player must therefore produce the different tones primarily by lipping. The sound column supports them and is mainly responsible for the sound. The effort and length of time it takes a cornett player to master the instrument is rewarded with extraordinary musical quality. In 1636, the French scholar Marin Mersenne compared the sound of the cornett to the brilliance of a ray of sunshine piercing the shadows and darkness when heard among the singing voices in cathedrals and chapels. In the 17th century it became a serious competitor to the violin because of its great agility.

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The serpent represents the lowest register among cornetts, a group of woodwind instruments with finger holes that are blown through a trumpet-like mouthpiece. Smaller cornetts are curved in a crescent shape. They are probably inspired by the shape of animal horns. However, the curve mainly serves to facilitate gripping with the fingers.In the case of the serpent, with a conical bore over two metres long, it became necessary to bend the tube several times in order to place the six finger holes in two groups in places that the player could comfortably reach. This no longer corresponds to physical specifications, and so the main responsibility for the correct tone lies with the player’s lip, who blows into a mouthpiece similar to that of the trombone, which in turn is connected to the instrument body by a brass tube.The production of this instrument is as elaborate as the playing: several half-shells carved from wood are glued together until the final shape is achieved and then bound with a layer of leather to seal them.The serpent was probably invented in France at the beginning of the 17th century and only came to Germany in the mid-18th century. It was initially used to accompany monophonic church singing. The full sound of the transportable bass instrument was soon discovered by the military, and in the 19th century it was equipped with keys and also found its way into opera.

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According to current knowledge, the clarinet was invented around 1700 by Johann Christoph Denner (1655-1707) in Nuremberg. Unfortunately, none of the instruments made by him have survived. That is why this clarinet from the workshop of his son Jacob, together with two other examples, is one of the oldest clarinets in the world.

It comes from a collection of obsolete musical instruments that the Germanisches Nationalmuseum purchased from the Protestant Asset Management in Nuremberg in 1859. It is possible that it is mentioned in an invoice from the city of Nuremberg, which purchased two clarinets from Jacob Denner in 1711 for use in the Frauenkirche. The shortness of the instrument and the resulting high pitch, which was common in churches, indicates that it was used in urban church music.

Another indication of ecclesiastical use is also the musical use in early times. When the baroque clarinet is played in the upper register, the sound is similar to that of a baroque trumpet, from which it also takes its name: "clarinetto" is a made-up word, derived from the diminutive name for the high, virtuoso trumpet register "clarino".

This sound effect is further enhanced by the fact that the preserved mouthpiece, with the remnant of what was probably an original reed, is held in the mouth with the reed side facing the player’s palate and not, as is the case today, towards the tongue, as indicated by a mark on the mouthpiece.

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