Clarino

What it means

Clarino designates the high register of the Baroque natural trumpet and at the same time the manner of playing specialized in it. A valveless trumpet can produce only the notes of its harmonic series. In the low register these lie far apart and are good only for signals and triad figures; the higher one climbs, the closer together they move, until above the eighth partial an almost stepwise melodic line becomes possible. Precisely this register is called clarino, in contrast to the lower principale register.

Musical use

In the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, clarino playing was a highly esteemed, strictly guild-organized specialization. The famous high trumpet parts of Baroque music — in masses, cantatas, and concertos — are written for this technique. Individual partials deviate from equal temperament, especially the eleventh and the thirteenth; composers avoided them, or the players corrected them with the embouchure. In the late eighteenth century the practice fell out of use, and for the revival of the repertoire the high-pitched valved trumpet later came into being. Today both paths stand side by side: the piccolo trumpet and the reproduced natural trumpet, usually provided with vent holes.

Performance practice

Clarino playing demands a very fine, fast airstream and an elastic embouchure; strength does not help, control does. Practise slurs between neighbouring high partials until the series is heard inwardly — accuracy arises from the sound conception, not from the fingering. A shallow mouthpiece with a sharp rim is historically usual but requires getting used to. Plan entries short and rests generous, since endurance in this register is limited. When using vent holes, settle in the ensemble how the deviating partials are to be handled, and retune after warming up.

Remember that in this register small changes of air pressure have a great effect: the neighbouring note is only one lip tension away, which is why calm and evenness matter more than strength. Practise therefore in short units and listen at every note to the response, not to the volume. In the ensemble it is worthwhile to approach entries quietly and only open up in the course of the note. Settle beforehand whether vent holes are used and how the deviating partials are to be treated.