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Master Class: John Wallace Arthur A. Molitierno, Reporter It came as a mild surprise, then, that the substance of Wallace’s lecture examined the role of the cornet and the historic use of this instrument by a variety of composers in a variety of musical roles from the nineteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth century. Wallace presented a historical, critical, and indeed sociological analysis of cornet playing to a packed lecture hall. Wallace’s interest in the cornet is in part a consideration of his being British rather than American. To his way of thinking, Americans are much more attuned to making history and looking forward than they are to looking back to the past to maintain or resurrect a particular tradition. He is especially fond of the sound of the cornet and its ability to assume multiple identities with its dark, lyrical capabilities. In his demonstration and accompanying lecture, Wallace played a variety of passages from Gounood’s Faust (1859), Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake (1876), Debussy’s La Mer (1905), and Stravinsky’s Petrushka (1911) to demonstrate his assertions. Wallace played examples of the cornet’s coloring in everything from the most delicate passages to those marked by tumultuous abandon, as in some of Herbert L.Clarke’s solos. In operas, the cornet was used to summon the visions of the common and vulgar life often associated with street scenes. In its role in Italian opera, the cornet was Wallace indicated that the word cornet means little horn, an indication of its ability to produce a horn-like mellow and warm sound. This point was demonstrated with a passage from Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty (1889) in which the cornet evokes the horn sound associated with a traditional hunt and thus serves as a surrogate horn. In ballets, the cornet has been associated with women dancers, while the trumpet has been associated with male dancers. One example of this sociological insight is Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker (1892). The strong influence of bel canto style compositions for the cornet is best illustrated by the influence of Arban upon the cornet. A staunch advocate of the cornet, Arban composed a grand method acknowledged as the standard worldwide. Aside from its premier role in operas, the cornet made its appearance in the melodic, brilliant, and technically demanding solos of such artists as Clarke. Today, it is still employed as the chief voice in traditional brass bands in England and in this country. One excellent example of this application would be the Salvation Army Brass Band. Wallace noted that in the American brass bands, as opposed to the British style bands, the cornet became a stuntman, a jokester, and the sound of the instrument became increasingly more brilliant as the years passed. Eventually, the very tonal quality that brought the cornet to prominence all but disappeared, as did the need for cornets. The symbolic moment of the passing of the cornet as the premier instrument for solo, orchestral, and band performances came in 1926 when Louis Armstrong abandoned the cornet in favor of the trumpet. By the 1950s, the dark sound of the old-styled cornet was replaced by the flügelhorn. By 1964, the distinction between cornet and trumpet had been so long forgotten that Bizet’s Carmen, originally calling for cornets, found the cornets left out in favor of trumpets. Today, few composers would even consider writing for the cornet. For this reason and because he has a fondness for the past glorious history of this instrument and its astonishingly rich repertoire, Wallace believes it is necessary to revisit the past and restore the both excellent music and the instrument. |
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people in the trumpet world and one of its best performers. Wallace is known for his solo performances and master classes throughout Europe. He is head of the brass faculty at London’s Royal Academy of Music and principal trumpet with the London Sinfonietta, a contemporary music ensemble.
assumed to be able to be played at any speed and in any manner to meet the composer’s desire. As opposed to the origins of the cornet in its association with the more vernacular and vulgar aspects of life as depicted in musical passages, the trumpet is an instrument that from its longstanding history has been associated with the more aristocratic elements of society, heralding the entrance of royalty, for instance.