The Diary of Samuel Pepys

Daily entries from the 17th century London diary

Trumpet marine

1893 text

The trumpet marine is a stringed instrument having a triangular-shaped body or chest and a long neck, a single string raised on a bridge and running along the body and neck. It was played with a bow.

3 Annotations

Terry Foreman   Link to this

Tromba Marina (Trompette Marine) -- sound and aspect

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXai31rKtqo

Pepys wrote 24 October 1667: "we in to see a Frenchman, at the house, where my wife’s father last lodged, one Monsieur Prin, play on the trump-marine, which he do beyond belief; and, the truth is, it do so far outdo a trumpet as nothing more, and he do play anything very true, and it is most admirable and at first was a mystery to me that I should hear a whole concert of chords together at the end of a pause, but he showed me that it was only when the last notes were 5ths or 3rds, one to another, and then their sounds like an Echo did last so as they seemed to sound all together. The instrument is open at the end, I discovered; but he would not let me look into it, but I was mightily pleased with it, and he did take great pains to shew me all he could do on it, which was very much, and would make an excellent concert, two or three of them, better than trumpets can ever do, because of their want of compass." http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1667/10/24/

Terry Foreman   Link to this

The Tromba Marina

A rather comprehensive guide to the instrument, its literature, etc.
©1978 by Dwight Newton, Mewzilk.com organologist. Revised, but resources not updated, April, 2002.
http://mewzik.com/research/tm/index.php

Terry Foreman   Link to this

Images from The Pressler Gallery - National Music Museum

Trumpet Marine (Trumscheit), Switzerland, ca. 1675-1750

http://orgs.usd.edu/nmm/BowedStringsOther/Tromb...

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References

  • 1667