Radiant sound in the middle of the Thirty Years' War
12.11.2025,
This masterpiece of craftsmanship is beautiful in its simple elegance and silvery, radiant sound. Hanns Hainlein (1598-1671) was appointed master craftsman just two years before this trumpet was made. He was by no means alone in his hometown of Nuremberg: at the time, a total of twenty workshops for metal wind instruments were located in the economically extremely favourably situated, proud imperial city in the centre of Europe. During the Renaissance and Baroque periods, the contemporary adage "Nuremberg's jewellery goes through all countries" can undoubtedly also apply to the highest quality (metal) wind instruments.
Die Trompete dieser Zeit ist eine „Naturtrompete“. Von ihrer heutigen modernen Nachfahrin unterscheidet sie sich äußerlich in ihrer Form und dadurch in Spielweise und Tonvorrat: Das bügelförmig gewundene Rohr ist doppelt so lang wie bei heutigen Instrumenten und verfügt noch über keinerlei Ventile oder Klappen. Während derlei technische Entwicklungen späterer Zeit ein chromatisches Spiel aller Tonarten ermöglicht, kann die Barocktrompete prinzipiell nur die Naturtonreihe auf ihrem jeweiligen Grundton (in der Regel D, B und C) wiedergeben.
Betrachtet man das Werk Johann Sebastian Bachs, so sind Trompeten in der überwiegenden Zahl seiner Kompositionen – kirchlich wie weltlich – sehr präsent und verlangen den Spielenden oft ein hohes Maß an Virtuosität ab, da jeder Ton nur über Lippen und Atem angesteuert werden kann. Vieles spricht dafür, dass bereits zu Bachs Lebzeiten Trompeten mit Intonationslöchern versehen wurden, um den Ansprüchen an saubere Töne auch in den besonders schwierig zu blasenden obersten Clarin-Lagen besser gerecht werden zu können.
The trumpet symbolises more than almost any other musical instrument its representative function in churches, at court and in the councils of emerging cities. However, it is also a sad fact that there was a far greater demand for trumpets for military purposes. Hanns Hainlein created this example at the height of the Thirty Years' War, which placed the Nuremberg region in the crosshairs of one of the most important battles and a months-long war of siege and attrition: In 1632, the "Battle of the Old Fortress" raged, and Nuremberg's dual role of being both Protestant and loyal to the emperor was put to a horrendous test when the huge armies of Gustav Adolf and Wallenstein clashed. It is estimated that around 50,000 people died horribly in 1632 alone due to hunger, catastrophic hygienic conditions and a massive plague epidemic in and around Nuremberg.
What must it have felt like for Hanns Hainlein, 34 years old and the father of a family, to create such a gem in the midst of all this indescribable suffering? Just like Bach's music a few decades later, these works stand as a "nonetheless" of timeless beauty that makes us pause in amazement to this day.
