The trombetti were corps of heraldic trumpet players in Italy during the Renaissance. The ensemble of trumpeters are sometimes also referred to as tubatores or simply as trumpeters; however, I will refer to them as trombetti. By trumpet, I do not mean the valved, chromatically capable instrument that is called a trumpet today. The trumpets of the trombetti more resemble the bugle than any other modern instrument, in that they can only play harmonic notes, as bugles do. Unlike bugles, which are folded and compact, the trumpets of the trombetti were generally long, straight tubes, although trumpets in that period could also be folded or curved in various ways. Some of these straight trumpets were so long that the player could not hold it by himself, but required a second person to hold the end. There is a description of a procession in Venice that included the Doge's six trumpets, "Next follow the silver trumpets, held up in front on the shoulders of several youths. . .".Giovanni, p. 22 While the trumpets of the trombetti could certainly perform by themselves, they were often paired with drums. The term trombetti may have referred to ensembles containing not only the trumpets for which the ensemble was named, but also drummers.
There were three main venues of patronage for the trombetti in Italy during this period. Many cities, especially in Northern Italy, would support a band of pifarri, or trombetti, or both. Most of the wealthier courts of Italy would, as a matter of pride, also maintain pifarri and trombetti ensembles. Indeed, there was considerable competition between courts for the better players, singers and other artists, both musical and nonmusical. A third source of patronage for instrumental ensembles was the Roman Catholic church. Not only would the churches maintain groups of instrumentalists, but religious leaders might support ensembles independent of a church or cathedral. One example of this sort of religious patron was the Doge, who was the spiritual leader of Venice. The Doge, by tradition, was required to maintain six silver trumpets out of his own purse. His trombetti relieved the city of Venice from its obligation to maintain a band of their own, at least in through the fifteenth century: "These silver trumpets fulfilled one of the functions of the pifarri in other towns where public show demanded them as symbols of authority rather than for any musical purpose." FCMV, p.49
The obligations of the municipal trombetti and the court trombetti were very similar, and were generally less musical than they were ceremonial and functional. The very presence and existence of trombetti gave a town or court prestige, and acted as a symbol of authority and power. One way this operated was that on occasions when distinguished visitors arrived the trombetti would perform and thus display that the patron was wealthy and prosperous enough to support the musicians. The trombetti also helped boost the images of their patrons by playing at official ceremonies and during big triumphant entries, when victors returned from battles. One example of the use of trombetti during one such triumphant entry was Alfonso Borgia's return to Naples, on 23 February 1443: "In addition to the customary pennant-draped royal trumpeters--at least twelve of them on this day--who were set on a 'carro triumfale', there were numerous other music-filled floats. . ." M&M, p. 160
The performance obligations of trombetti were not limited to reputation enhancing special events and processions. They also served an important role in everyday life. For instance in Florence there were two different sets of trumpeters as early as 1297. One set was composed of six tubatores for the comune, and the other had one banditore assigned to each quarter of the city. The banditore's functions were to make official announcements to the public while dressed in red and green clothing and holding (although not necessarily playing) a silver trumpet. Lockwood, p. 139 The eight salaried trumpeters of Perugia were regularly employed and given a horse and a uniform. Their main purpose was to make announcements as well, "'. . .in such a way that they are satisfactorily heard by al [sic]. . .'"Lockwood, p. 139 The Perugian trumpeters could earn extra money by making announcements regarding personal legal acts, such as announcing wills and donations. The trumpeters of the trombetti were present at many festive events and could be gathered from far and wide for the most important. One example, according to the first hand account of Tristano Calcho, was the wedding of Alfonso d'Este to Anna Maria Sforza in 1491 where there were forty-six pairs of trumpet players--that is ninety-two trumpets!
There was an additional aspect to the job for the trombetti that served in a religious context. I have already mentioned that the Doge maintained a band of trombetti, but he was not the only church figure to maintain instrumentalists. Popes, for example, would maintain their own trombetti and pifarri: "These instrumentalists routinely contributed fanfares for processions and entertainment for banquets, along with more prosaic duties such as accompanying the cannons that sounded a volley whenever a cardinal crossed the Tiber on his way to the Vatican."M&M, p. 76
An interesting problem with all the ensembles I am studying is that little music was ever written for them, and even less published. This was mostly because the trombetti could not play the full chromatic range that a trombone or modern trumpet could, but were limited to the harmonics on their instruments (those would be, for instance, the notes playable on a modern trumpet without pressing any valves). Thus, whatever repertoire the trombetti had would be comprised of mostly fanfares and flourishes, much like the army bugle calls. It is unlikely that their music ever needed to be written down and even more unlikely that having been written, it would ever have been published, since it was necessarily simple. It was not complicated enough to warrant the effort of the very difficult process of printing and publishing music. As I. Fenlon says, "Much of the music played by these ensembles of trumpeters, pifarri (bands of trombones and shawms) and singers and string players. . . was orally transmitted." M&M, p. 27 While this was probably not a problem for musicians of that period, it does leave music historians without much material on the ensemble or its capabilities.
Periodically the instrumentalists of the trombetti would perform in collaboration with the pifarri, who were slightly more likely to have music that was composed (simply because they were more flexible and could play chromatic tones). Some of the trombetti players probably even played other instruments, perhaps those of the pifarri. This must have encouraged collaboration and cooperation between the two ensembles. More rarely, the trombetti may even have performed in the interludes (known as "intermedii") between the acts of plays, or before or after the performances of the plays. Unfortunately, we have little occasional music from these plays, or any of these specific events, since music composed for a special occasion was not reusable. For example, music composed for a particular intermedio performance was almost immediately rendered obsolete, as it was dependent on the context of the play, and the plays that provided context were rarely, if ever, performed more than once.
There is some debate on the role of the trombetti in the intermedii. The louder wind instruments, such as the trumpets of the trombetti, may not have been considered quite appropriate for indoor use, even in a theater: "Trumpets, bagpipes, shawms and the other loudest members of the sixteenth-century instrumentarium are conspicuously absent from the intermedio ensembles. . ."Brown, p. 57 The question lies, however, in whether the sources are silent about the contribution of the trombetti because they did not contribute regularly to the intermedii, or for other reasons:
Unfortunately, the sources from that period do not make clear which of these scenarios is correct, and the scholar has no other way of knowing.
The primary role of the trombetti was, however, not so much musical as it was formal and utilitarian. While they were called upon to perform in musical contexts, the importance of the heraldic trumpeters was as messengers and announcers, as in the case of the banditore of Florence. They also functioned as diplomats, and were called upon to carry messages and information between two courts, or even between courts and battlefields. The trombetti were status symbols, and even (during times of battle) alarm clocks that awoke the soldiers in the morning.
The background and status of these musicians was as varied as their duties. Lockwood says of the social status of trombetti that they were ". . . very likely from poorer backgrounds than many of the singers or even the wind players. . ." Lockwood, p. 141.This does not mean that the trumpeters were not important or well paid--indeed, as Lockwood says, "In 1503 the average salary of the trombetti [at Ferrara] was 183 LM per annum, outdone only by the most outstanding pifarri but higher than the average of LM 145 for the chapel singers (in the years of Josquin's presence as leader)." Lockwood, p. 141--only that they were not as musically literate and educated as their pifarri brethren, and thus did not have the inter-court mobility of other musicians. In some ways the trombetti, especially those of the courts, might as well be considered diplomats as musicians, not only in regards to their duties but in their social status. For example, ". . .the leading trumpet-player at the court of Ferrara, one Raganello, earned 252 lira (=about 78 ducats) in 1503, more than any singer at the court except Josquin." Aragon, p. 100 It would be difficult to see how, with the severe musical limits of the straight trumpet, this remuneration could be for artistic merit. Atlas offers a justification for this exceptional salary, ". . .the generous salaries that the trumpeters received underscore the multi-faceted--generally non-artistic--services that they rendered. . ." Aragon, p. 100
Despite some trumpet players' roles as diplomat, the general social status of the trombetti cannot be categorized definitively as either high or low, near-courtier or mere peon. In all probability it depended almost completely on the trumpeter himself, his particular station, temperament, and talent. The best, and perhaps best born, were chosen as couriers while the lesser trumpeters simply performed in the ceremonial and civic duties. We do know that Isabella D'Este, who was at Mantua around the end of the fifteenth century onward, had strong opinions regarding them and, ". . .did not patronize 'bufoons, clowns or trumpeters', but rather, 'good, virtuous and learned persons' whom she rewarded with great liberality."M&M p. 144-145 How seriously we can take Isabella's characterization of trumpets as equal with "bufoons" and "clowns" is uncertain. However it is an interesting indication of the position, or at least perception, of the trombetti in Italian society that they are not necessarily "good, virtuous and learned persons."
It is not only the social status of the trombetti that is difficult to define. The chronological limits of the trumpet ensemble are also problematic. Court trumpeters, in world history, have been around since the time of the Old Testament patriarch David. There is no telling how long some sort of trumpet ensemble had a position on the peninsula of Italy. In some ways, the descendants of the trombetti and the ensembles like them are still with us in the form of drum and bugle corps and military buglers. It would be almost impossible to delineate the borders of the specific manifestation of the trumpet ensemble that were the trombetti. Certainly they existed before 1450, and did not disappear by 1620, but were indeed the most enduring of the ensembles I am studying.