Tenor Cornett - Timbre

Timbre

The timbre or sound quality of the tenor cornett is somewhat horn-like with an agreeable woodwind character. In the hands of an experienced player, the tenor cornett has a smooth sound, which is an ideal link between the sound of the higher cornetti and the lower trombones. Some have described the sound as "foggy".

The instrument blends extremely well with male voices, particularly those of countertenors. Michael Praetorius was not enthusiastic about the sound of the tenor cornett, he describes it as "bullocky and horn-like" in his Syntagma Musicum of 1619. He suggests that a trombone is to be preferred and the alto and tenor voices of cornett and trombone ensembles was usually played on trombones. However, tenor cornetts seem to have been common enough and composers like Gabrieli, Lassus, Hassler and Schütz (the 4th cornetto part of the Psalmen Davids of 1619 requires a tenor cornett) frequently made use of this instrument. It was speculated, by Christopher Monk, that Praetorius heard the instrument played rather badly on several occasions. The In Dulci Jubilo à 20 cum Tubis setting by Praetorius from his vast Polyhymnia Caduceatrix & Panegyrica of 1619, seems to require a tenor cornett on the third line of Choro I, the part is scored for a viola (alto) and a cornett playing together. The 1619 Polyhymnia and, indeed, other collections by Praetorius, contain works with parts plausibly intended for tenor cornetts.

The tenor cornett has a powerful forte, yet its piano is soft enough to render it a suitable substitute for the C bass in a recorder consort. Cornettists Douglas Kirk and Nicholas Perry very effectively and beguilingly play tenor cornetts in the 1991 recording Giovanni Gabrieli: Canzonas, Sonatas & Motets by the Taverner Consort, Choir & Players, directed by Andrew Parrott. Originally on EMI (CDC 7 54265 2), this recording is now available on the Virgin label. Roland Wilson and his group Musica Fiata employ tenor cornetts in their recordings of the Psalmen Davids of Heinrich Schütz and the Music for San Rocco recording of music by Giovanni Gabrieli and his contemporaries. Both recordings are available on the Sony label.