Salpinx
Encyclopedia
A salpinx was a trumpet
-like instrument of the ancient Greeks.
players of the era. Though similar to the Roman tuba
, the salpinx was shorter than the approximately 1.5 meter long Roman tuba
. A rare example of a salpinx, held at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, is unique in that it is constructed from thirteen sections of bone connected using tenons and sockets (with bronze ferrules) rather than the long, bronze tube described elsewhere. This salpinx is over 1.57 m long dwarfing the common salpinx which is estimated to have been around 0.8 – 1.20 m long.
is found in many early civilizations and therefore makes it difficult to discern when and where the long, straight trumpet design found in the salpinx originated. References to the salpinx are found frequently in Greek literature and art. Early descriptions of the sound of the salpinx can be found in Homer
’s Iliad
(9th or 8th century BC), however, this Archaic reference is more unique and frequent references are not found until the Classical period
. Similar instruments can be found in Anatolia
, Mesopotamia
, and Egypt
, though the salpinx is most closely related to the Egyptian version. References to the salpinx in classical literature include mention of the instrument as tyrrhene a derivative of Tyrrhenoi, an exonym often employed by the Greeks
as an allusion to the Etruscan
people. Bronze instruments were important among the Etruscans and as a people they were held in high regard by the Greeks for their musical contributions. The salpinx as an Etruscan invention is thus supported by the Greeks and various descriptions can be found among the authors Aeschylus
, Pollux
, and Sophocles
. It is likely that the salpinx was introduced to the Greeks in some way through the Etruscans, however, scattered references to the salpinx prior to Greek contact with the Etruscans, as well as the myriad salpinx type instruments described by Eustathius of Thessalonia, suggests some small level of uncertainty in regard to whether or not the instrument came to the Greeks directly from the Etruscans or through some intermediary source.
When encountered in Greek art
and literature, the salpinx is usually depicted as being played by a soldier. Fifth century authors frequently associated its "piercing sound" with war; the instrument often being used for signalling, summoning crowds and beginning chariot races. This is supported in the writing of Aristotle
who, in De Audibilibus, explained that salpinges were used as "...instruments of summons in war, at the games, and so on, not to make music." Aristides Quintilianus
described the necessity of the salpinx and salpingtis (a player of the salpinx) in battle in his treatise, On Music. He explains that each command to troops was given using specific tones or "melodies" played on the salpinx. This action allowed for an entire army to receive a command at once as well as provide a level of secrecy as these salpinx calls were specific to a group and would be unknown to an opponent. Yet despite its distinctive sound, the shrill blasts of the salpinx would have had a difficult time overcoming the clashing of metal, the cries of the wounded, the roars of aggression from rows of soldiers. This is why the salpinx was primarily used before battle to summon men to prepare for battle and to sound the charge.
Andrew Barker, however, describes a possible exception to the utilitarian usage of the salpinx referencing Aristotle
, who wrote, "...that is why everyone, when engaging in revelry, relaxes the tension of the breath in playing the salpinx, so as to make the sound as gentle as possible." It is suggested here that the salpinx may have found use in festive occasions as well as war. This notion is corroborated by Nikos Xanthoulis in his article "The Salpinx in Greek Antiquity". Here, he draws particular attention to Aristotle
's statement that "...participants of a komos
unbend the tension of the exhaling air in the salpinx, in order to make the sound smoother." The komos
, a street festival with music and dance, would require an "unbending of tension" in order to create a more pleasing tone thus indicating a usage for the instrument outside of the military. Another more universal function of the salpinx was to use it as a means of bringing silence to a rambunctious crowd or at a large gathering. This was both useful in a societal setting in places such as large assemblies and as a tool to quiet soldiers while a general addressed his men.
The Salpinx is part of the Lost Sounds Orchestra, alongside other ancient instruments whose sounds have been recreated by ASTRA, including the epigonion
, the aulos
, the barbiton
and the Syrinx (instrument).
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
-like instrument of the ancient Greeks.
Construction
The salpinx consisted of a straight, narrow bronze tube with a mouthpiece of bone and a bell (also constructed of bronze) of variable shape and size; extant descriptions describe conical, bulb-like, and spherical structures. Each type of bell may have had a unique effect on the sound made by the instrument. The instrument has been depicted in some classical era vases as employing the use of a phorbeia, similar to those used by aulosAulos
An aulos or tibia was an ancient Greek wind instrument, depicted often in art and also attested by archaeology.An aulete was the musician who performed on an aulos...
players of the era. Though similar to the Roman tuba
Roman tuba
The tuba of ancient Rome is a military signal trumpet, quite different from the modern tuba. The tuba was produced around 500 BC. Its shape was straight, in contrast to the military buccina or cornu, which was more like the modern tuba in curving around the body. Its origin is thought to be...
, the salpinx was shorter than the approximately 1.5 meter long Roman tuba
Roman tuba
The tuba of ancient Rome is a military signal trumpet, quite different from the modern tuba. The tuba was produced around 500 BC. Its shape was straight, in contrast to the military buccina or cornu, which was more like the modern tuba in curving around the body. Its origin is thought to be...
. A rare example of a salpinx, held at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, is unique in that it is constructed from thirteen sections of bone connected using tenons and sockets (with bronze ferrules) rather than the long, bronze tube described elsewhere. This salpinx is over 1.57 m long dwarfing the common salpinx which is estimated to have been around 0.8 – 1.20 m long.
Origin
The trumpetTrumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
is found in many early civilizations and therefore makes it difficult to discern when and where the long, straight trumpet design found in the salpinx originated. References to the salpinx are found frequently in Greek literature and art. Early descriptions of the sound of the salpinx can be found in Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
’s Iliad
Iliad
The Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles...
(9th or 8th century BC), however, this Archaic reference is more unique and frequent references are not found until the Classical period
Classical Greece
Classical Greece was a 200 year period in Greek culture lasting from the 5th through 4th centuries BC. This classical period had a powerful influence on the Roman Empire and greatly influenced the foundation of Western civilizations. Much of modern Western politics, artistic thought, such as...
. Similar instruments can be found in Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
, Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
, and Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, though the salpinx is most closely related to the Egyptian version. References to the salpinx in classical literature include mention of the instrument as tyrrhene a derivative of Tyrrhenoi, an exonym often employed by the Greeks
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
as an allusion to the Etruscan
Etruscan civilization
Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to a civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany. The ancient Romans called its creators the Tusci or Etrusci...
people. Bronze instruments were important among the Etruscans and as a people they were held in high regard by the Greeks for their musical contributions. The salpinx as an Etruscan invention is thus supported by the Greeks and various descriptions can be found among the authors Aeschylus
Aeschylus
Aeschylus was the first of the three ancient Greek tragedians whose work has survived, the others being Sophocles and Euripides, and is often described as the father of tragedy. His name derives from the Greek word aiskhos , meaning "shame"...
, Pollux
Julius Pollux
Julius Pollux was a Greek or Egyptian grammarian and sophist from Alexandria who taught at Athens, where he was appointed professor of rhetoric at the Academy by the emperor Commodus — on account of his melodious voice, according to Philostratus' Lives of the Sophists. Nothing of his...
, and Sophocles
Sophocles
Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides...
. It is likely that the salpinx was introduced to the Greeks in some way through the Etruscans, however, scattered references to the salpinx prior to Greek contact with the Etruscans, as well as the myriad salpinx type instruments described by Eustathius of Thessalonia, suggests some small level of uncertainty in regard to whether or not the instrument came to the Greeks directly from the Etruscans or through some intermediary source.
Uses
Greek art
Greek art began in the Cycladic and Minoan prehistorical civilization, and gave birth to Western classical art in the ancient period...
and literature, the salpinx is usually depicted as being played by a soldier. Fifth century authors frequently associated its "piercing sound" with war; the instrument often being used for signalling, summoning crowds and beginning chariot races. This is supported in the writing of Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
who, in De Audibilibus, explained that salpinges were used as "...instruments of summons in war, at the games, and so on, not to make music." Aristides Quintilianus
Aristides Quintilianus
Aristides Quintilianus was the Greek author of an ancient musical treatise, Perì musikês , who probably lived in the third century AD. According to Marcus Meibomius, in whose collection Aristides Quintilianus (Greek: Ἀριστείδης Κοϊντιλιανός) was the Greek author of an ancient musical treatise,...
described the necessity of the salpinx and salpingtis (a player of the salpinx) in battle in his treatise, On Music. He explains that each command to troops was given using specific tones or "melodies" played on the salpinx. This action allowed for an entire army to receive a command at once as well as provide a level of secrecy as these salpinx calls were specific to a group and would be unknown to an opponent. Yet despite its distinctive sound, the shrill blasts of the salpinx would have had a difficult time overcoming the clashing of metal, the cries of the wounded, the roars of aggression from rows of soldiers. This is why the salpinx was primarily used before battle to summon men to prepare for battle and to sound the charge.
Andrew Barker, however, describes a possible exception to the utilitarian usage of the salpinx referencing Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
, who wrote, "...that is why everyone, when engaging in revelry, relaxes the tension of the breath in playing the salpinx, so as to make the sound as gentle as possible." It is suggested here that the salpinx may have found use in festive occasions as well as war. This notion is corroborated by Nikos Xanthoulis in his article "The Salpinx in Greek Antiquity". Here, he draws particular attention to Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
's statement that "...participants of a komos
Komos
The Komos was a ritualistic drunken procession performed by revelers in ancient Greece, whose participants were known as komasts. Its precise nature has been difficult to reconstruct from the diverse literary sources and evidence derived from vase painting....
unbend the tension of the exhaling air in the salpinx, in order to make the sound smoother." The komos
Komos
The Komos was a ritualistic drunken procession performed by revelers in ancient Greece, whose participants were known as komasts. Its precise nature has been difficult to reconstruct from the diverse literary sources and evidence derived from vase painting....
, a street festival with music and dance, would require an "unbending of tension" in order to create a more pleasing tone thus indicating a usage for the instrument outside of the military. Another more universal function of the salpinx was to use it as a means of bringing silence to a rambunctious crowd or at a large gathering. This was both useful in a societal setting in places such as large assemblies and as a tool to quiet soldiers while a general addressed his men.
Modern Use
The sound of the salpinx is being digitally recreated by the Ancient Instruments Sound/Timbre Reconstruction Application (ASTRA) project which uses Physical modeling synthesis to simulate the sound of the salpinx. Due to the complexity of this process, the ASTRA project uses grid computing on hundreds of computers throughout Europe to model the sounds.The Salpinx is part of the Lost Sounds Orchestra, alongside other ancient instruments whose sounds have been recreated by ASTRA, including the epigonion
Epigonion
An epigonion was an ancient stringed instrument mentioned in Athenaeus , probably a psaltery. The epigonion was invented, or at least introduced into Greece, by Epigonus of Ambracia, a Greek musician of Ambracia in Epirus, who was admitted to citizenship at Sicyon as a recognition of his great...
, the aulos
Aulos
An aulos or tibia was an ancient Greek wind instrument, depicted often in art and also attested by archaeology.An aulete was the musician who performed on an aulos...
, the barbiton
Barbiton
The barbiton, or barbitos , is an ancient stringed instrument known from Greek and Roman classics related to the lyre...
and the Syrinx (instrument).
See also
- History of primitive and non-Western trumpets