Day 247 - "Fanfare"

May 10, 2021

With gallery 680,  I begin my explorations of the musical instruments galleries.  Actually, this is my second trip to the gallery. The first time, I noted that recordings of the sounds that various instruments make are available, but the earphones I had with me didn't fit my new IPhone.  (I could say that this planned obsolescence is a way for Apple to make more money, except that the new phone came equipped with earphones that I hadn't bothered to remove from their case.)  I listened to the recordings at home and then again on my second visit, and they do add a good deal to the experience.

I've wondered why there are galleries devoted to musical instruments at the Met (aside, of course, from patrons' bequests), since the aesthetic purposes of the instruments are subordinate to their sound-producing functions. Still, the secondary role of aesthetics is hardly unique to musical instruments: a dish or vase is made to hold something, not just to look beautiful (well, maybe some of the Greek vases awarded as prizes were made primarily to look beautiful), an image of the Madonna is meant to inspire faith and prayer, and its beauty helps it serve that aim.  And it's clear that many of the instruments in this gallery were created with aesthetic interests in mind: - for example, Chinese trumpets with cloisonne' inlays, a long instrument the mouth (or "bell") of which  takes the form of a fish. Moreover, art of all kinds functions as a signifier of status, and that is certainly true of many instruments in this gallery.

Gallery 680 is devoted to brass instruments and has the moniker "Fanfare," which is entirely appropriate given that a fanfare, according to the placard, is a short tune played on brass instruments to introduce something or someone important.  The gallery is a spectacular introduction to the musical instruments galleries. The main display in the gallery is wonderfully inventive - and beautiful.  It consists of a large plexiglass case in which some 60 instruments appear to be suspended in midair. (Actually, they are attached  to the sides of the case by nearly invisible plexiglass rods.) At the center of the display, and given pride of place, is a conch shell, because it is believed that such shells were the first instruments into which men blew to create sound. The instruments radiating out from the center come from a variety of cultures, countries, and time periods- they include shofars, a vuvuzela, and horns from China, Tibet, and Peru  - with each instrument labeled as to provenance, date, material, and the purpose(s) that the instrument served.

Many of the instruments are made of materials other than brass, and among the many things I learn from the signage (which made me realize how ignorant I am about most musical instruments!) is that "brass" refers not to the material from which the instruments are made but to the way they produce sound -- through being blown into with vibrating lips. I also learn that "natural" horns are those without valves or stops or other ways to to change the pitch, other than by placing one's hand in the bell to varying degrees, and that horns with  devices for altering the pitch  were invented in the 1700s. I learn, too, that horns were used to herald the arrival of important people, to give added significance to rituals, to instill courage in soldiers, and generally to communicate beyond the range of the human voice. And I learn that the musical uses of brass instruments derive from the hunt, an aristocratic pastime par excellence, in which a series of distinctive calls alerted the huntsmen to what was going on in the field.  As used in early orchestral settings, horns conjured up this aristocratic atmosphere.

Today's object is a ceramic hunting horn, perhaps 26 inches long and equally tall, that was made in Europe in the mid-19th century. You can't help but notice it because its blue and white floral design make it stand out in the display of mostly gold-hued instruments.  The label describes the purpose of the instrument as "status," and indeed, it's hard for me to imagine what the instrument would sound like. But it's unquestionably a thing of beauty.