Herald trumpets make a triumphant return at UConn

A centuries-old musical instrument the presence of which in Connecticut was put at risk, or at least on hold, by the pandemic has made its triumphant return.

They're called herald trumpets. You've seen them in movies.

“You would recognize it as a trumpet, but with a long, extended bell that kind of stretches out much further in front of the trumpet than a normal trumpet would,” said Louis Hanzlik, professor of trumpet at the University of Connecticut.

“I like to think of them as the doorbell for a castle perhaps, or the pronouncement that there's war about to happen,” he said. “Trumpets are associated with war or battle. Trumpets have always had this long, bellkind-of shape to them.”

The extended bell is used, Hanzlik said, as a place from which to hang a banner.

“It's more of a ceremonial instrument,” he said.

At UConn, that banner is blue, with a stylized oak leaf and acorns in white.

The university's herald trumpet ensemble, consisting of three soprano herald trumpet players, two baritone herald trumped players and a snare drum, goes back decades. It predates Hanzlik, who started at UConn 13 years ago.

The ensemble may be unique. Hanzlik could not think of another university with a herald trumpet group.

“Not that I've seen. Especially one that I think that has this much tradition, that has this much sort of pomp associated with it,” he said. “It's all choreographed in terms of the way you might see the finest state marching bands execute steps and horn turns and things. So it's quite the visual as well as musical addition to the ceremony. I think it really kicks off all those commencements in a way that is pretty unique for universities.”

The herald trumpet itself is centuries old, as is the music the ensemble plays, though the instrument has been updated from the Baroque and Renaissance era. The addition of valves, features of modern trumpets, came in the 1800s.

“I think the fanfares we've been using, they're from, probably, 1600s. Europe,” Hanzlik said. “We treat the fanfares that we play as equal to the most beautiful piece of music you've ever heard. We want it to be together, we want it to sound in tune, we want it to be stunning, and really impact the listener in the way it's supposed to, which is to announce something and get somebody excited about what's to come.”

But the pandemic put a stop to the ensemble, as it did all public musical performance.

“We had the herald trumpeters at commencement in 2019,” Hanzlik said. “We had started discussion, I remember, February, March about getting the ensemble together for the 2020 commencement. And then, of course, everything went totally bananas.”

There was some discussion about recording the ensemble's performance for use during the university's pre-recorded, online commencement, but by then all the students had left campus. The virus was new, and nobody knew what was safe and what wasn't.