Originally Posted by rowuk

The corno da caccia is not a corno or designed for da caccia, unless trumpet players are "hunting" for horn gigs.

I generally do not like this instrument for baroque things because very seldom does a trumpet player put a horn players hat on. The baroque parts were written to be played the way horns are played (you know with clams and train wrecks), most trumpet players just don't get it. The horn parts need to sound "high". The cdc makes it too easy and does not have that blending timbre of a real horn. Music is much more than being able to play the notes! Nope, not for me.

Originally Posted by kjt

Many people feel the same way about piccolo trumpets versus natural trumpets for Baroque literature. And that's fine. There's no reason for us all to think the same.

Personally, I do like playing the corno da caccia, do like the sound it makes, and do believe that it can blend very well with larger horns given the right approach. In my case, one of my best friends is a very fine hornist and I have spent time working with him and listening to him (and other fine horn players) so that I [at least attempt to] play the corna da caccia in a horn-like manner rather than a trumpet-like manner.

So, not all of us that play these instruments are just trumpet players treating them like trumpets of a different shape. Then again, I often don't treat the piccolo trumpet like a trumpet either, but instead approach it for certain literature more with the concept of a flute sound or an oboe sound in my head, which comes from a lot of listening to flute, recorder and oboe playing.

-keith