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In the text of Shakespeare the word does not occur.
_Cornets_, or _Flourish Cornets_ (only twice).
This is also rare, occurring only eight times in four plays. One case
only is in war, the others being all connected with Royal or triumphal
processions.
The term is by no means synonymous with Trumpets. The Cornet was an
entirely different instrument, and the use of it accordingly is very
much more limited in these stage directions. There were two
instruments called Cornet, the one with a reed, a coarse sort of Oboe
which was nearly obsolete in the 17th century; the other, with which
we are concerned, a sort of Horn (hence its name), with a cup
mouthpiece, and finger holes for the intermediate notes of the scale.
Hawkins gives pictures of a treble, a tenor, and a bass cornet, copied
from Mersennus, who remarks that the sounds of the cornet are
vehement, _but_ that those who are skilful, such as Quiclet, the royal
cornetist (_i.e._, of France, 1648) are able so to soften and modulate
them, that nothing can be more sweet.
Many people now living will remember the Serpent, a large, black,
curly instrument, of thin wood covered with leather, which helped to
play the loud bass in oratorios, within the last fifty years. This
Serpent was a true Cornet in every respect. It may now commonly be
seen in Exhibitions, Museums, and curiosity shops, for it has been
entirely superseded by the Bass Tuba and the Euphonium.
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