View source for Buccina

{{Short description|Ancient Roman war horn}}
{{For|similarly named places in the Czech Republic|Bučina (disambiguation)}}
{{Italics title}}
{{RomanMilitary}}
[[File:Buccina 1.png|thumb|''Buccina'']]
[[File:10 2023 - Palazzo Altemps, Roma, Lazio, 00186, Italia - Sarcofago Grande Ludovisi (dettaglio) (Grande Ludovisi sarcophagus) - Arte Romana - Photo Paolo Villa FO232059 ombre gimp bis.jpg|thumb|[[Ludovisi Battle sarcophagus]]: Detail roman wearing mail, and above him a {{Lang|la|[[cornicen]]}}, a junior officer who communicated signals with the [[cornu (horn)|military horn]] or buccina]]
A '''''buccina''''' ({{langx|la|buccina}}) or '''''bucina''''' ({{langx|la|būcina|link=no}}; {{langx|grc|βυκάνη}}), [[Anglicisation|anglicized]] [[buccin]] or bucine, is a [[brass instrument]] that was used in the ancient [[Military history of the Roman Empire|Roman army]],<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Pagliaro|first=Michael J.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qB53CwAAQBAJ&dq=Buccina&pg=PA68|title=Basic Elements of Music: A Primer for Musicians, Music Teachers, and Students|date=2016-03-16|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-4422-5780-1|language=en}}</ref> similar to the ''[[Cornu (horn)|cornu]]''. An ''[[aeneator]]'' who blew a ''buccina'' was called a "''buccinator''" or "''bucinator''" ({{langx|la|buccinātor, būcinātor|link=no}}).
== Design ==
It was originally designed as a tube made of either bronze or shells.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Smith|first=William|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BpX_DwAAQBAJ&dq=Buccina&pg=PA62|title=A Smaller Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities|date=2020-09-23|publisher=BoD – Books on Demand|isbn=978-3-7525-1057-7|language=en}}</ref><ref name="EB1911"/> However, as time went on more materials started to be used.<ref name=":0" /> It measured {{convert|11|to|12|ft|m|sp=us|order=flip}} in length, of narrow cylindrical bore, and played by means of a cup-shaped [[mouthpiece (brass)|mouthpiece]]. The tube is bent round upon itself from the mouthpiece to the [[bell (wind)|bell]] in the shape of a broad C and is strengthened by means of a bar across the curve, which the performer grasps while playing to steady the instrument; the bell curves over his head or shoulder.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Buccina|volume=4|pages=711–712}}</ref>
== Usage ==
The ''buccina'' was used for the announcement of night watches, to summon soldiers by means of the special signal known as ''classicum'', and to give orders.<ref>[[Livy]] vii. 35, xxvi. 15; Prop. v. 4, 63; [[Tacitus]] Ann. xv. 30; [[Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus|Vegetius]], ''De re militari'', ii. 22, iii. 5; [[Polybius]] vi. 365, xiv. 3, 7.</ref> [[Frontinus]] relates that a Roman general, who had been surrounded by the enemy, escaped during the night by means of the stratagem of leaving behind him a ''buccinator'' (trumpeter), who sounded the watches throughout the night.<ref name="EB1911" /><ref>''Stratagematicon'', i. 5, § 17.</ref>
In the final section of his orchestral work ''[[Pini di Roma]]'' (''Pines of Rome''), [[Ottorino Respighi|Respighi]] calls for six instruments of different ranges notated as "Buccine" (Italian plural), although he expected them to be played on modern [[saxhorn]]s or [[flugelhorn]]s. He also calls for three in the opening movement of his ''[[Feste romane]]'' (''Roman Festivals''), but again notes that they may be replaced by trumpets.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Freed|first=Richard|title=Program notes to ''Feste romane''|url=https://www.kennedy-center.org/artist/composition/2375|publisher=[[Kennedy Center]]|author-link=Richard Freed}}</ref>
== History ==
The instrument is the ancestor of both the [[trumpet]] and the [[trombone]]; the German word for "trombone", ''Posaune'', is linguistically derived from ''Buccina''.<ref name=EB1911/> The ''buccina'' was revived during the [[French Revolution]], along with the [[Cornu (horn)|"tuba curva"]]. Both instruments were first used in the music that [[François Joseph Gossec]] composed for the translation of the remains of [[Voltaire]] to the Pantheon on 11 July 1791.<ref>[http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k58202146.r=constant+pierre.langFR Constant Pierre, Les Hymnes et Chansons de la Révolution française, aperçu général et catalogue, avec notices historiques, analytiques et bibliographiques], 1904, pages 210–213.</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Buccina.html Buccina] in ''Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities''.
*[http://www.roman-colosseum.info/roman-life/roman-music.htm Roman Music] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130119013711/http://roman-colosseum.info/roman-life/roman-music.htm |date=2013-01-19 }}
{{Brass instruments}}{{Natural horns}}
{{Trumpets}}
{{Portal|Ancient Rome}}
[[Category:Brass instruments]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman legionary equipment]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman musical instruments]]
[[Category:Early musical instruments]]
[[Category:Natural horns and trumpets]]