Bachology

Bach's Rotary Valve Trumpets (Appendix)
by Roy Hempley and Doug Lehrer
© January 21, 2002


The above picture shows Bach in Europe with his primary instrument, a cornet. The cornet's brand is unknown, but it is interesting, exhibiting a rather gradual bell flare for most of its length. It appears that this photograph was taken in Vienna. (The photograph was taken from an Internet posting and does not have sufficient resolution for enlargement.)

Bach spent his entire youth as a citizen of the Dual Monarchy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Founded in 1867, the Empire was comprised of two nearly equal portions. At the time, the western portion (Austria) sometimes was called Cis-Leithania after the Leitha River which separated the two halves. The Empire remained intact until 1918 when World War I ended.

Bach was born in 1890 near Vienna in the western portion of the Empire. He lived there until he immigrated to the United States in 1914, the year World War I began.

VINDOBONA
Bach called his Mt Vernon rotary valve trumpets Vindobona trumpets. The authors spent some time trying to find a satisfactory definition of the word Vindobona.

The authors had heard that Vindobona was an old name for Vienna and started their research from that point. The first thing they discovered was that Vienna was first used as a name for that city during the 12th Century. They also discovered that the name Vindobona predated the name Vienna by some 11 centuries and perhaps by quite a bit more. Moreover, it represented a region along the Danube River and not a town. Therefore, in the authors' judgment, Vindobona is not synonymous with Vienna.

The following is included to offer some explanation. At one time, the Roman Empire extended as far north as the Danube River, encompassing that area now known as Austria. The Romans, in an effort to protect their borders from northern (Germanic) invaders, established at least two camps for their Legions near this northern border. A town grew up near the eastern-most camp, and this town eventually became Vienna.

The region in which the two camps were located was called Vindobona, and it encompassed a large segment of northern Austria. Thus, Vindobona was an area much greater than that occupied by the town that eventually became Vienna. The map below shows the Roman Empire as it existed in 14 AD and includes the general area along the northern border called Vindobona.

The discovery that the Romans recognized the term Vindobona sent the authors in search for a translation of the name from Latin into English. Several people knowledgeable in Latin were asked to take on this translation. The translators had some academic trouble with this, and the closest they were able to come to was “good wine”. Readers are invited to substantiate or refute this definition.

The authors had settled on this translation when Austrian friends came to their aid with further information that the term Vindobona more than likely preceded the Roman Empire and was of Celtic origin. It was reported to have meant something like “golden fields” and may have referred to the same general area as that indicated by the Romans.

The authors made half-hearted attempts to sort out the Celtic tribes living in and around the southern part of Europe. They discovered that the most “Germanic” of those tribes settled in the area about 700 years BC, perhaps originating from somewhere around what is now Spain. Little indisputable evidence seems to exist about these people on the whole, much less enough to get an accurate translation of an uncertain term such as Vindobona. Upon recognizing the general obscurity of this topic, the authors receded.

As of now, no unassailable definition of Vindobona has been found. For those with a romantic flare, the term "good wine" from the Latin is as good as any.

It is pretty well assured that the area called Vindobona during the days of the Roman Empire overlapped much the of northern portion of the modern state of Austria. Other than that, there is no apparent connection between Vindobona and Vienna other than Vienna appears to have evolved from the small town outside the eastern-most of the Roman camps located in that region. The authors caution that some references, including the Encyclopedia Britannica, disagree with the authors on this and equate Vindobona with Vienna.

TEUTONIC
Bach described the sound of his Vindobona instruments as “Teutonic”. The first question that the authors asked was, What did Bach mean by “Teutonic”? The following are two dictionary definitions of related to this descriptive word.

Definition: Teuton. (1) A member of an ancient (prob.) Germanic or Celtic people. (2) A member of a people speaking a language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family. Esp. German
Definition Teutonic: adj. Of, relating to, or characteristic of the Teutons.

What one gleans from this is an idea that “Teutonic” is probably related to the Germanic peoples. The authors decided that this was close enough, and they assume that Bach was looking for a sound that was appealing to Germanic people. Of course, this idea of a sound Bach called Teutonic had to make sense in the context of 20th Century trumpet and cornet development.

AUSTRIAN DOUBLE EAGLE
Unlike his other instruments, Bach apparently thought he needed something rather regal to enhance the appearance of his Mt Vernon rotary valve trumpets. Accordingly, these instruments have a shield on them that incorporates the word Vindobona above a symbol that appears to be a coat of arms called the Austrian Double Eagle. The symbols on Bach's shields can be compared to the two depictions of that coat of arms shown and discussed below.

Following a lead provided by Franz Streitwieser that the symbol on Bach's shield was an Austrian Double Eagle, the authors searched through several sources of information on double-headed eagles used in heraldry. The list of entities that have used a double-headed eagle as part of their symbology is long indeed. As might be guessed, a double-headed eagle was for a long time used to represent the various geographical areas that were known as Austria. This one dates back at least to Emperor Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor from 1493 to 1519. In some form, it continued to be symbolic of Austria until the desolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The left main panel of the Imperial Arms of the Austro-Hungarian Empire contains Austria's double-headed eagle (see below). This is essentially the form used by Bach on his Vindobona shields.

The flag representing the Austrian portion of the Empire is shown below with the same double-headed eagle on it.

CONTACT THE AUTHORS

Roy Hempley
7783 Turlock Road
Springfield, VA 22153
rhempley@erols.com

Doug Lehrer
1601 Silver Creek Circle
Sioux Falls, SD 57106
douglehrer@dtgnet.com