a) 1. Trumpets (B♭-A). Clear and fairly penetrating in tone, stirring and rousing in forte passages; in piano phrases the high notes are full and silvery, the low notes troubled, as though threatening danger.
2. Alto trumpet (in F). An instrument of my own invention, first used by me in the opera-ballet Mlada. In the deep register (notes 2 to 3 in the trumpet scale) it possesses a fuller, clearer, and finer tone. Two ordinary trumpets with an alto trumpet produce greater smoothness and equality in resonance than three ordinary trumpets. Satisfied with the beauty and usefulness of the alto trumpet, I have consistently written for it in my later works, combined with wood-wind in three's.
Note. To obviate the difficulty of using the alto trumpet in ordinary theatres and some concert rooms, I have not brought into play the last four notes of its lowest register or their neighbouring chromatics; by this means the alto trumpet part may be played by an ordinary trumpet in B♭ or A.
3. Small trumpet (in E♭-D). Invented by me and used for the first time in Mlada to realise the very high trumpet notes without difficulty. In tonality and range the instrument is similar to the soprano cornet in a military band.
Note. The small trumpet, (B♭-A) sounding an octave higher than the ordinary trumpet has not yet appeared in musical literature.
b) Cornets (in B♭-A). Possessing a quality of tone similar to the trumpet, but softer and weaker. It is a beautiful instrument though rarely employed today in theatre or concert room. Expert players can imitate the cornet tone on the trumpet, and vice versa.
c) Horn (in F). The tone of this instrument is soft, poetical, and full of beauty. In the lower register it is dark and brilliant; round and full in the upper. The middle notes resemble those of the bassoon and the two instruments blend well together. The horn, therefore, serves as a link between the brass and wood-wind. In spite of valves the horn has but little mobility and would seem to produce its tone in a languid and lazy manner.
d) Trombone. Dark and threatening in the deepest register, brilliant and triumphant in the high compass. The piano is full but somewhat heavy, the forte powerful and sonorous. Valve trombones are more mobile than slide trombones, but the latter are certainly to be preferred as regards nobility and equality of sound, the more so from the fact that these instruments are rarely required to perform quick passages, owing to the special character of their tone.
e) Tuba. Thick and rough in quality, less characteristic than the trombone, but valuable for the strength and beauty of its low notes. Like the double bass and double bassoon, the tuba is eminently useful for doubling, an octave lower, the bass of the group to which it belongs. Thanks to its valves, the tuba is fairly flexible.