Salpinx (musical instrument)
The salpinx ( ancient Greek σάλπιγξ or modern Greek σάλπιγγα ) is an ancient Greek brass instrument in the style of a trumpet .
The Salpinx consists of a straight, tightly bored bronze tube with an instrument mouthpiece made of bone and a bronze bell of different sizes and shapes. It is very likely that it comes from outside Greece. The fallopian tube corresponds to the Lituus the Etruscans and the shorter Roman tuba . Their length is estimated to be around 80–120 cm.
The salpinx is first mentioned in Homer's Iliad (18, 219). It is described in more detail by Aeschylus , Aristotle , Sophocles and Julius Pollux . In pictorial representations it is an attribute of the soldier. With its piercing sound, it was used in classical times as a signaling instrument in the military, at gatherings and chariot races and is not used as a musical instrument. Sometimes a mouth bandage, a phorbeia , seems to have been used when playing the Salpinx , as it was also used when playing the Auloi .
literature
- Ulrich Klein : Salpinx. In: The Little Pauly (KlP). Volume 4, Stuttgart 1972, Col. 1522.
- Nikos Xanthoulis: The Salpinx in Greek Antiquity. In: International Trumpet Guild Journal. Vol. 31, October 2006, pp. 39-45.