Abblasen
Encyclopedia
Gottfried Reiche
Gottfried Reiche was a German trumpet player and composer of the Baroque era. He is best known for having been Johann Sebastian Bach's chief trumpeter at Leipzig from Bach's arrival there in 1723 until Reiche's death....
. In Haussmann's famous portrait of Reiche, he is seen holding a scrap of paper with two lines of melody written on it. Abblassen is a reconstruction of what appears to be on the manuscript in Haussmann's painting. There is no way of knowing if Reiche actually wrote the melody that appears in the painting, or indeed, to fully confirm that the version of Abblassen that is played today is an accurate transcription of the manuscript.
The piece is usually performed in the key of D, and it spans two octaves of the trumpet's range. A vinyl recording of a version by Don Smithers
Don Smithers
Don Leroy Smithers , music historian and performer on natural trumpet and cornetto. He is a pioneer for the revival of the authentic, uncompromised natural trumpet.-Biography:...
, played on an eight-foot Baroque Trumpet
Baroque trumpet
The baroque trumpet is a musical instrument in the brass family. It was invented in the mid-20th century based on ideas from the natural trumpet of the 16th to 18th centuries and designed to allow modern performers to imitate the earlier instrument for music of that time...
, was used as the theme song to CBS News Sunday Morning
CBS News Sunday Morning
CBS News Sunday Morning is an American television news magazine program created by Robert Northshield and original host Charles Kuralt. The program has aired continuously since January 28, 1979 on the CBS Television Network, airing in the Eastern US on Sunday from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m...
for almost 20 years until CBS opted to switch out the vinyl recording with a clearer digital recording performed by Doc Severinsen
Doc Severinsen
Carl Hilding "Doc" Severinsen is an American pop and jazz trumpeter. He is best known for leading the NBC Orchestra on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.-Early life:...
on a piccolo trumpet
Piccolo trumpet
The smallest of the trumpet family is the piccolo trumpet, pitched one octave higher than the standard B trumpet. Most piccolo trumpets are built to play in either B or A, using a separate leadpipe for each key. The tubing in the B piccolo trumpet is one-half the length of that in a standard B...
. Severinsen's version, which was noticeably not in the Baroque style, was later replaced by a recording by Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...
. Reiche actually composed 122 pieces entitled Abblasen-Stücken, but only one survived to the modern day.