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In French scores, the valved bugle — the flugelhorn (bugle en si♭) and its saxhorn relatives; the valveless military bugle is the clairon. In English, bugle means the valveless military instrument.
In French scores Bugle names the valved bugle — the flugelhorn (bugle en si♭) and related saxhorns — while the valveless military bugle is the clairon. In English the word means the valveless bugle used for calls, so the language of the score decides which instrument is meant.
Also spelled: Clairon
The French bugle is a mellow, wide-bored soprano brass instrument, a staple of French bands and a softer alternative to the cornet or trumpet for lyrical lines. The English valveless bugle plays only the notes of its harmonic series and belongs to military calls; composers usually quote such calls on trumpets rather than writing for it. Say which one you want, by name and key.
Bugle is one of 1755 terms in the Gradus musical dictionary: the words, abbreviations and instrument names that appear in printed scores, plus the vocabulary composers use to talk about them.
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