Cornetto

As Printed on a Score

Labels the cornett (German Zink) in Renaissance and Baroque scores, often doubling the soprano line of a chorale or motet while trombones double the lower voices. It is written at sounding pitch in treble or soprano clef. Some modern English editions label it “Cornet”, which can mislead: it is not the valved brass cornet.

Also spelled: Zink, Cornetti

How Composers Use It

A curved wooden tube covered in leather, with finger holes and a small cup mouthpiece, and a bright, flexible, voice-like tone. Venetian composers such as Giovanni Gabrieli and Monteverdi prized it for virtuoso divisions, and it survived in Bach’s Leipzig chorale settings, doubling the sopranos. Treat it as a period instrument: it needs a specialist, and in modern performance its parts otherwise go to a trumpet or an oboe.