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The cornet is built two-thirds conically and one-third cylindrically, which places its sound between the pure brilliance of the trumpet and the mellowness of the horn. Its bore is wider relative to the trumpet, and the result is a rounder, warmer tone — less commanding, more intimate. Berlioz famously gave the interesting melodic writing to the two cornets in the Symphonie fantastique while keeping the trumpets on pedal and chordal work, because the cornets were fully chromatic (having valves) and the trumpet was not yet. Even after the valve trumpet superseded the cornet in the symphony orchestra, composers continued using the cornet for folklike melodies, military character, and passages that needed the trumpet's agility without its edge. Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky both write for it with a very specific popular, almost vaudeville-ish character. The Bb cornet shares the Bb trumpet's range and transposition; it is the same size and uses a cup mouthpiece.
Symphonie fantastique — Berlioz. Cornet given the melodic interest, trumpet on pedal
Petrushka — Second Tableau, 'Ballerina's Dance' — Stravinsky. Cornet as folk character
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