Tenor Cornett - Nomenclature

Nomenclature

The tenor cornett was also known as the lyzard, lizarden, lysarden or lyzarden, on account of the "S" shape of the instrument. The instrument was also known as the cornetto tenore, cornetto grosso, cornetto storto or cornone, in Italian, and Corno, Tenor-Zink or Groß Tenor-Zink in German. In a number of works from the late 16th and early 17th centuries there are parts for tenor cornetts which feature only the word "Cornetto" or "Cornetto ô Trombon" above or next to the part. We know that such parts are intended for the tenor cornett on account of the tessitura of the musical line and the fact that the C tenor clef is used. For example, see: Canzon in echo duodecimi toni à 10 by Giovanni Gabrieli and Ist nicht Ephraim mein teurer Sohn SWV 40 (from the great Psalmen Davids of 1619) by Heinrich Schütz, both of these works feature low cornetto lines written in the C tenor clef.