ABSTRACT
The article by Peter Downey, ‘The Renaissance slide trumpet: Fact or fiction’, has been the strongest attack to date on the existence of a slide trumpet in the early 15th century. It raises some important points and forces a re-examination of the history and function of brass instruments in the early Renaissance. There is, however, some iconographical organological and documentary evidence which I believe has been misinterpreted or overlooked, and some musical evidence that needs to be re-evaluated. I shall answer Dr Downey’s charges point by point in an effort to restore the slide trumpet to what I believe to be its rightful position in the loud band of the time.
