More often than not confined until then with the kettledrums to an accompanying role at military parades and tournaments, the trumpet acquired at the out-set of the 17th century a new-found prestige in the field of chamber and church music and in the capacity of soloist. Indeed, 1623 witnessed the constitution in the Holy Roman Empire of the Imperial Guild of Trumpeters and Kettledrummers, following Privileges granted by Ferdinand II. This Guild, as well as others throughout Europe, conferred a preferential status upon trumpeters, supervised instruction in the instrument and controlled accessibility to positions and circumstances of performance.

During the course of the century, a distinction arose within the trumpet corps, where the "chamber" or "concert" trumpeter's superior technique, flawless into-nation in the high, or clarino register - and even his capacity to play as softly as a flute - earned him the exclusive right to perform sonatas and concertos accompanied by instrumental ensembles and, more rarely, the organ.