A short call or flourish for trumpets, or other instruments imitating the effect of trumpets. It is often used for the arrival of an important person, or to introduce a ceremony or important event. Traditionally fanfares were written for valveless (natural) instruments, and usually include notes of the major
triad and
diatonic scale. An example of a fanfare is the introduction to Act II of Richard Wagner's
Tristan und Isolde (1865).
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