Trumpets

The trumpets are a set of special instruments donated by the castle to the village fire brigade, first appearing at the fire-brigade festival on 3 July. They produce a wild, deafening music that even a child could play, and their sound is so overwhelming that it disrupts the festival's atmosphere and contributes to the chaotic, carnivalesque mood in which Sortini first notices Amalia. The trumpets thus serve as a symbol of the castle's overwhelming, intrusive power and the unsettling nature of its gifts.

Origin and Appearance

The trumpets were a gift from the castle to the village fire brigade, presented at the fire-brigade festival held on a meadow outside the village by the stream. The castle had also donated a new fire engine, and the trumpets were part of the same official beneficence. They were described as "special instruments on which you could play the wildest of music with very little difficulty or effort, even a child could have done it." This ease of playing made them accessible to everyone at the festival, and since it was a public festival, one and all were allowed to have a go. The trumpets were new, and everyone wanted to try playing one, leading to a cacophony that added to the bewildering noise of the crowd.

The Sound and Its Effect

The sound of the trumpets was so loud and wild that it was compared to the arrival of the Turks, a simile that conveys both the martial and alien quality of the noise. The music was so overwhelming that "no one could get used to it," and everyone jumped every time the trumpets sounded. This constant, jarring noise made it difficult to think straight, and it was in this chaotic atmosphere that the festival-goers, including Amalia and her family, failed to notice Sortini for an unusually long time. The trumpets thus contributed to the sensory overload that allowed Sortini to observe Amalia unnoticed, and their wild music set the stage for the fateful encounter that would change the Barnabas family's fortunes.

Connection to the Castle's Power

The trumpets, like the fire engine, were a demonstration of the castle's reach into village life. They were not merely practical instruments but symbols of the castle's overwhelming presence, capable of disrupting the ordinary with their extraordinary sound. The fact that they were so easy to play and yet produced such a wild, uncontrollable music reflects the castle's own paradoxical nature: seemingly accessible yet ultimately incomprehensible and overpowering. The trumpets' sound, which "you'd have thought the Turks were upon us," evokes a sense of invasion and foreignness, suggesting that the castle's gifts, however well-intentioned, carry an unsettling, almost threatening quality.

Significance in the Narrative

The trumpets are a minor but memorable detail in the story of Amalia and Sortini, serving as a backdrop to the moment when Sortini first sets eyes on Amalia. The noise and confusion of the festival, amplified by the trumpets, create the conditions for Sortini's sudden, intense interest in Amalia, which leads to the infamous letter and the family's subsequent ostracism. The trumpets thus mark the beginning of the family's downfall, their wild music a prelude to the chaos that would engulf them. In this way, the trumpets function as a narrative device that underscores the arbitrary and disruptive power of the castle, which can upend lives with a single, seemingly innocent gesture.