(Gk. bukanē).
A curved Roman brass instrument (an Aerophone). It is less easily definable than its contemporaries owing to the scarcity of iconographic evidence and the ambiguity of the literary references, some of which confuse it with the Cornu. The majority of evidence, nevertheless, points to a distinct instrument. Originally it was a curved animal’s horn but it came to be covered with brass and even to be fashioned entirely from brass. Its musical capability seems to have been limited to a few pitches of the overtone series; this would agree with the literary references, which consistently attributed to it a signalling function.
In earlier times it was associated with country folk, particularly shepherds, and although it became primarily a military instrument, it maintained something of this early association throughout the classical period. Roman authors described the herding of sheep and the summoning together of rural communities as among its early uses. The later, more common, military references give the impression that it was used within the camp, unlike the more powerful tuba (see Tuba (ii)) and cornu, which were used on the field of battle. Within the camp, it gave signals, for example, for the changing of the watch and for reveille. A number of poetic references contrasted its sleep-shattering call to arms with the soporific and erotic associations of instruments such as the kithara. In conformity with its smaller size, it was used also by the cavalry, whereas the tuba and cornu were played by men on foot.
A final association was with Triton, the sea god who blew upon a horn of shell; this instrument was referred to as a buccina in Roman literature.
SachsH
G. Fleischhauer: Etrurien und Rom, Musikgeschichte in Bildern, ii/5 (Leipzig, 1964, 2/1978)
G. Wille: Musica romana (Amsterdam, 1967)
D. Charlton: ‘New Sounds for Old: Tam-Tam, Tuba Curva, Buccin’, Soundings, iii (1973), 39–47
R. Meucci: ‘Roman Military Instruments and the Lituus’, GSJ, xlii (1989), 85–97
JAMES W. McKINNON