Gottfried Reiche

They are among the most florid, creative, and difficult trumpet parts of the Baroque era, quite clearly intended for a player of great virtuosity.

He is the subject of a famous painting of the era, which was made by Leipzig artist E.G. Haussmann for the occasion of Reiche's 60th birthday in 1727.

In his left hand, he holds a sheet of manuscript music on which is written a short Abblasen or fanfare.

It has also served for many years as the theme music to the American television show CBS Sunday Morning.

A contemporary account attributed the stroke to the strain of having played trumpet the previous evening, with "his condition having been greatly aggravated from the smoke given off by the torch-lights", when he participated in the performance of Bach's congratulatory cantata Preise dein Glücke, gesegnetes Sachsen, BWV 215.