You can program double-choir pieces by the Gabrielis and their German students and have your choir sing Choir I and have the organ and trumpet/brass be Choir II.

In relation to D.B. Page's post I recall doing a settting of Haec Dies (This is the day the Lord has made) for double choir where a brass ensemble can take the second choir part. Might have been one of the pieces D.B. Page is referring to, but I forget the composer.

Is all the vocal music strictly chant and polyphony? I would say if you're doing at least a processional and reccional hymn, there's a place they can be used. If you're doing O sons and Daughters, arranged metrically could also be a place for the trumpet to join in on the refrain.

Why not use trumpets to intone the chants, before they are intoned with words?

Daniel : you could use false bordons as intonations and interludes. When I used brass they did not play during the singing except for maybe a gentle descant by one muted horn, but the interludes and introductions were elaborate.

What was Easter like in Catholic churches in the period 1700-1950? [Obviously like many things ... ]
The expectation that Easter should be a particularly ornate and elaborate solemnity is logical and reasonable.
What's not clear is how this can and should be expressed.
I don't know where and when the 'trumpets at Easter' custom originated and became ubiquitous.
Because trumpets are 'native' to only the most elaborate orchestral/polychoral/concertated genres of purely Catholic music, my first hypothesis is that the Easter brass custom is mostly closely connected to Protestant hymn-singing.

Maybe an expert in Funerary Violin would know.

my 12-tone vacuum cleaner video? tell me more.

I reckon, as well.

Daniel Bennett Page made me think when he said "my hypothesis is that the Easter brass custom is most closely associated with Protestant hymn singing." I tend to agree - I always get that feeling when I hear this music, whether live or on promotional CD's from companies like GIA, WLP, etc. Televised Masses from St. Peter's in Rome are almost always choir and organ, even on the most solemn occasions, right? Maybe we should take our cue from them.

Ok, When else during the liturgical year can you justify to the pastor the expense of hiring brass?

Maybe also during a Confirmation or First Communion?

Much Protestant hymnology is good. Much Catholic hymnology is not. Let's make an exchange, shall we?

That being said, I've never heard of trumpets beings used during Confirmation or First Communion, except of course, during the Vigil of the Resurrection and in those churches which regularly use them.

"Come Holy Ghost" could be used with organ, and with a little stretch, maybe a decent brass group.

The only trumpets I will be using are part of the organ. And you are right about many Protestant hymns being superior to widely-used Catholic hymns.

If you check the Bible again, you'll notice that the kol ha shofar (voice of the [ram's-horn] trumpet) is a big part of the festival days:

tik'u va chodesh shofar ba chese hayom chageinu . . . blow ye the trumpet in the new moon. Ps 81 (I think). There are LOADS of references all over the OT that mention the trumpet as an instrument for celebration, for a call to repentance, and to announce a prophecy (cf. Ezra/Nehemiah). In the NT it is mentioned prominently in the Apocalypse, where John refers to the voice of God as "a voice like a trumpet." It also seems to herald the resurrection of the dead that we all expect at the end of time.

For these and many other reasons, I don't think it is legitimate to exclude brass players from the Sanctuary on Easter. Do what you will, fellow DOMs -- just don't claim that it's the Church's instruction or God's will when it's a Geschmackssache (matter of taste). In my own situation we can't afford trumpets, and the high school players are not yet advanced enough to play.

Of course there is also the matter of the Biblical trumpet (at least in the OT, and wherever the trumpet is in a Jewish context) being made of a natural ram's horn, and the fact that including metal in or on the horn makes it treif; but I don't really see anyone learning to play the shofar well enough to do hymn descants. As far as I can tell from my experience, it only plays three notes.

I hate to make you all jealous, but I have a trumpet/cornet/flugelhorn built into my congregation and he wants to play as often as possible. I certainly like brass for the high holy days, but having brass all the time would seem to downplay the special days when we have it. Thoughts? Also, we have timpani and built in percussionists. Any thoughts on the use of timp throughout the year (when, etc.?)