Listen to the lituus.

About two months ago, the BBC tells us, Scottish researchers used computer models to bring a lost medieval instrument back to life:

Bach’s motet (a choral musical composition) “O Jesu Christ, meins lebens licht” was one of the last pieces of music written for the Lituus.

Now, for the first time, this 18th Century composition has been played as it might have been heard.

Researchers from the University of Edinburgh carried out the study, which was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

Performed by the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (SCB) the Lituus produced a piercing trumpet-like sound interleaving with the vocals.

Until now, no one had a clear idea of what this instrument looked or sounded like. But there are several depictions of similar instruments being played throughout Europe for centuries.

The team at Edinburgh University developed a system that enabled them to design the Lituus from the best guesses of its shape and range of notes.

The result was a 2.7m (8.5ft) -long horn, with a flared bell at the end.

It is an unwieldy instrument with a limited tonal range that is hard to play. But played well, it gives Johann Sebastian Bach’s motet a haunting feel that couldn’t be reproduced by modern instruments.

You can hear the lituus motet as part of an EPSRC video press release here.

The long, thin horn is described as a “later development of the ancient Roman tuba”, and bears the same name (but not design) as an ancient Etruscan ritual instrument. This lituus looks like a mini-alpenhorn, while the Etruscan religious horn/wand was spiralled like a seashell.