Trombone History: Saint Cecilia and the Trombone
November 30, 2009 by wkimball · Leave a Comment
Added another image to the 17th Century (first half) timeline. St. Cecilia is, of course, the patron saint of musicians; it is said that she sang to God as she was dying. This particular painting seems to have a pretty clear depiction of at least one trombone, while hinting at two others nearby. Here’s the image and timeline entry:
c. 1630—Italian artist Ortensio Crespi’s St. Cecilia includes one fairly clear depiction of a trombone at the foot of the painting, as well as what appear to be two additional partially-obscured trombones on the other side of the viol (see facing image; public domain).
Trombone History: Bruckner and the Trombone
November 30, 2009 by wkimball · 2 Comments
Added the below new entries to the 19th century timeline on Bruckner’s use of trombone with voices from Mary Rasmussen’s “A Bibliography of Choral Music with Trombone Ensemble Accompaniment, as Compiled from Eleven Selected Sources” Brass Quarterly 5 (Spring 1962), 109-113.
c. 1850—Anton Bruckner’s Psalm CXIV calls for 5 voices and 3 trombones. In addition, a manuscript fragment labeled Missa pro Quadragesima indicates a separate work scored for voices, organ, and trombones (Rasmussen, A Bibliography of Choral Music).
1854—Anton Bruckner’s Libera is scored for 5 voices, 3 trombones, and organ (Rasmussen, A Bibliography of Choral Music).
1861—Anton Bruckner’s Offertorium is scored for voices, 3 trombones, and organ (Rasmussen, A Bibliography of Choral Music).
1868—Anton Bruckner’s Inveni David is scored for men’s voices and 4 trombones (Rasmussen, A Bibliography of Choral Music).
1884—Anton Bruckner’s Christus factus est calls for 6 voices and trombones (Rasmussen, A Bibliography of Choral Music).
Trombone Image: 20th Century Sculpture Inspired by 16th Century Print
November 29, 2009 by wkimball · Leave a Comment
Added the following to the 20th Century Trombone History Timeline:
1989—Soest, Germany: Sculptor Kord Winter fashions a trio of musicians in honor of one of the city’s most famous residents, 16th century artist Heinrich Aldegrever. The sculpture makes reference to Aldegrever’s Die Posaunisten from the series The Great Wedding Dances of 1538 (see 16th century timeline) (see above image; public domain) (source: wikimedia commons; see also www.kordwinter.de/objekte/Brunnen/brunnen.html).
Below is the image by Aldegrever from the 16th century, along with its entry from the timeline. Notice that Winter retains some interesting details from Aldegrever’s print, including the trombonist’s left-handed playing position, his slide grip, and the banner attached to the slide.
1538—Germany: Heinrich Aldegrever portrays a trio of trombone and 2 trumpets in a woodcut titled The Brass Players (Die Posaunisten) from the series The Great Wedding Dances (see facing image; public domain) (Duffin, Trompette des Menestrels).
Trombone History: Angel-Trombonist in 16th Century Altarpiece
November 24, 2009 by wkimball · Leave a Comment
Added a really nice painting by German artist Hans Baldung to the 16th Century Timeline, dating from fairly early in the history of the trombone. The angel’s grip of the slide is interesting, but probably not a literal representation. In general terms, notice the fairly equal balance of religious versus secular trombone iconography from the 16th century.
1516—Freiburg, Germany: Hans Baldung’s painting, Coronation of the Virgin, the central panel of an altarpiece located in the Freiburg Cathedral, includes an angel-trombonist among a group of angels playing wind instruments above and to the left of the Virgin (see facing detail and full image, below; public domain) (Burkhard pl. 2).
Trombone History: Two Curious Images
November 21, 2009 by wkimball · Leave a Comment
Hans Dürer, Dances in the Open Air
Recently I came across an interesting image from the early 16th century that features an instrument bearing something of a resemblance to a trombone. Titled Dances in the Open Air, the painting, by Hans Dürer (brother of the more famous Albrecht Dürer) is a detail of a frieze located in the Hall of the Envoys of the Royal Castle at Wawel (Cracow, Poland). It dates from 1532 (see above image; public domain) (Suchodolski pl. 428).
Giorgio Vasari, Muse for Genealogy of the Gods
That image brought to mind another from the 16th century, this one featuring what Edmund Bowles labels an alto trombone. If it is indeed a trombone, it is a somewhat awkwardly-rendered depiction. The image, dated from 1566, is by Giorgio Vasari. It is associated with a performance of The Genealogy of the Gods for the wedding festivities of Prince Francesco de’ Medici and Johanna of Austria (see facing image; public domain) (Bowles, Musical Ensembles 55).
Both of the images could be proto-trombones: instruments marking the evolution of trumpet into what we know as trombone. They could also simply be awkwardly-rendered trombones by artists not overly concerned with being literal. Or they could be separate instruments entirely. The images do call to mind some descriptions that scholars suspect may refer to very early trombones:
1407—Siena, Italy: German musician Angelo d’Arrigo joins the Palace trumpeters as a player of tuba grossa. There is speculation that this term, tuba grossa (Latin: large trumpet), could be a clerk’s best effort at describing a trombone, which would have been a very new instrument at the time (D’Accone, Civic Muse 443, 517).
1445—Florence, Italy: An account describes the trombone as “trombon grosso…che e tromba torta” (a “large trombone…that is a twisted trumpet” (Polk, Foreign 326; Polk, Archival Documents).
1518—The betrothal of Princess Mary, daughter of Henry VIII, to François, eldest son of François I, King of France, takes place in Greenwich, with a repeat performance in Paris. Festivities include a dance performed by a wind band that probably consists of 3 shawms and 2 trombones (“two brass which were bent back”) (Shaw).
Trombone History: Six Early 17th Century Images from Antwerp
November 16, 2009 by wkimball · Leave a Comment
The first 2 images below are paintings I just added to the Early 17th Century Timeline. One thing that has become apparent is that there is a grouping of several similar paintings from this era by a small handful of artists based in Antwerp (see also the images below the first 2 paintings in this post; for more information on individual images, see Timeline). A few things stand out about this set of images. First, many of the paintings are collaborative, a practice that was relatively common (Haeften 8). Second, it is evident that all of the works are allegorical (or mythological) in nature. Third, in every case, the trombone is pictured in the foreground resting on the ground instead of being played. Finally, as mentioned elsewhere, many of the depictions of the trombone seem to be quite similar, almost as if they were stock images.
c. 1617—Antwerp, Belgium: Hendrick van Balen and Jan Brueghel collaborate on a painting called An Allegory of the Five Senses, which includes a trombone among several instruments in the foreground (see facing detail; public domain) (Haeften, pl. 8). For other depictions of the trombone by the same painter, see c. 1610 (Banquet of the Gods), c. 1615 (Minerva among the Muses), and c. 1625 (Allegory of Music).
c. 1640—Antwerp, Belgium: Jan van Kessel’s Allegory of Hearing depicts a room with numerous instruments, including a trombone leaning against a stool (see facing detail; public domain). The image is similar to a painting on which the artist collaborated with Hendrik van Balen and Jan Brueghel (see c. 1625, above).
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Additional paintings from Early 16th Century Antwerp that include trombone:
Van Balen, Banquet of the Gods
Van Balen, Minerva among the Muses
Brueghel and Rubens, Allegory of Music
Van Kessel, Van Balen, and Brueghel, Allegory of Music
First Day of Snow
November 14, 2009 by wkimball · Leave a Comment
Our first significant snowfall here in Utah today. Time to play in the snow! You never know when good slide technique might pay off. The below image is from the 19th century trombone timeline.
Trombone History: early rear-facing trombones
November 12, 2009 by wkimball · Leave a Comment
Found the below Italian fresco that features a rear-facing (or over-the-shoulder) trombone and added it to the early 17th century timeline. I know of only one other pre-19th century image that clearly shows such an instrument; I’ve included that image in this post as well (1578). (I have seen a few others that seem to suggest a similar instrument but are more vague, sometimes simply showing what appears to be a slide portion with no bell at all.) The fresco from c. 1615 is also of interest because it has only recently been restored (and, indeed, at the base of the photograph you can see what appear to be some restoration materials). Also noteworthy is the trombone’s bell flare, which is more prominent than usual for this early date. Finally, as I have mentioned several times, it is quite arresting just how many trombone images originate from the 50-year period of 1601-1650.
c. 1615—Cislago, Italy: The Church of Santa Maria della Neve contains an anonymous fresco lunette featuring several angel musicians, including a trombonist. The trombone is particularly noteworthy because it is a rear-facing (sometimes called “over-the-shoulder”) instrument, an unusual configuration for this early date (see facing image; public domain) (Morandi; Farioli). For another early rear-facing instrument, see 1578 in the 16th century timeline, where a cherub-trombonist is featured. In later centuries, particularly the 19th century, rear-facing trombones become much more common; the 19th century timeline includes at least 9 such images.
1578—Antwerp, Belgium: A set of masses by George de La Hele includes an image–an initial D in front of a group of cherub musicians–that features a rear-facing trombone being played by a cherub (also rear-facing) (see facing image; public domain; Wangermée vol. 1 167).
Trombone History: from the balcony
November 11, 2009 by wkimball · Leave a Comment
Added the following 3 images and entry to the 17th century timeline (1st half). The fourth image, a drawing, is clearly related, although it comes from a separate source; I expanded its entry to include a reference to the painting. As I have mentioned before, the concentration of trombone images from this half of the 17th century is remarkable.
1609—Rome, Italy: Guido Reni’s Gloria d’angeli, a fresco located in S. Gregorio Magno, Cappella di S. Silvia, includes 2 trombones (see above details and full image) (Cavalli, pl. 28 and 32; Pepper, pl. 30). A drawing pictured elsewhere (see 1600s—Southern Netherlands) is almost certainly either a preparatory sketch for or a copy of Reni’s painting.
1600s—Southern Netherlands: An anonymous 17th century drawing portrays five angel-musicians, including a trombonist, performing from a balcony or platform. Separate leaves of music for four of the five players are pictured draped over the edge (see facing image; public domain) (Paris, Louvre; Wangermée vol. 1 287). The drawing is clearly either a preparatory sketch for or a copy of Guido Reni’s fresco, Gloria d’angeli (see 1609).