WILL KIMBALL » Alto Trombone

Bethlehem Moravians in Trombone History

wkimball — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 20:28:08 +0000

The influence of the Moravians on the history of the trombone has been widely documented. For entries in the timeline, for example, see 1754, 1760, 1763, 1765, 1767, 1768, 1770, 1771, 1781, 1783, 1822, 1874, 1903, and 1944. More entries will undoubtedly be forthcoming as I continue to add to the timeline. I recently added two new images related to the Moravian trombone tradition in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to the timeline. Both are from the periodical Harper’s Weekly. The first shows Moravian trombonists taking part in funeral services, while the second shows a group of trombonists playing from a belfry, announcing the beginning of a music festival. I’ve also included, below those, a set of photographs of Moravian trombonists from Bethlehem, PA, that I posted in the 20th Century timeline and an earlier blog entry.

Detail from A.R. Waud, Moravians at Bethlehem

1874—Bethlehem, Pennsylvania: The Moravians at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, an engraving by Alfred Waud published in Harper’s Weekly, depicts trombone ensembles performing from a church tower (“Funeral Notes”) and at a graveside service (“Burial Service”) (see above detail; public domain) (Harper’s Weekly, 1874, Issue 4/18, p. 346).

"The Trombone Choir"

1903—Bethlehem, Pennsylvania: Harper’s Weekly publishes an engraving depicting a trombone ensemble performing from a church tower at the beginning of the city’s famous Bach festival. The caption reads, “The Trombone Choir: Announcing the beginning of the performances from the belfry” (see above image; public domain) (Harper’s Weekly, 1903, Issue 5/16, p. 800).

Taken by Howard R. Hollem, the above 3 photographs date from 1944 and bear the title “The Moravian trombone choir which plays chorales before the opening of each performance of the Bach choir.” They belong to the American Memory collection of the Library of Congress.

Google Analytics Tidbits: Sneaking up on 2,000

wkimball — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:16:47 +0000

At the end of every month I get a website report from Google called “Google Analytics.” It details all sorts of things, including how many visits the site had that month, which pages are getting viewed most, which countries people are visiting from, which keywords people are using to find the site, how long people are staying on the site, etc. I’m always intrigued, in my own nerdy little way. Number of visits has been increasing pretty steadily since the site’s inception; October’s total was 1,982—sneaking up on 2,000!

Here are a few interesting tidbits:

•Number of visits from each of the last 5 months: 764, 1091, 1149, 1482, 1982.

•Most common keywords people use to find the site: alto trombone, trombone history, will kimball trombone, will kimball, trombone history timeline.

•Traffic sources: search engines (64%), referring sites (28%), direct traffic (8%).

•Most frequent countries to access the site: US, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Germany.

•Other countries to access site (most visits to least): Spain, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Brazil, France, Poland, Belgium, Switzerland, Philippines, Czech Republic, Norway, Russia, Latvia, Sweden, Indonesia, Portugal, Mexico, Malaysia, Japan, Ireland, Taiwan, Austria, Finland, China, and many more (78 countries total).

•Percentage new visits: 72.7

•Average time on site: 3:15

Trombone History: Beethoven’s Drei Equali

wkimball — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 22:36:59 +0000

Added the entry below to the Alto Trombone History Timeline. It includes information from a firsthand witness about Beethoven’s Drei Equali, arguably one of the most important works in the history of the trombone. Among the noteworthy observations about the alto trombone is Glöggl’s note that, although his father’s collection included soprano and quart trombones, the instruments commonly used in Austria were alto, tenor, and bass trombones. Son of the Linz kapellmeister who commissioned the work, the younger Glöggl stayed in the music field, eventually becoming a music publisher in Vienna. His recollections were made specifically for publication in Thayer’s Life of Beethoven (for source, see Alto Trombone Bibliography).

1812—Linz, Austria: Beethoven writes his Drei Equale for 4 trombones, a work commissioned by Kappelmeister Glöggl of the Linz cathedral. Glöggl’s son, who later becomes a music publisher in Vienna, verifies that alto, tenor and bass are the instruments commonly in use, mentioning that in his father’s “collection of old instruments he had a soprano and a quart trombone, whereas only alto, tenor and bass trombones were commonly used.” He continues, “Beethoven wanted to hear an Aequale such as was played at funerals in Linz, and one afternoon when Beethoven was expected to dine with us, my father appointed three trombone players and had them play an Aequale as desired…” (Thayer 541).

Alto in Treatises

wkimball — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 01:23:05 +0000

Trombone History: Added a new page, Alto in Treatises, that gives quotations from more than 45 treatises, dictionaries, and methods, most of them primary sources. It is arranged chronologically and spans from 1600 through the first quarter of the 20th century, offering a compelling view of the role of the alto trombone in trombone history. The sources, taken as a whole, strongly suggest 1) a relatively common instrument, 2) an instrument pitched in the E-flat orbit (D, E-flat, F), and 3) an instrument closely correlated with alto clef.

Facing image: Alto trombone position chart from Albrechtsberger’s treatise, translated by Novello. Positions are shown in reverse order, 6th to 1st.