Trombone History: Timeline Updates
August 31, 2009 by wkimball · Leave a Comment
Added the following to both the Alto Trombone Timeline and the General Trombone Timeline–19th Century:
1891—London, England: Explanatory notes from an exhibition of musical instruments includes the following about the trombone family in England: “The family of trombones consists in the present day of the alto in e-flat or f, the tenor in B-flat, and the bass in G or F. The F bass trombone is in constant use in Germany, but unfortunately is little employed in this country” (Day, Descriptive Catalogue 176).
A remarkable Brahms letter: “genuine little alto trombone”
August 7, 2009 by wkimball · Leave a Comment
I recently posted, in both the Trombone History Timeline and the Alto Trombone Timeline, a remarkable quotation from an 1859 letter written by Johannes Brahms to his friend and fellow-musician, Theodor Avé Lallemant (Avins and Eisinger, “Six unpublished letters from Johannes Brahms” in For the Love of Music: A Festschrift in Honor of Theodore Front, Lucca, Italy: Lim antiqua, 2002). The letter has only recently been published and, as far as I can ascertain, is not generally familiar to most trombonists and trombone historians. After discussing some logistics of an upcoming performance of Begräbnissgesang, Brahms makes a firm, specific request about the instrumentation of the trombone section, a request that is of note because 1) there has been significant modern scholarly debate about performance practice and use of alto trombone in Brahms’s music; and 2) there has been some recent discussion about the use of alto trombone (or lack thereof) in the 19th century in general. Here is what Brahms says in the letter:
“On no account 3 tenor trombones! One genuine little alto trombone and, if possible, also a genuine bass trombone” (“Daß keine 3 Tenor Posaunen kommen! Eine ächte kleine Alt-Pos. u. wo möglich auch eine ächte Bass-Pos.”) (emphasis in original; Avins 127, 136).
(Avins and Eisinger point out, incidentally, that Brahms deliberately misspells the word echt as ächte in order to mimic the local dialect [Avins 128]).
It may be worth pointing out the similarity of Brahms’s request with that of another important composer of the era, Hector Berlioz. Less that 30 years earlier, Berlioz demands a “true alto trombone” for Symphony Fantastique (Trombone History Timeline–1830): “The alto trombone part must not be played on a big trombone, as is often done in France: I demand a true alto trombone.”
The Brahms quotation would seem to suggest that Brahms may have had an affinity for the alto trombone and bass trombone. The Brahms and Berlioz quotations together would seem to indicate that the “true” or “genuine” alto trombone of that time was “little” (and not simply another tenor with a small mouthpiece; Berlioz describes it as an instrument pitched in E-flat in his orchestration treatise), and that there were prominent 19th-century musicians who had some fondness for this “genuine little” instrument.
Trombone History: Lyon & Healy Alto Trombones
July 29, 2009 by wkimball · Leave a Comment
Added the below entry to the Alto Trombone History Timeline. Lyon & Healy, a Chicago company that later specializes in manufacturing harps, offered numerous models of alto trombones, both slide and valve, all pitched in E-flat. Several other companies, including Zimmerman (Germany), Boosey & Co. (England), Sears & Roebuck (US), and Montgomery Ward (US) offered multiple models of E-flat alto trombones in the late 19th century.
1894—Chicago, Illinois: The catalog for Lyon & Healy, an instrument distributor and manufacturer, advertises numerous valve alto trombones, all specified as E-flat instruments. Several bear a resemblance to valve alto trombones offered by other US distributors during the same time period, such as Montgomery Ward and Sears & Roebuck (see 1895, 1897) (Lyon & Healy 1894, 35, 39, 43, 50). In addition, the catalogue offers a slide alto trombone in E-flat, not pictured (Lyon & Healy 1894, 53).
Trombone History: Update from Museum of Musical Instruments–Poznan, Poland
July 20, 2009 by wkimball · Leave a Comment
An update from Patryk Frankowski, senior assistant at the Museum of Musical Instruments in Poznan, Poland: Mr. Frankowski has shared information about 2 additional alto trombones, both pre-1800, not listed in Trevor Herbert’s book, The Trombone, or subsequently on my list, Extant Altos. Both held at Mr. Frankowski’s museum, they are a 1722-71 Ehe alto trombone in E-flat and a 1793 Flemming alto trombone in E. I also received a related personal email from Trevor Herbert verifying that such omissions are not uncommon, as compilers often have to rely on communication from museum curators, etc.
These instruments are now included on the Extant Altos page, with a brief note of explanation. This is noteworthy information, bringing the overall tally of extant pre-1800 trombones to 64 tenors, 31 altos, and 22 basses.
Mr. Frankowski has also recently offered important information about another instrument on the list (see related entry). Thank you, Mr. Patryk Frakowski, for the excellent information!
Alto in Treatises
July 6, 2009 by wkimball · Leave a Comment
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.
The Trombone in 1830
May 22, 2009 by wkimball · Leave a Comment
I just added an entry for the year 1830 to the Trombone History Timeline: Auguste Bertini, an international musician previously active in Italy and France, relocates to England and publishes his New System for… All Musical Instruments, an instruction book for a variety of instruments. He mentions alto, tenor, and bass trombones, the alto apparently pitched in E-flat.
There are several other significant trombone-related events from the year 1830. 1830 is the year that Hector Berlioz writes Symphony Fantastique, of course, a work that employs trombones prominently. Regarding the orchestration of the uppermost trombone part, Berlioz demands, in an early document listing the instrumentation, “The alto trombone part must not be played on a big trombone, as is often done in France: I demand a true alto trombone.”
In Leipzig, Germany, a correspondent for the well-recognized music periodical Allgemeine musikalischeZeitung proclaims, “Truly we live in an age of trombones.” This observation is largely in response to the remarkable solo career of trombonist Carl Queisser, who performs often to great acclaim at Leipzig’s famous Gewandhaus and is a member of the Gewandhaus orchestra. Carl Queisser’s colleague in the orchestra, concertmaster Ferdinand David, later writes the well-known Concertino for Trombone for Queisser.
Gewandhaus
In addition, around the year 1830 some interesting trombone manufacturing events take place. In Austria, Uhlmann, a Viennese brass manufacturer, improves on Riedl’s valve design, making B-flat and G trombones with the double Vienna valve. In Strasbourg, a city on the border of France and Germany, manufacturer Charles Kretzschmann makes a rear-facing trombone, an instrument now held in the Metropolitan Museum. Rear-facing trombones, in fact, enjoy a certain vogue during the century, as a number of graphic representations depict (see 19th Century of the Trombone History Timeline).
Belgian military trombonist
Czech lithograph with 2 rear-facing trombones
(For sources on all of the above information, see Trombone History Timeline and Bibliography.)