Made the following update to the Alto in Treatises page, giving a summary of specific keys that writers have historically assigned to the alto trombone. For more on alto trombone keys, see also the Extant Altos page, which lists alto trombones manufactured before 1800, along with their respective keys.
OVERALL KEY TOTALS:
40 D/E-flat
4 F
2 B-flat
1 E
GERMANY: 14 D/E-flat, 1 B-flat
Praetorius (1619)—D
Speer (1697)—D
Niedt (1721)—D
Majer (1729)—D
Christoph and Stössel (1736)—D
Eisel (1738)—D
Koch (1802)—D
Fröhlich (c. 1811)—B-flat/E-flat (contradictory)
Riemann (1882)—E-flat
Saro (1883)—E-flat
Jadassohn (1889)—E-flat
Schroeder (1889)—E-flat
Hofmann (1893)—E-flat
Mayerhoff (1913)—E-flat
UNITED KINGDOM: 10 E-flat, 3 F, 1 E
Bertini (1830)—E-flat
Mandel (1859)—E-flat, E, F
Prout (1877)—E-flat
Stone/Grove (1879-90)—E-flat, F
Hunter (1879-88)—E-flat
Encyclopaedia Britannica (1888)—E-flat, F
Corder (1896)—E-flat
Vincent (1897)—E-flat
Fitzgerald (1902)—E-flat
Forsyth (1913)—E-flat
FRANCE: 5 E-flat
Braun (c. 1795)—E-flat
Kastner (1839)—E-flat
Berlioz (1844)—E-flat
Gevaert (1863)—E-flat
Lavignac (1895)—E-flat
AUSTRIA: 1 E-flat, 1 B-flat
Seyfried/Albrechtsberger (1826)—E-flat
Nemetz (1827)—B-flat
BELGIUM: 3 E-flat
Mahillon (1897)—E-flat
Ergo (1908)—E-flat
Gilson (1921)—E-flat
ITALY: 1 E-flat
Galli (1898)—E-flat
US/CANADA: 6 E-flat, 1 F
Coon (1883)—E-flat
Claus (1884)—E-flat
Olker (1889)—E-flat
Henderson (1899)—E-flat
L. Elson (1900)—E-flat
A. Elson (1922)—F
White (1924)—E-flat
Filed under Alto Trombone, Trombone History, Updates · Tagged with Albrechtsberger, B-flat alto trombone, Baroque, Berlioz, Braun, Classical, D alto trombone, E-flat alto trombone, Eisel, Ergo, F alto trombone, Forsyth, Galli, Gevaert, Kastner, Lavignac, Mahillon, Majer, Nemetz, Praetorius, Prout, Romantic, sackbut, sackbut history, Seyfried, Speer
Added 8 more primary sources to the Alto Trombone Timeline, bringing the total number of primary sources for that timeline to more than 2 dozen. The sources (Gevaert, Riemann, Jadassohn, Saro, Galli, Mayerhoff, Coon, and Corder) are 19th and early 20th century orchestration texts from a wide range of locations (Germany, Italy, Belgium, England, and the United States), all of them clearly indicating a “small” alto trombone in E-flat. The sources leave very little ambiguity in this respect, providing clear diagrams of the alto trombone range and key or alto trombone position charts. This is significant because it adds to the body of evidence suggesting the alto trombone is historically a D or E-flat instrument (on this subject, see also Extant Altos).
Filed under Alto Trombone, Trombone History, Updates · Tagged with alto trombone sources, Belgium, Coon, Corder, England, Galli, Germany, Gevaert, Italy, Jadassohn, Mayerhoff, posaune, Riemann, sackbut, sackbut history, Saro, Trombone History, trombone primary sources