Curious Trombone History Image
August 28, 2010 by wkimball · Leave a Comment
Added the below entry and images to the Trombone History Timeline, 17th century (first half). The instrument most clearly resembles a trombone, although the left-hand grip and the fact that the rear bow doesn’t extend behind the head is obviously not right. It looks like the artist had a tendency to paint the trombone/trumpet this way (see also 1623). At any rate, it’s a beautiful painting.
c. 1645—Campione d’Italia, Italy: Isidoro Bianchi paints Gloria d’angeli, a fresco in the sanctuary of S. Maria dei Ghirli. The painting includes an angel playing what may be an awkwardly-rendered trombone, with a slide clearly visible but without the rear bow of the instrument extending behind the head (see detail and full image below) (Angelis 43). For a similar rendering by the same artist, see 1623.
Where’s Waldo? Find the 3 Trombonists!
August 19, 2010 by wkimball · 2 Comments
I recently added the below caption and image to the Trombone History Timeline (17th century–first half). Rather than make it easy here and include the details that clearly show the three trombonists, as a little challenge, I am only including the wide view of the ceiling. See if you can find all three trombonists (hint: one of them is a little outside the “borders”). Click on the picture for a larger version.
1617—Milan, Italy: Bartolomeo Roverio includes 3 trombones among many angel musicians in a ceiling fresco at San Marco (see below image; public domain) (Perer 172).
Old Germany: The Trombone in Augsburg
July 4, 2010 by wkimball · Leave a Comment
Augsburg, 1493, from Schedelsche Weltchronik
Augsburg, second only to Trier among Germany’s oldest cities, has been the site of considerable trombone activity since the trombone’s beginnings in the 15th century. A painting of the Augsburg Cathedral that I recently added to the Trombone History Timeline (17th century, 1st half) spurred me to put together this post. This fairly specialized post illustrates, on a small scale, some noteworthy trends in the early history of the trombone. Notice, for example, early trombone activities and images related to the civic wind band/alta capella, dance music, and sacred music. Many of the sources are from Keith Polk, who has done extensive research on early trombone history in Germany. As usual, full citations for the sources can be found in the Trombone History Bibliography.
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1447—Augsburg, Germany: Trombone is mentioned as part of a civic wind band (Polk, German 112).
1460s—Augsburg, Germany: The city is temporarily without a trombonist for their civic wind band, but continues to hire a trombonist “for especially important dances” (Polk, German 118).
1477—Augsburg, Germany: Augustein Schubinger begins his career as a trombonist, although he is also recognized as a player of lute and cornett during various stages of his career (Polk, Voices and Instruments).
1482—Augsburg, Germany: Ulrich Schubinger, Jr., begins his career as a trombonist. A versatile musician like many of his day, he is later described as a player of “Geigen, pusaunen, lawten, und andern instrumenten” (Polk, Voices and Instruments).
1488—Augsburg, Germany: Renowned trombonist Augustein Schubinger is termed a trumeter in his own home town, highlighting the continuing ambiguity in terminology between trombone and trumpet (Polk, The Trombone).
1509—Augsburg, Germany: A musician by the name of Caspar Egkern serves as trombonist. He later becomes a member of the viol ensemble of Maximilian I (Polk, German 71).
1591—Augsburg, Germany: A woodcut on the title page of Adam Gumpelzhaimer’s Neue Teutsche Geistliche Lieder (re-used for at least one subsequent work) includes a depiction of a female trombonist as part of an apparently all-female ensemble (see below detail; public domain) (Naylor 221; Kinsky 85).
1592-9—Germany: An anonymous painting from the Album of Hieremias Buroner of Augsburg depicts a consort consisting of trombone, 2 singers, positive organ, cornett, bass viol, violin, and lute (see below image; public domain) (Remnant, Musical Instruments of the West 202; London, British Library).
c. 1600—Augsburg, Germany: An oil painting by Abraham Schelhas titled Augsburger Geschlechtertanz depicts an aristocratic dance in Augsburg. The 4 wind musicians providing the music play from a balcony and include a trombonist; the other instruments appear to be cornettos or shawms (see below detail and full image; public domain) (Augsburg, Städtische Kunstsammlung; Salmen, Tanz im 17 151).
c. 1616—Augsburg, Germany: A painting by Thomas Maurer, The Diocesan Synod of 1610 in the Cathedral of Augsburg, includes what may be two trombones situated on opposite sides of the group of musicians, with only the rather long rear bend of the instruments visible (see below detail and full image; public domain) (Chevalley 142; painting housed in choir sancrisy of Augsburg Cathedral; photo by Eberhard Lantz).
c. 1720—Augsburg, Germany: An engraving by Martin Engelbrecht titled Trompeten, Paucken, Posaunen depicts men playing trumpet and kettledrums, with a trombone on a nearby table. The text below the picture says, “Here one demonstrates music for devotion, pleasure and dancing for various types of musical instruments…Music about men and horses can only be satisfied by fighting. Trumpets, timpani, muskets, Barthaune! They make the right sound together. On the other hand, zinken and trombones [posaunen] are needed always in peacetime, as well as in sorrow and times of joy whenever music is well presented” (see below image) (Naylor 100, 197).
Missing Something? Bell-less Trombones in Art
June 20, 2010 by wkimball · 3 Comments
The slide is one of the most identifiable visual characteristics of the trombone in artwork. However, when a slide turns up without a bell, it can be problematic. Could it still be a trombone? Are we trying too hard to make it a trombone? Was it just artist error? Artistic license? A mistake in a restoration process? A literal representation of some unusual permutation of the trombone? An obscured area of the painting? Some other instrument? They’re all possibilities, of course.
I am not going to try to come to any real conclusions with this post, but I would suggest the early rear-facing trombone as one possibility. There are at least two iconographical examples of rear-facing trombones from the 17th century or earlier (see here), as well as many others from the 19th century (see here). In the case of the first three examples below with no apparent bells, the bell on a rear-facing instrument could easily be obscured by the player’s head and/or other parts of the image, such as cap, halo, and wings. In the final example, from the 19th century, the bell is very likely obscured by the player’s helmet; there are multiple other examples of rear-facing trombones in iconography of this precise period and region.
c. 1474—Asciano, Italy: Matteo di Giovanni’s The Assumption of the Virgin, the center panel of an altarpiece in S. Agostino, includes what may be an angel-trombonist along with several other angel-musicians. The instrument has what appears to be a slide but no visible bell (see below detail and full image; public domain) (Belán 111).
1503-1529—Spain: Joan Gascó’s painting, God the Father and the nine angelic choirs, includes what appears to be a trombone-playing angel, grouped with 2 other wind-playing angels, although no bell is apparent on the trombone (see below detail and full image below that; public domain) (Ballester).
1598-1606—Valencia, Spain: Bartolomé Matarana paints a fresco of angel musicians in the the church of Real Colegio–Seminario de Corpus Christi that includes what are probably 2 trombones. Only the slide portions are obvious, although possible bell flares can be seen upon close inspection (see details and full image below) (Olson, Angel Musicians).
c. 1850—Brussels, Belgium: Musicien et trompette de cuirassiers, a lithograph by Henri Hendrickx, portrays a Belgian infantry musician playing on what may be a rear-facing trombone, the bell obscured by the player’s helmet (see below image; public domain) (Bibliotheque royale Albert I; Wangermée vol. 2, 263). See other Belgian rear-facing trombones from the same time period at this post: Belgian Military Trombonists.
Trombone and the Art of Illusion
May 19, 2010 by wkimball · 2 Comments
Quadratura is a type of illusionistic painting that interacts with a building’s architecture, often extending or altering the actual appearance of the architecture. Popular with Baroque artists, it is similar to other illusionistic techniques such as trompe-l’œil, although it tends to refer more to the “opening up” of architectural space and to a more thorough integration with surrounding sculptural and architectural elements (Feinblatt 1-3; for all sources, see Trombone History Bibliography.)
A few of the most intriguing pictures in the Trombone Timeline are from artists known as quadratura painters, and their trombone images do appear to demonstrate elements of that technique. It is noteworthy that the paintings originate from the first half of the 17th century, a period of time particularly replete with trombone images.
Colonna and Mitelli, Four Balcony Musicians
The first is the set of Colonna and Mitelli paintings on the walls and ceiling of the salone of the Palazzo Ducale in Sassuolo, Italy, dating from 1646-47. One of the images depicts a group of four musicians playing from a “fake” balcony (see above), while another shows a group of three musicians performing from a separate false balcony (see below) (Southorn, front jacket; Sala della Guardia, Palazzo Ducale, Sassuolo). Note some of the nice details of the illusion, such as the trombone slide and sheet music extending into the space beyond the balcony, as well as the lute player hanging his leg over the railing.
Colonna and Mitelli, Three Balcony Musicians
A ceiling fresco from the same room of the palace is meant to provide the illusion of a cluster of angels (including, of course, an angel-trombonist) as viewed through an opening in the ceiling (see below) (Pirondini 251).
The other prominent quadratura painter represented in the Trombone Timeline is Lionello Spada (Feinblatt 42). His ceiling fresco, dating from 1615, is located in the cupola of Reggio Emilia’s Chiesa della Ghiara, only a few miles from the ducal palace of Sassuolo discussed above. It depicts numerous angel-musicians, including angels playing trombone, harp, recorder, triangle, tambourine, cornetto, lute, and violin (see below) (Artioli, plate 8). Like the ducal palace ceiling, Spada’s fresco is meant to provide the illusion of architecture opening to a view of angels in the sky above. The cupola also shows false architectural elements, such as ribs of the dome and the decorative bronze cartouches around each angel-musician, interacting with real architectural elements and false sculptural elements (Feinblatt 42).
Finally, closer views of the trombone player (below) and recorder (bottom image, below) reveal some of the fresco’s beautiful artistic details (Artioli, plates 11 and 12).
Lionello Spada, Angel with Trombone, Chiese della Ghiara
Lionello Spada, Angel with Recorder, Chiesa della Ghiara
Trombones in Rome’s San Giovanni in Laterano
May 18, 2010 by wkimball · Leave a Comment
Added the following to the 16th century timeline. For reasons of space, only the detail is included in the timeline. Special thanks to Dennis F. Cramer for the photographs.
1598—Rome, Italy: An organ is built for San Giovanni in Laterano (also known as Basilica of St. John Lateran) by Luca Blass and G. B. Mantano. Just below the left set of pipes is a decoration that includes a pair of trombones among several other instruments (see below detail and larger image; photographs by Dennis F. Cramer).
Trombone History Image Update
April 29, 2010 by wkimball · Leave a Comment
Updated the entry below from the 17th century timeline (first half) with a color image and exact date. Also of interest is the fact that the painting is an altarpiece, one of many featuring trombone images.
1616—Bologna, Italy: Ludovico Carracci’s Paradise, an altarpiece painting located in the Church of San Paolo Maggiore, features an angel-trombonist situated prominently among a group of angel-musicians (see below detail and full image; public domain) (Komma 109; Emiliana 167).
The Adoration of the Magi: Another Angel Trombonist
What do trombone history and the Christian adoration of the magi have in common? Well, I came across this painting recently, which has been added to the 17th century trombone history timeline (first half), offering yet another example of an angel trombonist from the early 17th century. Another common theme the painting belongs to, besides the angel idea, is the historical depiction of trombone in altarpieces; for more on this subject, see here.
1606—Innsbruck, Austria: Paolo Piazza’s Adorazione dei Magi, an altarpiece painting in Innsbruck’s Kapuzinerkirche, depicts many angel musicians, including an angel trombonist (see upper-left of image below; public domain) (Panchieri 43).
Trombone History: First Non-Italian Depiction of Trombone
March 30, 2010 by wkimball · Leave a Comment
Added the following to the 16th century timeline, possibly the first non-Italian depiction of the trombone. Below the first two images and caption I’m also adding here an image I didn’t include in the timeline–I wider shot that includes the church’s organ as well.
trombonist angel, Abbey Eglise Saint-Pierre et Saint-Paul, Gonesse
angel musicians, Abbey Eglise Saint-Pierre et Saint-Paul, Gonesse
1508—Gonesse, France: In what may constitute the earliest non-Italian visual depiction of the trombone, a painted panel on the organ balcony at Abbey Eglise Saint-Pierre et Saint-Paul features an angel-trombonist. Other instruments depicted include viol, shawm, crumhorn, harp, lute, and organ (see detail, top, and full image, below; public domain). Click on full image for larger version (Fischer, Organology; Luri, Les Anges).
wide view, angel musicians and organ, Abbey Eglise Saint-Pierre et Saint-Paul
Perching on the Pipes: Trombone & Organ Images
January 12, 2010 by wkimball · Leave a Comment
I’ve recently added quite a few images of trombone sculptures on organs to the Trombone History Timeline. The dates of origin of these sculptures are difficult to nail down, as the organs on which they are housed tend to have multiple re-builds and renovations throughout their given histories; it is very likely that I have some of the dates wrong. Nonetheless, they make an interesting little collection of images. The commonalities are 1) with one possible exception, they all appear to depict angel-trombonists, and 2) they all originate from Germany. Obviously, the importance of the trombone in German sacred music (and the German religious tradition in general) is a likely factor.
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1643—Berne, Niedersachsen, Germany: Renovations of the organ at St. Aegidius Church are completed by Harmen Kröger. It is probably at this time (or possibly at the 1714 renovation by Christian Vater) that a sculpture of a trombonist is added to the organ case (see facing detail and full image below; public domain) (Seggermann 29, 53).
1658—Schöningen, Germany: Jonas Weigel completes the organ for St. Vincenzkirche, which includes a sculpture of an angel-trombonist on the organ case. The angel-musician on the opposite side plays the cornetto (see facing detail and full image, below; public domain).
1697-1703—Görlitz, Germany: Eugenio Casparini’s famous organ in the church of St. Peter und Paul features decorative sculpures of angels sitting atop the pipe structure. Each angel holds 2 instruments; 2 of the angels, sitting on opposite outside edges of the structure, hold trombones while playing trumpets (see above) (Sonnaillon 92). For a better image, see here.
1701—Lauffen am Neckar, Germany: The organ housing at the evangelische Kirche St. Regiswindis includes 2 sculptures of angel-trombonists, the angels apparently playing one-handed (see facing detail and full image below; public domain) (Völkl 50).
1714—Lüneburg, Germany: A major rebuild of the organ in Johanniskirche is completed by Matthias Dropa. One of several rebuilds and renovations after the organ’s original installation in 1551-53, it is probably this early 18th-century rebuild that adds the sculptures of what appear to be 2 angel-trombonists perched atop the organ pipes (see facing detail and full image, below; public domain).
1770-73—Salem (Baden), Germany: The organ in Salemer Münster, or Salem Abbey, includes a sculpture of a trombonist atop a set of pipes (see facing detail and full image, below; public domain) (Könner, Abb. 99).