Update: I have also decided to add a number of serpent images and references to this post. The serpent, the bass member of the cornetto family, is, like the ophicleide, a fellow low brass instrument and predecessor to the tuba. The ophicleide and serpent are closely related; in fact, the original meaning of ophicleide is “keyed serpent,” and many serpent enthusiasts are also ophicleide enthusiasts (and vice-versa).

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1548—Monteleone di Fermo, Italy: A fresco by Orfeo Presutti in the Church of the Madonna della Misericordia features several angel-musicians, including an angel playing what appears to be a serpent (see detail and full image below; public domain) (source: Monteleone di Fermo website).

c. 1600—Germany: An image depicting a quintet of civic wind players (Stadtpfeifer) includes what may be a serpent (see far right of below image; public domain) (Nuremberg, German National Museum).

17th century—An anonymous painting depicting numerous angel-musicians with Mary and Christ child includes two serpents. I have been able to find very little information about the painting; 17th century is simply my best guess (art.com sells a reproduction and calls the painting “A Concert of Angels”) (see detail and full image below; public domain). Another art reproduction company lists the artist as “Spanish school.”

1607—Dresden, Germany: A depiction of a portion of a procession features 3 cornetts and what may be a serpent (see below image; public domain) (Dresden, Sachsische Landesbibliothek).

1616—Stuttgart, Germany: Festivities celebrating the baptism of Prince Friedrich von Württemberg include serpent. First, at the service itself, the “Assum Version” festival book records that, following the baptism, a Te Deum by Salomon is sung, utilizing three ensembles: “The first, with a positive organ, four fiddles, two lutes, a small pipe and large contrabass viols, besides four singers. The other, with regal, one cornett, two trombones, a bassoon and four vocal soloists. The third also with a regal, three trombones, a serpent, in addition to four musicians” (Bowles 199-200, 207).

c. 1630—Rome, Italy: An etching from the series Figure con instrumenti musicali e boscarecci by Giovanni Battista Bracelli features a trombone and a serpent (see below image; public domain) (Falletti 107).

1636—Paris, France: Marin Mersenne discusses serpent and includes a woodcut of the instrument in his Harmonie universelle (see below image; public domain). Among other comments, he says the following in describing the serpent: “To accompany as many as twenty of the most powerful singers and yet play the softest chamber music with the most delicate grace notes,” “But the true bass of the cornett is performed with the Serpent, so that one can say that one without the other is a body without a soul,” “Even when played by a boy it is sufficient to support the voices of twenty robust monks,” and “It seems that the irregular distance of the holes of the Serpent makes its diapason more difficult than that of the other instruments.”

1648-1652—Denis Gaultier’s lute manuscript, La Rhetorique des dieux, features several illustrations that accompany various modes. Three of the illustrations include depictions of the serpent (see plates 19, 9, and 10, below; public domain) (David J. Buch, Coordination of Text, pl. 19, 9, 10).

c. 1660—Pierre Paul Sevin’s drawing of a performance of a mass for 4 choirs includes a serpent (see far right of image below; public domain) (Marx, The Instrumentation of Handel’s Early Italian Works).

Late 17th century—France: An engraving by Nicolas de Larmessin from a series called Les costumes grotesques et les métiers, a series of fanciful trade costumes, includes what appears to be a serpent among numerous instruments comprising the musician’s costume (see below image; public domain).

1704-14—Saalfeld, Germany: Carlo Ludovico Castelli paints an angel playing a serpent in Saalfeld’s Schlosskapelle (see below image; public domain).

1723—Rome, Italy: An engraving from Filippo Bonanni’s Gabinetto Armonico pieno d’Instromenti depicts a serpent player (see below image; public domain).

1756—France: Jean-Jacques Rousseau, in the entry on trombone in his Encyclopédie, our Dictionnaire raisonné, says the following: “It serves as the bass in all kinds of consorts of wind instruments, as do the serpent and the bassoon…” (Guion, Trombone 67).

1779-1781—London, England: Johann Zoffany’s portrait of the Sharp family, a musical family that holds regular concerts in London and on board their sailing barge, includes James Sharp holding a serpent (see below image; click picture for large image; public domain) (source: National Portrait Gallery, London).

1781-1854—Amsterdam, Netherlands: Military Music, a catchpenny print produced by Erve H. Rijnders, includes a serpent (see below detail; public domain) (Catchpenny Prints of the Dutch Royal Library).

c. 1790—London, England: An engraving depicts a regiment of Foot Guards in front of St. James’s Palace. Included among the soldier-musicians is a serpent player (see below detail; public domain; Strachan, British Military Uniforms, pl. 27) (Scottish United Services Museum).

19th century—France: An anonymous painting, now held in Musée des Civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée (Paris) depicts a man playing serpent (see below image; public domain).

19th century—France: Le Serpent de la Paroisse, with music by Charles Plantade and text by Charles Delange, is published by J. Meissonnier & Fils in Paris (see below image; public domain).

c. 1800—Nuremberg, Germany: An image depicting Nuremberg military musicians includes a serpent player (see below image; public domain) (Nuremberg, German National Museum).

c. 1800—Germany: A print of military musicians entitled  Turkische Musick der K. Baierischen Grendier Garde, now held in the German National Museum, includes a serpent (see below detail; public domain).

c. 1800—Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Philipp Jakob Döring publishes a sheet of cut-outs of military musicians that includes a man playing serpent (see below detail; public domain) (German National Museum).

1800s—France: A print entitled Macédoines—Jongleurs—Tours de force et d’adresse features a row of musicians, including a a man playing ophicleide (see below detail; public domain) (Paris, Musée des Civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée).

1804-1815—France: A military illustration labeled French Napoleonic Band depicts the foot grenadiers of the 1st Regimental Imperial Army Old Guard, including a serpent player (see fourth row of image below; public domain) (Cassin-Scott and Fabb 15).

1806—France: An image depicting 7 French military musicians includes a soldier playing a serpent (see below image; public domain) (New York Public Library Digital Gallery).

1807-08—Hamburg, Germany: A painting from a series of military depictions by Christoph and Cornelius Suhr published in the 1820s in the book, Abbildung der uniformen aller in Hamburg seit den jahren 1806-1815 einquartiert gewesener truppen, portrays a group of musicians from the Catalonia Light Infantry Regiment from 1808-08 (see below image; public domain).

1811—Paris, France: A print published by Aaron Martinet in his series, Troupes Françaises, depicts a military serpent player. One of 296 prints in the collection, the image is titled “Garde Impériale: Musicien des Grenadiers a pied” (see below image; public domain).

1811—An illustration of the Duke of Gloucester’s Band, an ensemble associated with the 3rd regiment of the Scots Guards, includes a serpent (see below image; public domain).

1812—Paris, France: Carle Vernet, a leading French military artist, is commissioned to provide paintings of Napoleon’s new military uniforms for use by the military and its tailors. Among the series of paintings, assembled in the collection Le Grande Armée de 1812, is a picture of military musicians that includes a serpent hanging on a wall in the background (see below image; public domain) (source: wikimedia).

1814—Luigi Cherubini, who later becomes director of the Paris Conservatoire, writes a work for five brass instruments titled Pas redoubles et marches pour la Garde du Roi de Prusse. Scored for natural trumpet, three hand-horns, and serpent or trombone, it is conceived in the French Revolutionary military band tradition (Wallace, Brass Solo 240).

1824—Milan, Italy: Francesco Mirecki, a Polish musician active in Italy, mentions serpent in his treatise, the earliest known Italian orchestration treatise. He considers bass trombone a useful alternative to serpent as the effective bass of the brass family (Meucci).

c. 1825—France: Pellerin, publisher of French popular prints, publishes an image titled Musique d’Infanterie Francaise, which includes both a serpent and an ophicleide—often the latter is thought of as a replacement for the former, making it somewhat unusual to include both (see below detail; public domain) (Paris, Museum of Civilization in Europe and the Mediterranean).

1825—New York: The brass section of the Independent Band consists of horns, trumpets, trombones, and serpent (Mendoza da Arce 185).

1828—Great Britain: A military image features a British serpent player in full military garb (see below image; public domain) (New York Public Library Digital Gallery).

c. 1829—Mainz, Germany: Artist Joseph Scholz depicts a group of 4 military musicians of the Prussian Army on horseback in an image titled Preussisches Heer–Garde Artillerie (see below image; public domain) (Ryan, Paper Soldiers).

c. 1830—Vienna, Austria: K.k. Österreichischer Militair Leichen-Conduct, lithograph no. 8 from a series edited by Michael Tretsentsky, shows a military band that includes multiple ophicleides (see below image; public domain) (Pirker).

1830—France: Garde Imperiale: Regiments des Grenadiers a pieds, an image created by G. David in 1830 but meant to depict 1804, includes a military serpent player (see below image; public domain).

1833-1900—Turnhout, Belgium: A catchpenny print entitled Harmonie, probably published by Glenisson and Van Genechten, features musicians playing various instruments, including an ophicleide (see below detail; public domain) (Catchpenny Prints of the Dutch Royal Library).

c. 1835—Paris, France: Un Serpent de Paroisse (a parish serpent), a satirical lithograph by Delaunois, is published in a Paris periodical (see below image; public domain) (source: Douglas Yeo, personal communication).

1840—Epinal, France: An engraving entitled Musique d’Amateurs, published by Pellerin, includes an ophicleide among 27 figures with various musical instruments (see below image; click picture for larger version; public domain).

c. 1840—Paris, France: Félix Vobaron’s New Method for Bass Ophicleide includes the below depiction of a military band featuring an ophicleide in the foreground with what may be another ophicleide in the background (far left) (see below image; public domain).

1842—Mannheim, Germany: Berlioz, on a tour of Germany, visits Mannheim, where he uses a valve trombone as a substitute for ophicleide: “There is no ophicleide; Lachner [the regular conductor] had attempted to devise a substitute for this instrument, which is used in all modern scores, by having a valve trombone made with a compass extending to bottom C or B. In my opinion it would have been simpler to send for an ophicleide and much better from the musical point of view, as the two instruments have little in common” (Berlioz-Cairns 288).

1842—Leipzig, Germany: Berlioz, on a tour of Germany, visits Liepzig. He reports in his Memoirs that “the ophicleide, or rather the meager brass object masquerading under that name, bore no resemblance to the French variety, having practically no tone,” so it was “replaced, after a fashion, by a fourth trombone” (Berlioz-Cairns 300).

1843—France: A depiction of a theatre orchestra includes what may be an ophicleide. The image is printed in “La Parodie de la Vestale,” Chants et Chansons Populaires de la France II, 1843 (see below image; public domain) (London, British Library; Remnant, Musical Instruments of the West 216). 1843—Berlin, Germany: Hector Berlioz visits Berlin, where he hears 2 bass trombones in the opera orchestra. Complaining that there are none in Paris, he says, “Parisian musicians refuse to play an instrument that is so tiring to the chest. Prussian lungs are evidently more robust than ours.” He is not, however, impressed with the balance of the trombone section there; he reports: “Their combined volume of tone is so great as to obliterate the alto and tenor trombones playing the two upper parts. The aggressive tone of one bass trombone would be enough to upset the balance of the three trombone parts as written by composers nowadays. But there being no ophicleide at the Berlin Opera, they give the part to a second bass trombone. The effect of having two of these formidable instruments one above the other (the ophicleide part being frequently written an octave below the third trombone) is disastrous. You hear nothing but the bottom line; even the trumpets are all but drowned. When I came to give my concerts I found that the bass trombone was much too prominent—although in the symphonies I was using only one—and had to ask the player to sit so that the bell of the instrument was facing into his stand, which acted as a sort of mute, while the alto and tenor trombonists stood up to play with their bells pointing over the top of their stands. Only in this way could all three parts be heard” (Macdonald 213).

1844—A depiction of Prospere (Jean Prospere Guivier), one of the great ophicleide players of the 19th century, shows him playing a “monster” ophicleide at Hanover Square Rooms. It is later reprinted in the Musical Times in June, 1894 (see below image; public domain).

1844—Boston, Massachusetts: Simon Knaebel publishes brass quartet arrangements for 2 bugles in B-flat, trombone, and ophicleide in Keith’s Collection of Instrumental Music (Dudgeon, Keyed Bugle 173).

1844—Milan, Italy: Fermo Bellini’s Teoriche musicali discusses the use of trombone with ophicleide: “The modern custom, adopted by some composers, of forming a quartet consisting of three trombones and an ophicleide does not seem very sensible, given that the tone colour of the trombones, so dominant and in high relief, is very different from that of the ophicleide; it would be better for this instrument to double the bottom line, or else to find some way to give the trombones a good cantabile bass whenever they are on their own” (Meucci).

1844—France: Another illustration by J. J. Grandville in Un autre Monde depicts a Concert of Steam (Concert a la vapeur) in response to a prediction about steam changing the world. Included in the “steam orchestra” is an ophicleide (see below image; public domain) (Fromrich 133). c. 1845—Paris, France: An illustration by Charles Vernier, Uniforms of the French Army, Musicians, features numerous military musicians, including a soldier with what appears to be an ophicleide (see below image; public domain) (Mardaga 119).

1847—France: A print depicting a religious procession (Procession of the Virgin) features an an ophicleide as the only instrumentalist (see bottom-left of below image; public domain) (Musée des Civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée).

1847—Paris, France: Eugene-Hippolyte Forest’s satirical print, The Conservatoire, Classe d’Ophicléide, is published in Paris Musical. The subtitle reads “Court of the Tiny Ones–Section of the Prodigies” (see below image; public domain) (Fromrich, 139). 1848—Paris, France: Georges Kastner’s treatise on military music, Manuel Général de Musique Militaire, includes a page illustrating serpents and related instruments (see Kastner’s labels at the bottom of the image) used in military music (see below image; public domain) (Kastner, Militaire Pl. XVIII). 1848—Paris, France: Georges Kastner’s treatise on military music, Manuel Général de Musique Militaire, includes images of a pair of ophicleides used in military music (see below image; public domain) (Kastner, Militaire Pl. XVII). 1849—London: England: A Promenade Concerte, one of 40 satirical drawings from Richard Doyle’s Manners and Customs of Ye Englyshe in 1849, depicts a large orchestra that includes ophicleide (see below image; public domain) (Doyle pl. 40).

mid-19th century—Paris, France: Alphonse Leduc publishes Le Serpent du Village, a work for serpent or ophicleide and voice by A. Pilati (words by J.B. Vasseur). See below image (public domain).

mid-19th century—Brussels, Belgium: A catchpenny print entitled Afbeeldingen van soldaten (Images of Soldiers), produced by Hemeleers-Van Houter, includes a musician playing serpent (see below detail; public domain) (Catchpenny Prints of the Dutch Royal Library).

1850—Paris, France: The illustrated newspaper L’Illustration publishes a caricature of a religious scene featuring a serpent player accompanying a small group of vocalists (see below image; public domain) (March 30, 1850, p. 205). 1851—An illustration of a British infantry band by Ebsworth includes both a serpent and an ophicleide (see below image; public domain). 1853—London, England: H.G. Hine’s The Waits at Seven Dials portrays a group of “Christmas waits” or street musicians, including what may be an ophicleide. After the Municipal Corporations Act of 1835, there were no more official waits as funded by British municipalities, but ad hoc musicians would often form at Christmas time in hopes of raising money (see below image; public domain) (Illustrated London News, December 1853). 1854—France: A watercolor by Lhéritier titled L’amour dans un ophicléide depicts a man in military garb playing ophicleide (see below image; public domain).

1855—New York: An illustration by Theodore Benecke titled Sleighing in New York includes a portrayal of a band performing from the balcony of Barnum’s Museum. One of the instruments appears to be an ophicleide (see below detail; public domain) (New York Public Library, Eno Collection of City Views; Bowles, Timpani 295).

1857—Paris, France: Godefroy Durand’s Fête du pont du Gard: L’orchestre features a dance band that includes ophicleide (see below image; public domain) (L’Illustration, June 6, 1857, p. 356).

1857—Paris, France: The periodical L’Illustration prints a depiction of a military theatre with an orchestra that includes ophicleide (see below image; public domain) (September 5, 1857, p. 159).

1858—London, England: An illustration of the band of the French National Guard published in London’s Illustrated Times includes what appears to be an ophicleide (see below image; public domain).

1858-1875—France: An engraving by Guillaumot of a serpent appears in the French dictionary, Dictionnaire raisonné du mobilier français de l’époque carlovingienne à la Rénaissance (see below image; public domain).

c. 1860—Peru: Artist Pancho Fierro depicts what appears to be an ophicleide as part of a wind band performing for a Peruvian wedding celebration in Fiesta de Matrimonio (see below detail and full image below; public domain) (Lavalle 38). 1860—England: An early photograph of the famous Besses o’ th’ Barn band includes ophicleide among an ensemble of primarily brass instruments (see below image) (Baines, Brass pl. XIV). 1860—Paris, France: La femme, faible créature, a print by Carlo Gripp, is published in L’Illustration (February 4, 1860, p. 77). 1861—Paris, France: A print after a sketch by Rogier, published in the periodical L’Illustration, depicts the entry and reception of European Commissioners in Damascus. Among the musicians is a pair of ophicleides and a rear-facing trombone (see below image; public domain) (February 23, 1861, p. 119). 1862—France: Consequence of the Tax on Pianos, a print by satirist Amédée-Charles-Henri de Noe, aka Cham, is printed in Journal pour rire (see below image; public domain) (Fromrich 150). 1862—Paris, France: Artist Janet Lange depicts an ophicleide player from the Mexican army in a print published in L’Illustration and titled Armée mexicaine—Musicien (see below image; public domain) (April 5, 1862, p. 214). 1865—Paris, France: A satirical graphic titled Domestic joys of parents whose daughters take part in women’s orchestras, published in Le monde illustré, includes a woman playing what appears to be an ophicleide (see below image; public domain) (Le monde illustré, 9, no. 442; Sept 30 1865).

1865—A satirical cartoon titled “The serpent starting to tempt the woman once again,” printed in Le monde illustré, features a woman playing a dragon-belled serpent (see below image; public domain) (Le monde illustré, 9, no. 442; Sept 30 1865).

1865—Paris, France: The caption for a cartoon showing a man with an ophicleide over his head explains, curiously, that the musician uses his instrument to cure his migraine (see below image; public domain) (L’Illustration, April 8, 1865, p. 221).

1865-1916—Netherlands: A painting by artist Willem Constantijn Staring (1847-1916) depicts bandsmen of the 9th Regiment Infantry, including a musician playing a green-colored serpent (see below image; public domain).

1870—Turnov, Czech Republic: An engraving after a drawing by A. J. Levy (1845-1897) portrays what appears to be an ophicleide playing with a brass band in the public square in Turnov (see detail below; public domain) (Volek plate 347).

1871—Milan, Italy: Giuseppe Verdi makes the following comment about bass trombone in a letter to his publisher about the forthcoming Italian premiere of Aida: “I must insist on the fourth trombone. That bombardon is impossible. Tell Faccio [the conductor] to consult the first trombonist if he thinks fit, to see what should be done. I should prefer a bass trombone, which is of the same family as the others: but if it proves too tiring and difficult to play, take one of the usual ophicleides which go down to low B. In short, do whatever you please, but not that devil of a bombardon which does not blend with the others” (Leavis, Cimbasso).

1872—Paris, France: A pair of humorous prints by Bertall titled Plus d’obéissance passive (more passive obedience) are published in the periodical L’Illustration. One of the images features an ophicleide player with a conductor (see below image; public domain) (June 29, 1872, p. 415). 1872—London, England: A humorous depiction of an ensemble titled German Band is published in The Graphic, an illustrated weekly newspaper (see below image; public domain).

1874—Paris, France: A print by Bertall titled A serenade to M. de Lorgeril depicts a musical ensemble that includes what appears to be an ophicleide (see below image; public domain) (L’Illusration, February 28, 1874, p. 140).

1875-1900—Epinal, France: An image published by Pellerin, entitled French Music (Dragoons), depicts a group of military musicians on horseback, including two playing ophicleide (see bottom row, below; public domain image) (Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilization).

1875—Paris, France: An image of an ophicleide player getting rained on, titled The excursion to Lake Como thwarted by bad weather: A musician of the corporation Como, is published in the illustrated periodical, L’Illustration (see below image; public domain) (October 30, 1875, p. 274).

1876—Paris, France: Pépin’s, Musica de chambres, a political print published in Le Grelot (no. 278, August 6, 1876), depicts duelling ophicleides (see below image; public domain).

1879—Paris, France: A print of M. Denneulin’s Un Passage difficile is published in the illustrated periodical, L’Illustration (see below image; public domain) (March 8, 1879, p. 147).

c. 1880—France: An oil painting very similar to several other images (e.g. 1879, above) shows a canon playing ophicleide (see below image; public domain) (source: Renard Music).

1883—Paris, France: L’Illustration publishes a caricature, titled Concours du Conservatoire, of an ophicleide player apparently impressing the judges at the conservatoire’s annual competition (see below image; public domain) (July 28, 1883, p. 61).

1883—United Kingdom: Macmillan publishes the third volume of the first edition of Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians, which contains the below image of a serpent (see below; public domain).

1883—France: Charles Gilbert-Martin’s L’homme Orchestra, a satirical political image published in the Don Quichotte magazine in July 1883, depicts a one man band that includes an ophicleide (see below image; public domain).

1886—Paris, France: The illustrated newspaper, L’Illustration, publishes a drawing of conservatory museum holdings, titled Le musée du conservatoire—Instruments a vent, that includes serpents (see below image; public domain) (July 24, 1886, p. 50). 1887—France: Artist François Thévenot’s watercolor, La chorale de l’église de Vaucotte en 1887, depicts a choral rehearsal at the church of Vattetot-sur-Mer in which the music director holds an ophicleide (see below image; public domain).

1887—France: A painting by Edmond de Boislecomte entitled The Lectern of Aulnay-les-Bondy features an ophicleide player in a sacred setting (see below image; public domain).

1888—Paris, France: Fernand Pelez’s Grimaces and Misery depicts poor circus workers situated on a platform, including a group of three seated musicians (see below detail and full image beneath; public domain) (Musée du Petit Palais, Paris).

1889—London, England: Author George Bernard Shaw, in his music criticism column, comments on his family exposure to trombone: “I believe that a taste for brass instruments is hereditary. My father destroyed domestic peace by immoderate indulgence in the trombone; my uncle played the ophicleide—very nicely, I must admit—for years, and then perished by his own hand. Some day I shall buy a trombone myself.”

1894—Paris, France: A print by Henriot depicting a Salvation Army band in Paris’s Latin quarter includes what appears to be an ophicleide (see below image) (L’Illustration, February 10, 1894).

c. 1895—Rome, Italy: Spanish painter José Gallegos y Arnosa (1857-1917) depicts the ophicleide as a member of a small sacred ensemble accompanying a young boy’s chorus in two paintings, Choir Practice and Chorus (see below images; public domain). For a print based on these paintings, see here.

1895—Paris, France: Henriot’s comic, printed in L’Illustration, depicts a man in the cold conversing with an ophicleide player. The ophicleide player proclaims that he manages to stay warm by filling his horn with hot water (see below image; public domain) (March 16, 1895).

1895—Paris, France: An illustration of a concert of European toy soldiers for a music box by Henriot includes what appear to be multiple ophicleides (see below image; public domain) (L’Illustration, December 21, 1895, p. 4).

1897—Paris, France: The Soldier-Singers, a cartoon by Henriot, includes an ophicleide. The caption explains, “They add some canteen-singers to lend the regiment more gusto” (L’Illustration, June 26, 1897, p. 8).

1897—Paris, France: Pépin’s  La musique adoucit, etc…, a satirical political print, depicts two conjoined ophicleides (Le Grelot, no. 1389, Nov. 21, 1897).

1897—Paris, France: An illustration for the cover of Figaro Illustré by H. Kaemmerer includes an ophicleide playing on stage at a Paris fair (see far left of below image; public domain) (Figaro Illustré 92, Nov. 1897).

1898—Paris, France: A photograph published in L’Illustration includes a man holding an ophicleide. The caption reads “Brocanteurs emportant leur butin,” or, loosely translated, “Junk dealers taking their loot” (see below image; public domain) (March 12, 1898, p. 200).

c. 1908—Cuba: Enrique Peña’s popular Cuban band, Orquesta típica, includes an ophicleide (figle) (see below image; public domain) (source: wikimedia commons).

1909—Normandie, France: A postcard from Normandie, France features a photograph of a serpent player, probably from a rural church in France, playing from what appears to be a book of plainchant (see image below; public domain) (source: temposenzatempo).

1909—An oil painting shown cantors playing bassoon and ophicleide is signed “Galla 1909″ (see below image; public domain) (source: Renard Music).

c. 1910—France: A postcard celebrating the French musical instrument company Couesnon features a young boy playing an ophicleide (see below image; public domain) (source: temposenzatempo). The same photograph is also found in the company’s 1912 catalogue (see 1912, below).

1912—Milan, Italy: In Ettore Panizza’s 2nd revised and updated Italian edition of Berlioz’s orchestration treatise, Panizza discusses contrabass trombone: “Berlioz does not mention the contrabass trombone. Its pitch corresponds to an octave below that of the tenor trombone. In Italy the introduction of a new instrument of this type was due to Giuseppe Verdi, and it adopted the name of this great musician. I refer to the ‘trombone basso Verdi’ in B flat. Its tone is fine, mellow and homogeneous, especially in its middle range, while being slightly weak in the bottom and high register. It is notated at concert pitch, that is the written note is the actual note sounded, in spite of the instrument being pitched in B flat. Verdi, who, as we have seen, had been its inspiration, wrote an important part for it in his Otello and later in Falstaff. Today this trombone has become very common in Italian orchestras, and almost all the parts for ophicleide or for tuba are played on the trombone Verdi” (Meucci).

1912—France: A catalogue issued by the French musical instrument company of Couesnon advertises several ophicleide models. A young boy is shown demonstrating the instrument in the top-right of the page (see below image; public domain) (source: www.luthiers-miercourt.com).

Robert Chase’s Dies Irae: A Guide to Requiem Music is an excellent source for learning about many of these works. The clips here represent only a fraction of those that could be included. YouTube is hit-and-miss, and I obviously didn’t find all of the requiems ever to include trombone, but 16 is a nice sampling. Here they all are, below, along with their captions from the Timeline. In terms of trombone solos that shaped Mozart’s trombone solo in particular, I would point to the first one below, Emperor’s Requiem by J.J. Fux (Vienna, 1720) as a starting point.

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1720—Vienna, Austria: Johann Joseph Fux, Kapellmeister at the Imperial Court, writes the Emperor’s Requiem for the funeral of the widow of Emperor Leopold I. The work, which reportedly continues to be used at royal funeral services up until 1743, utilizes 2 trombones to double the lower vocal lines and for an obbligato role in the “Tuba Mirum.” The obbligato use of trombone in the “Tuba Mirum,” of course, foreshadows Mozart’s Requiem (Chase 153). (The “Tuba Mirum” in the YouTube clip below begins at :43.)

c. 1740—Dresden, Germany: Bohemian composer Jan Dismas Zelenka, an important contemporary of Bach and Handel, composes his Requiem in C Minor. The piece utilizes 3 trombones, which perform in every movement, often doubling the lower vocal lines (Chase 181). Trombones, which are the only brass in the work, play a particularly prominent role in the “Dies Irae.”

1760—Paris, France: François-Joseph Gossec composes Messe des morts, a Requiem Mass first performed at the Jacobean monastery of the rue St. Jacques, and subsequently performed at least a dozen times in Paris before the Revolution. Three trombones, along with several other wind instruments, appear offstage in the “Tuba mirum” (Guion, Trombone 169; Chase 200). Later, Gossec makes the following comment about the piece: “In the two strophes Tuba mirum and Mors stupebit et natura of the Dies irae, people were frightened by the terrible effect of three trombones with four clarinets, four trumpets, four horns, and eight bassoons hidden in the distance and in an elevated place in the church to announce the last judgment” (Guion, Trombone 170). For the “Tuba Mirum,” see 2:52 in the below YouTube clip.

c. 1785—Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf, colleague and personal friend of both Mozart and Haydn, writes his Requiem in C minor. The work calls for 3 trombones that double the lower vocal parts (Chase 195).

1791—Vienna, Austria: Mozart writes his Requiem, which includes the famous “Tuba Mirum” solo. The first 18 measures are composed by Mozart; the following portion is added later by Süssmayr (Guion, Trombone 139).

1803—Vienna, Austria: Joseph Leopold Eybler’s Requiem in C minor, which includes alto, tenor, and bass trombone, is performed at the funeral of Emperor Leopold II (Chase 197).

1803-09—Vienna, Austria: Bohemian composer Anton Reicha, teacher of Liszt, Berlioz, and Franck, writes his Missa pro defunctis. The requiem utilizes 3 trombones that double the lower vocal parts (Chase 221).

1804—Vienna, Austria: Antonio Salieri, teacher of Beethoven, Schubert, and Liszt, writes his Requiem in C minor. The piece, which calls for 3 trombones, is later performed at Salieri’s own funeral. Regarding Salieri’s use of trombone in the work, one commentator notes, “The bulk of the orchestration is for strings, but when the composer wanted to suggest solemnity, he used the trombones” (Chase 224).

1816—Paris, France: Luigi Cherubini composes his Requiem in C Minor, which calls for 3 trombones. Commissioned by Louis XVIII to commemorate the deaths of Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette, it is first performed at the Crypt of St. Denis. Considered by some to be among Cherubini best works, it is the model that Beethoven said he would use if he ever composed a requiem. Although Beethoven, of course, never composes a requiem, the Cherubini’s requiem is performed at Beethoven’s funeral (Chase 192).

1818—Paris, France: Portugese composer João Bomtempo writes Messe de requiem consacrée a Cameos, which calls for 2 trombones and features a brass fanfare at the opening of the “Tuba mirum” (Chase 247). The “Tuba mirum” in the clip below begins at 2:16.

1837—Hector Berlioz writes Messe des Morts, a requiem which is one of the earliest works by a major composer to call for trombone pedal notes (the earliest known example is actually Hérold’s Zampa, 1831). Berlioz later remarks that “although at the first rehearsal of this work five or six of the eight trombone players exclaimed with indignation that this was impossible,” they were able to get the notes to sound “quite full and pure—played by artists who did not believe in the existence of these notes” (Burton 173). Berlioz includes the following sentence in the score: “These notes are on the instrument and the players must get them out” (Gregory 60). Regarding this passage, Cecil Forsyth, who had never heard it, later says, “It probably sounds very nasty,” to which Gordon Jacob responds, “The present writer has heard the passage. It does!” (Macdonald 217). The requiem, which calls for 16 trombones, is premiered at the entombment of General Charles de Damremont (Chase 245).

1849—Anton Bruckner writes his Requiem in D Minor in honor of his friend, Franz Seiler. The orchestra consists solely of strings and 3 trombones, with a horn briefly replacing one of the trombones in the Benedictus (Chase 251).

1855—Franz von Suppé, famous for his German operettas, writes his Requiem in D Minor for his deceased friend, Franz Pokorny. Von Suppé utilizes 3 trombones prominently for the dramatic choral recitative, “Domine Jesu Christe,” as well as for an introduction and postlude in the “Tuba mirum” (Chase 298).

1874—Giuseppe Verdi composes his Manzoni Requiem, often called his “greatest opera,” in honor of poet-patriot Alessandro Manzoni. Premiered a year later at the Church of San Marco, Milan, the work calls for 3 trombones. The “Dies irae,” in particular, in which “volcanic anger is depicted by the powerful brass and timpani,” utilizes trombone prominently (Chase 300).

1890—Antonin Dvorak composes his Requiem, which calls for 4 trombones (Chase 260).

1980-84—Krzysztof Penderecki writes his Polish Requiem, which requires 4 trombones. Trombones take part in a powerful brass chorus in the “Tuba mirum” (Chase 347), which begins in the clip below at 1:37.

“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.