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).

1644—Florence, Italy: Il Volterrano (also known variously as Baldassare Franceschini and Franceschini Baldassare detto Volterrano) is commissioned to paint a lunette fresco in Florence’s Santissima Annunziata. The image features angels playing violin, trombone, and lute (see above image; public domain) (Strozzi 332; Falletti 76).

Since then, I tracked down a color image and changed out the black & white one in both the post and the timeline page. I also found two other images depicting angel-musicians from the same artist and same area of the church (the Grazzi Chapel of Santissima Annunziata). It’s interesting to see which other instruments (and combinations of instruments) were depicted by the artist in his work in the Florentine church, and it provides at least some idea of what was being played at the time and how instruments were perceived by people. I would also point out, once again, what a prolific half-century 1601-1650 was for trombone iconography! The source for the images is Falletti, 55-78 (see Trombone History Bibliography for full citation). Here they are, below–click on image to enlarge:

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.

Update: See this subsequent post for two additional versions of the below image, both probably preparatory sketches.

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c. 1585—Munich, Germany: Pieter de Witte, court painter in Munich, paints David Singing God’s Praise, which features trombone among a mixed consort of angel-musicians. The upper half of the painting, show below, is meant to depict Saint Cecilia and angels. The lower half, not shown, depicts angels performing with David (Haarlem, Frans Hals Museum, photo A. Dingjan; Pieter Fischer 22; Bergquist xvii) (public domain image).

c. 1590—Munich, Germany: Johann Sadeler (Jan Sadeleer), court engraver in Munich, makes an engraving after Pieter de Witte’s painting that accompanies a setting of Psalm 150, Laudent Deum Cithara, by Orlando Lassus (see below image; public domain) (Mirimonde 67; Bergquist xvii).

A silver relief by Christoph Lencker is also modeled after the original Pieter de Witte painting (see below image; public domain) (Pieter Fischer 23).

And finally, a painted glass window in St. Helen’s church, Denton, England follows the same image. It is dated 1700 and signed by Giles of York (see below detail; public domain) (photo by Gordon Plumb):

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

]]> http://www.kimballtrombone.com/2010/trombone-and-the-art-of-illusion/feed/ 2 http://www.kimballtrombone.com/2010/trombones-in-romes-san-giovanni-in-laterano/ http://www.kimballtrombone.com/2010/trombones-in-romes-san-giovanni-in-laterano/#comments Wed, 19 May 2010 00:46:40 +0000 wkimball http://www.kimballtrombone.com/?p=6386 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).

c. 1629—Venice, Italy: Veronese artist Fra Semplice da Verona includes a depiction of a cherub playing trombone in Infant Jesus and Musical Angels, an image framing a pre-existing Madonna in the Convento del Redentore. Other instruments being played include cornetto, viol, violin, and lute (see detail, top, and full image, below; public domain) (Portogruaro, plate 37).

c. 1642—Florence, Italy: Il Volterrano (also known variously as Baldassare Franceschini and Franceschini Baldassare detto Volterrano) makes a red-chalk preparatory sketch for a lunette fresco in the Grazzi chapel of Santissima Annunziata. It features angels playing violin, trombone, and lute (see above image; public domain) (Strozzi 332).

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).