3.7 * f
/V ', t
A SHORT HISTORY OF THE TROMBONE WITH EMPHASIS ON
CONSTRUCTION INNOVATIONS AND PERFORMANCE
MODIFICATIONS FROM 1945 TO 1970
THESIS
Presented to the Graduate Council of the
North Texas State University in Partial
Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree of
MASTER OF MUSIC
By
Ashley Hollis Alexander, B. M. E.
Denton, Texas
May, 1971 PREFACE
For all of recorded history music and the instruments of music have been a source of fascination and curiosity.
Through a major portion of this time one instrument, the trombone, has evolved with a unique design, character, and history. Mendelssohn frankly stated that this instrument was too sacred to be used except upon the rarest of occasions.
Berlioz protested against the indiscriminate use of the trom bone, saying,". . . to impoverish, to degrade a magnificent individuality . . . is to make a hero into a slave and a buffoon." 1 Berlioz further characterized the instrument with this statement from his monumental work, Modern Instrumenta tion and Orchestration:
The trombone is--in my opinion--the true chief of that race of wind instruments which I have desig nated as epic instruments. It possesses, in an eminent degree, both nobleness and grandeur; it has all the deep and powerful accents of high musical poetry--from the religious accent, calm and imposing, to the wild clamours of the orgy. It depends on the composer to make it by turn chant like a choir of priests; threaten, lament, ring a funeral knell, raise a hymn of glory, break forth into frantic cries, or sound its
1H. W. Schwartz, The Story of Musical Instruments (Elkhart, Ind., 1938), p. 219.
i Ii dread flourish to awaken the dead or to doom the living. . . .2
There is one technical resource that gives this instrument
the ability to be truly the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of the
musical world: it can perform to the highest degree of
accuracy the glissando or "smear." This musical necessity
can set moods, create comic situations, and perform many
needed tasks in the orchestra as it is known today. The
trombone can scream; it can moan; it can seduce; it can
laugh like a hyena. It has an inherent advantage over the valve-brass instruments in that it is not dependent in its classical form upon an imperfect mechanism, but can produce an accurate pitch through a minute adjustment of the slide, just as a string player can adjust his instrument by the smallest of adjustments of the hand on the string.3 When
Gabriel's awful trumpet announced the Day of Judgment in
Berlioz's Requiem, it was not a trumpet that the score indicated. The composer called for sixteen trombones.
2 Hector Berlioz, A Treatise on Modern Instrumentation and Orchestration, trans. Mary Cowden Clarke, (London, 1882), p. 154.
3 Richard Highfill, "The History of the Trombone from the Renaissance to the Early Romantic Period," unpublished master's thesis, School of Music, North Texas State College, Denton, Texas, 1952, p. 4.
4 Schwartz, op. cit., p. 219.
iv TABLE OF CONTENTS
...... Page PREFACE ......
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ...... vi
Chapter I. EVOLUTION OF THE TROMBONE ...... I
Early Etymology The Sackbut Construction Performance Techniques Use of the Sackbut
II. THE MODERN TROMBONE TO 1900...... 6
Construction and Performance Techniques Use of the Modern Trombone Church Opera Symphony Military Band
III. THE TROMBONE FROM 1900 TO 1945 ...... 25
Construction Differences Uses in the Twentieth Century Symphony Orchestras Jazz Recording Chamber Music Solo Literature Military Band
IV. THE TROMBONE FROM 1945 TO 1970.-...... 33
The Bass Trombone and Construction Innovations Performance Modifications
V. CONCLUSIONS ...... 49
BIBLIOGRAPHY...... 53
V LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure Page
1. Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass Trombones from Praetorius...... 11
2. Contrabass Trombone, Praetorius ...... 13
3. Trombone with Removable Crook, from Mersenne. . . 15
4. Bach Bb-F tenor-bass trombone, bell section, with single valve ...... 26
5. Conn Bb-F-E bass trombone, bell section, with optional second valve, (1961)...... 37
6. Reynolds double valve Bb-F-Eb bass trombone, bell section, (1962)...... 37
7. Bach double valve Bb-F-Eb bass trombone, bell section, (1965)...... 0...... 39
8. The Overtone Series.*...... 43
9. Trombone Positioning Reference Chart for Multi-Trigger Trombone...... 46
vi Li
Alexander, Ashley., A Short History of the Trombone
with Emphasis on Construction Innovations and Performance
Modifications from 1945 to 1970. Master of Music (Performance,
Trombone), May, 1971, 55 pp., 9 illustrations, bibliography,
35 titles.
For all of recorded history musical instruments have
been a source of fascination and curiosity for man. Through
a major portion of this time one instrument, the trombone,
has evolved with a unique design, character, and history.
The earliest trombones, called sackbuts, originally had a
sliding mechanism located near the mouthpiece. In the
sixteenth century this was improved by the addition of the
"U-turn" which facilitated holding and playing. This con
struction innovation was the last major change in trombone
design; the trombone of 1600 was essentially the same as the
trombone of today.
Although seventeenth century trombones were commonly
built in four sizes, soprano, alto, tenor, and bass, efforts were made to produce a contrabass instrument through the
addition of removable crooks and through the manufacture of
double-sized tenor instruments. These larger instruments were tiring to hold and to play and were largely unsuccessful.
1 2
The nineteenth century saw renewed interest in the trombone and it became an established color in orchestral forces in that period. Because the treble members of the brass choir had become chromatic through the invention of valves, new attempts were made to improve the compass and facility. Some scoring was done for the valved trombone, but this instrument was generally considered less successful than the traditional slide trombone. The tenor-bass trom bone in Bb-F was introduced by Adolphe Sax in order to bridge the gap between the pedal tones of the instrument and the true tones of the instrument. This instrument had a single valve in addition to the slide which covered the missing tones.
In the twentieth century, the trombonist was called upon to perform with accuracy passages that were technically very difficult to manipulate. This nurtured unique attitudes in trombone players--to play in tune, to play anything needed, and to play the impossible. These attitudes still exist.
Composers have given less and less consideration to the mechanical difficulties involved in the performing duties required of the trombone. Passing from one note to another might demand an enormous change in the position of the slide.
With this extreme movement of the performer's arm, certain 3
slide combinations became most difficult to play at a fast
tempo or an extremely slow tempo. Therefore, the trombonist
sought a trombone that maintained the characteristics of the slide yet had the ability to move at a greater rate of
speed and remove certain unreachable slide position combina tions. Modern instrument design has tried to fulfill this need with the modern multi-trigger instrument of recent years.
Since 1945 it has become more and more difficult for a player to master the techniques required to play both the tenor and bass trombones. The design of the trombone at this point tends to surpass the ability of most players.
When concentrated in depth efforts are made to perform on the bass trombone, the multi-valved trombone must be carefully considered as a special member of the trombone family with advantages and disadvantages all its own. In this day of automation and technical knowledge, one puts himself at a disadvantage if he does not grasp the opportunity to avail himself of any mechanical asset that will improve his per forming quality. CHAPTER I
EVOLUTION OF THE TROMBONE
There have been many attempts to construct the perfect trombone. The earliest of these date from the earliest of man's recorded history.
Early Etymology
One of the earliest traceable names given to the pre decessors of the trombone was of Greek derivation. Sambuca, sambuka, sambyke, sebekha, or sebeka represented a wind 1 instrument with sliding wooden tubes. Another very early example is the mythical Roman trombone tuba ductilis (685 B.C.).
The Latin name means "made of metal," in which the tube was
"drawn or hammered out," instead of being cast in a mold.2
There was a trombone found at Herculaneum from 79 A. D.
(excavated in 1738) with a tube of bronze and a mouthpiece of gold.3
1Beatrice Edgerly, From the Hunter's Bow (New York, 1942), p. 145.
2 Francis W. Galpin, A Textbook of European Musical Instruments (London, 1937), p. 240.
3 Ibid.
1 2
The Spanish used the name sacbuche, which means "drawn tube,"A but literally translates "ship's pump." Germany retained the ancient title of the progenitor of the trombone, 5 the long and straight busine or pusine. The French name followed very closely that of the Spanish, saguebute, (push pull).6 Finally, the English had their own versions of the word: shakbusse, sagbut, and eventually sackbut. To simplify matters, the term sackbut will be used throughout the remainder of this investigation.
The Sackbut
Construction
The method of constructing the slide of the early sackbut is obscure. The wooden slide or tube seems to be the earliest construction design for the instrument. In the fourteenth century it is doubtful whether the tubes were "drawn" as they are today; much of the metal work in that period was hammered, rather than cast, of bronze or brass. The soft metals used
4Willi Apel, "Trombone," Harvard Dictionary of Music, 2nd ed. (Cambridge, Mass., 1969), p. 870.
5Ibid.
6 Karl Geiringer, Musical Instruments (New York, 1945), p. 109.
Edgerly, p. cit., p. 145. 3 would have been quite workable; a slide could easily have been hammered. Strings were "drawn" or stretched, but no evidence indicates that the technical knowledge was available to "draw" or "stretch" larger pieces of metal.8
Performance Techniques
The earliest design of the sackbut called for the player to press the mouthpiece to his lips with one hand and extend the entire instrument with the other in order to lower the pitch.9 Because there was only one tube sliding, a rather long movement of about nine inches was needed to lower the pitch one-half step. The earliest models of the sackbut were not chromatic; most of them could play only four half steps on any given partial. The great improvement resulted with the design which fixed the mouthpiece by means of a cross-stay to the tubing alongside; thus, the whole first loop of the 10 instrument could slide. At this point of development, the player was able to reach new notes on the slide that were impossible before the double slide was used. With the same
8 Schwartz, pp. cit., p. 111.
9 Christopher W. Monk, "The Older Brass Instruments," Musical Instruments Through the Ages, edited by Anthony Baines (Baltimore, Md., 1961), p. 283.
10Ibid., p. 145. 4 effort a performer could now reach seven half steps, making the sackbut fully chromatic. The shape and design thus closely resembled that of the modern trombone. A point of interest was the use of loops or tubing placed on the body of the sackbut near the bell, resembling the newest design,
"trigger" or "double trigger" trombones. These were used to change the key of the instrument in their original form.
Use of the Sackbut
The sackbut had a rich and full life. The medieval church depended on its voice to reinforce the plainsong of the chorus, a duty no other brass instrument could perform 12 since none of them had control of all the notes of the scale.
Respect and fascination for the sackbut was not limited to the church. The instrument won the most unusual admiration of the Shah of Persia, who supposed that the sackbut players were swallowing and regurgitating substantial lengths of tubing .13
11 Schwartz, 2R. cit., p. 220.
1 2 Curt Sachs, "Chromatic Trumpets in the Renaissance," Musical Quarterly, xxxvi (Jan., 1950), 65.
1 3 Robert Donnington, The Instruments of Music, 2nd ed. (New York, 1948), p. 127. 5
As metal-working techniques improved, however, the modern trombone was in. the offing. Sachs states:
Das letzte erhaltene Exemplar einer gestreckten Busine scheint eine Arbeit Seb. Hainleins von 1460 in Galpins Sammlund zu sein. (The last extant example of a stretched sackbut appears to be the workmanship of Sebastian Hainlein from 1460 in the Galpin collection.) 1 4
4 1 Sachs, Reallexikon, p. 304. CHAPTER II
THE MODERN TROMBONE TO 1900
Construction and Performance Techniques
Because the principle of the trombone is based upon a lengthening-slide mechanism that is complete in itself, the construction of the instrument has changed only slightly since its inception. McCall describes the perfecting of the slide;
The slide was added in Northern Italy during the early part of the fourteenth century. The slide at this time was only long enough to lower the pitch four half steps. . . . By 1511, the fifth half step was added to the slide. It was some years later that the sixth was idded, thus completing the chromatic scale.
The trombone alone in the brass family has always been chromatic; its tube is not fixed at any set length calculated to sound semitones apart, but can be adjusted to any possible length within limits--the shortest, when the slide is drawn up, and the longest when it is fully extended. The slide, which constitutes over two-thirds the total length in the modern trombone, is straight except for one U-bend. Sachs
1Harlo E. McCall, Instructional Guide for Instrumental Teachers (San Antonio, 1953), p. 79.
6 7 sees the beginning of the development of the U-bend as the exact moment when the trombone was born. The earlier sackbuts he considers to be slide trumpets, saying,
The trombone, which, in its modern form with one U-turn reaching behind the player's ear, appeared in the fifteenth century, is thus not a new invention but only a logical development of the trumpet. . . Since the sliding U-turn was from all viewpoints infinitely superior to the sliding mouthpiece, the alto trombone displaced the slide trumpet almost entirely.2
This design brings about a free, unrestricted sound that cannot be matched by any other member of the brass family.
Its only flaws are a slight but sudden change in the width of the bore at the points where the two parallel inner tubes end, and the impossibility of altering the sounding-length instantaneously. The latter, however, may possibly be regarded as a characteristic feature of the instrument rather than as an imperfection.3
The principle of the double slide can be traced as far as the fifteenth century. In the last quarter of that century, a model existed which was the work of one Hans
Heuschel of Nurnberg, described as a skilled posaunenmacher, the first known maker of the trombone proper. Orders were placed for the trombones of Neuschel from several hundred
2 Sachs, "Chromatic Trumpets," xxxvi, 66.
3Adam Carse, Musical Wind Instruments (New York, 1963), p. 251. 8 miles distant. Silver trombones from this maker were con structed for Pope Leo X of Rome. A feeling of unreality about the trombone develops as early pictures and woodcuts are viewed. However, as the extant instruments of this century are seen and touched, the reality of these amazing instruments is felt. They are tangible proof--an advanced musical instrument that can still be played. While Adam
Carse feels that the chief difference between the old sackbut and the new trombone lies in the player, who tends in the latter to force a loud and blaring tone as contrasted with the softer and warmer quality of the sackbut, 5 Robert
Donnington points to morphological differences:
The early trombones [sackbuts] used . . . a deeper, tapering mouthpiece, like that of the early horn, besides inclining to a narrower bell and tone, such as is now almost confined to German trombonists. The modern trombones use a cup-shaped but not sharp-edged mouthpiece . . .6
Like the trumpets of the sixteenth century, the trombones were made of hammered brass, and were joined down the side by brazing. The various parts were held together by short sleeves which usually bore the maker's name and city as well as the
41bid.
5 Ibid., pp. 261-262.
6Donnington, Instruments of Music, p. 101. 9
date of construction. These sleeves were also used as ornamentation and trimming for the instruments. Another constructional characteristic was the use of the long funnel shaped bell, which tended to give the instrument a softer, mellow, and more voice-like sound. In the mid-sixteenth century, the bells begin to expand more suddenly out of the tubing. The taper of the bell was constructed near the end of the bell. This change had a decided effect upon the
sound of the instrument. The trombone proper could now speak with a stronger and more dominating sound, thus opening new
avenues of performance although not limiting its ability to blend with and support the human voice. It was necessary
to have three stays connected with the bell to support the body of the trombone. These were usually of flat decorated
strips of brass designed in such a way that they could be
removed. It was thought that this design was necessary in
order to allow the sound-carrying tubes to stand free, leaving
them in a completely non-rigid condition, free to vibrate.7
This sixteenth-century trombone is described by Martin
Agricola in his Musica instrumentalis deudsch (1528):
7Carse, Wind Instruments, p. 253. 10
Etliche aber haben der lcher keyns Nur allein oben und unden eyns Auf diesen wird die melodey/ allein Durchs blasen und ziehen gefAdret rein Als sein Busaun / Trumpeten und Claret translated as:
Some have no holes at all, I trow, Save one on top and one below; Claretas, trumpets, and trombones By breath and sliding yield their tones.8
By 1600 the trombone had reached a period in its development when the construction had become crystalized.
The general shape, the bell, and even the length of the instrument, about nine feet, remain much the same today.9
In the seventeenth century, there were three basic trombones in general use: the alto pitched in Eb or F; the Bb non transposing tenor instrument; and the bass trombone in the key of F or E. (See Figure 1) A number of seventeenth century trombones on which fixed stays have replaced the flat removable stays may be seen in German collections. A fourth trombone should also be mentioned, the contrabass BBb,.one octave below the tenor. This trombone is described by
Praetorius in 1619 as follows:
8 Sachs, "Chromatic Trumpets," xxxvi, 66.
9 Ib i'd. l
11
:-Z, V III 13
I-I- 1. I tpn.-, -I1 , -, .".I -7- ' *
,~fl I,
Vill;
9 A ...
9
Fig. 1--Treble (4), Alto (3), Tenori(2) and Bass Trombones from Praetorius
1 0 Michael Praetorius, Syntagma Musicum, Band II, De Organographia, reprint edited by Wilibald Gurlitt, (Wolfenbttel, 1619; reprint Kassel-Basel, 1958), Plate XXI. 12
Allein dass sie ihren Thon ein Octav tieffer bringer/ und naturlich das E; im falset aber auch/ doch mit gutem Anfass das D and C erreichen kan. (Its tone alone decends an octave deeper and naturally sounds an E; in false [tone] how ever even reaches a D and C with expert handling.)
Praetorius pictures this instrument together with bass instruments of other families such as the violone, and contrabass viola da gamba in his woodcut VI. (See Figure 2)
As the length of the trombone slide increased, it became necessary to find some method to lengthen the playing reach of the performer. No normal human being could reach the lower positions on these bass trombones, and the hinged lever which was employed for this purpose was not the answer to the problem. A slide which had been folded twice upon itself seemed to be the solution. This slide had four tubes which doubled the length of the instrument without doubling the reach of the player. When one considers the difficulty of keeping four slides in alignment, it is evident that this design did not produce the perfect bass trombone. Several methods were employed to lengthen the body of the trombone.
The use of folded or circular crooks made it possible to lengthen the instrument without making it too long and cumbersome. These crooks were usually inserted between the
llIbid., p. 32. 13
Fig. 2--Countrabass Trombone, Praetoriusl2
12 Ibid., Plate VI. 14
slide and the bell section. Upon rare occasions they were
placed between the mouthpiece and the slide, but this method
had the obvious problem of moving the positions on the slide
in relation to the performer. On the larger instruments the
bell pipe was folded in order to gain length without making
the instrument unduly long. The bass trombone built by Hans
Schreiber in 1614 was merely a double-sized tenor with a
range one octave below the standard tenor.1 3
Another trombone built by Schreiber was not so large
and obtained the length needed to drop the pitch one octave by the use of a crook. This crook, or folded tube, was
inserted between the bell and the slide; there was also an
increase in the bore size of the instrument.1 4
The use of the crook to lower the pitch a full octave was not adopted by all manufacturers. Mersenne's Harmonie universelle (1635) pictures a trombone used in France that was basically standard tenor with a crook that lowered the pitch by a fourth, becoming a bass trombone in the key of F.
Mersenne presents a woodcut of this instrument (Figure 3) and describes the use of the removable crook:
1 3 Curt Sachs, The History of Musical Instruments (New York, 1940), p. 326.
1 4 Carse, Musical Instruments, p. 261. .a I
15
Fig. 3--Trombone with Removable Crook, from Mersenne1 5
1 5 Marin Mersenne, Harmonie universelle, translated by Roger E. Chapman (Paris, 1636; reprint The Hague, 1957), p. 341. 16
But principally two things must be noted in this instrument, that is, that one rarely uses the winding part [crook], which begins a~t the joint L and ends at the joint G so as to bring the sackbut back to its natural tone. Now experience indicates that the winding part being added causes the sackbut to lower a fourth lower than its natural pitch, so as to perform the bass in concerts performed with oboes. 1 6
It is easy to see that the trombone in the key of F could play
the range most called for, and was, in addition, easier to
carry, less tiring to play, and performed with more accuracy
simply because it was the same instrument with the simple
addition of a crook. A version of this tenor-bass trombone was to reappear in the twentieth century.
Another type of trombone that must not be overlooked is
the valve trombone which evolved about the time of the water
key and tuning slides. In 1818 a trombone was built by
Stolzel and Bl1mel that had a contrivance which enabled it
to play chromatics without the use of crooks or stopping;
there was an addition of tubing and valves in place of the
slide. Although this contrivance for the instrument had
decided advantages for the military and the cavalry, it was
felt after careful testing and study that it had inherited many weaknesses of the valved brass and had lost its ability
to play in perfect tune. Berlioz wrote that the pistons
1 6 Ibid 17
increased the agility of the valve trombone, but gave it less "correctness of pitch." 1 7 Although it was favored in certain opera houses and in military bands, in 1885 the best trombone players of Germany were getting rid of their valve trombones and falling back on their old slide instruments.
Sachs states:
Players have clung to their [slide trombones easy adjustability that produces a singing style unique among wind instruments. Yet, valves have been used on trombones and have made the instrument accessible to persons with short arms, and allowed trombonists to display a more brilliant technique. For the trombone with valves some makers have preferred a more functional upright or circular shape, since the traditional form of the instrument is meaningless without a slide.18
There were many variants of the valve trombone, each making its bid for the perfect trombone and each succumbing to a multitude of construction and performance problems. One of the strangest was a valve trombone built by Adolphe Sax which had six pistons and six bells, each having a different length and each supposedly producing a partial of the funda, mental pitch in perfect intonation. The six bells made the instrument cumbersome and much more expensive to produce.1 9
17 Berlioz, 2p. cit., p. 173.
18 Sachs, History of Musical Instruments, p. 434.
1 9 Carse, Wind Instruments, p. 263. 18
Another design was the contrabass trombone, an octave below
the tenor, improved in 1816 by Gottfried Weber with the
invention of a "double slide," the pipe being four parallel
tubes. Wagner specified this instrument for the Ring des
Nibelungen and other composers followed suit.2 0
In Berlioz' Treatise, reference is made to an instrument which bridged the gap of an augmented fourth (Contragreat Bb
to Great E) that exists between the ordinary tones of the Bb
tenor instrument and the pedal tones.
Fortunately, the clever maker, Sax (of Paris) has surmounted the difficulty by means of a single piston affixed to the body of the tenor trombone; which piston the performer moves with his left thumb, maintaining the entire liberty of his right arm for manipulating the slide; and which, supplying the gap, now gives to the tenor trombone in Bb this immense compass . . . [c" to Contragreat G1.21
This instrument must have been the forerunner of the modern
tenor-bass trombone.
Use of the Modern Trombone
It is a curious phenomenon that the trombone underwent
a decided reversal in use during the Baroque Period (1600-1750)
2 0 Michael Olson, "The Development and Utilization of Valved Brasses in the Orchestra in the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century," unpublished master's thesis, School of Music, North Texas State University, Denton, Texas, 1969, p. 60.
2 1 Berlioz, op. cit. 153. 19 and the Classic Period (1750-c. 1825); it was precisely during this time that instrumental music began to blossom.
As the Renaissance came to a close, some composers had used the trombone with telling effect in motets for voices and wind instruments. The tastes and skills of the Baroque composers and musicians tended to use the trombone, and indeed, all of the brass family except the horn, for idiomatic and limited tasks rather than as an essential color in the newly established orchestral forces. Part of this was no doubt caused by the Baroque practice of basso continuo and consequently toward a polarity of bass and soprano lines.22
For the first time composers had at their disposal two treble instruments, the violin and the oboe, which could successfully compete with the human voice in solo music. Even in writing for voices, composers usually favored the treble during this period; the monstrous castrati practice is proof of this. It is no wonder then, that the trombone, which favored the middle register, was pushed to the background in spite of its inherent advantages over the other brass instruments, which were in this period still valveless. When, in the waning days of the Baroque Period, the cembalo was dropped from
2 2 Claude Palisca, Baroque Music (Englewood Cliffs, 1968), pp. 19-22. 20
standard orchestration, it was the horns rather than the trombones which were elected to aid the violas in filling in the absent middle voices, so that in the Classic Period as well, the trombone was a minor and somewhat grotesque member of the standard ensemble.
Church
Some composers had continued to use the trombone, but most of these wrote for either the church or the theater, where the trombone's traditional association with voices held sway. For example, just prior to the beginning of the
sixteenth century, Giovanni Gabrieli scored specifically for
trombones in antiphonal fashion in his Sacrae Symphoniae.
He was followed by his pupil Heinrich SchAtz, who continued
the Venetian practice of using brass instruments with voices
in Dresden. In the middle Baroque, writing for four trombones
was still practiced as late as 1670 in Vienna, where J. H.
Smeltzer wrote a Missa Nuptialis for the wedding of Leopold
I. Four trombones were used throughout this work in a texture
which was only a step away from chamber music. Although he
omitted this instrument as a rule in his secular works, J. S.
2 3 Bach's many church cantatas do make some use of the trombone.
23 Highfill, "History of the Trombone," p. 41. 21
Neither Haydn nor Mozart used the trombone in their symphonies, in which the tympani formed the bass to the treble brass parts. Both, however, employed trombones in liturgically connected works such as masses. Practically all nineteenth century composers used the trombone in the quasi-liturgical works for chorus and orchestra which were so common in the
Romantic Period.
Opera
In opera the first indications for specific instrumental scorings were given in Monteverdi's Orfeo of 1607, in which the composer calls for regal and trombones in Act III to accompany the "Coro di Spiriti Infernali." After this initial effort at specific scoring in opera (the list of instruments and scoring has survived because of the printed souvenir scores for Orfeo), almost nothing is known about scoring for opera orchestras in the remainder of the seventeenth century beyond references by contemporary writers.24 It was generally thought suitable to use the trombone in gho-stly or supernatural scenes; the prolific opera composers of the early eighteenth century also wrote only a skeletal outline and had
2 4 Geiringer, Music Instruments, p. 179. 22
the scoring done by apprentices. The Handel-Gesellschaft
editions of the Handel operas include trombone parts. The
editor, Chrysander, discovered that it was the practice to
place the trombone parts in appendix to the full score.25
A composer with almost a Pre-Romantic sense of sonority was
Christoph Gluck, whose orchestrations were admired by Berlioz.
Gluck followed the established practice of using the trombone
in supernatural scenes, but scored the group high and had
them play softly. Mozart shows a striking use of the trombone
in his ZauberflSte.
Symphony
The traditional home of the trombone is, however, the
symphony orchestra. As the nineteenth century emerged, no
less a genius than Beethoven scored for a trombone section
in his Symphony #5. Berlioz followed Beethoven in being
instrumental in the establishment of the trombone as the
bass member of the brass section when it was used as a unit.
This practice was possible because the treble brasses had
gained the ability to play melodically and in harmony through
the invention of the valve. The remainder of the nineteenth
2 5 Denver D. Seifried, "The Use of the Trombone in Beethoven's Symphonies # 5, 6, and 9 and Schubert's Symphony # 8," unpub lished master's thesis, School of Music, North Texas State University, Denton, Texas, 1968, p. 18. 23 century is characterized by the use of brass for all types of media, often en masse, as in Wagner's music dramas and
Mahler 's symphonies .26
Military Band
The military band, as it is known today had its beginning in the eighteenth century. It must not be overlooked, however, that the military band in some form has existed since the
Middle Ages and even earlier. As early as the eleventh century, military musical organizations were used to signal messages, mass troops, and to aid in the psychological preparation needed to advance men into combat. Instrumental groups using trumpets, pipes, drums, and cymbals were used in Scotland during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries to rouse soldiers' spirits.
Later, it is common to find the use of trumpets and kettle drums for the cavalry with fifes and drums used for the mili tary.27 Toward the end of the seventeenth century, the military bands assumed a more melodic texture, using a broader repertory, including marches and similar pieces. The bands of
Louis XIV (1638-1715), organized by Lully, consisted mainly of woodwinds, as did those of Frederick II (1712-1786). Around
26 Adam Carse, The History of Orchestration (Dutton, 1925), p. 343.
27j. F. Walker, "Military Music," Harvard Dictionary of Music, 2nd ed., ed. Willi Apel (Cambridge, 1969), p. 528. 24
1800 the Turkish military bands adopted more percussion instruments. It was not until the time of Napoleon and
the French Revolution that instrumentation was broadened to
include one bass trumpet and three trombones. It should be
noted that W. F. Wieprecht, the organizer of Prussian music
in Berlin in 1838, conducted the first massed military band.
He united sixteen cavalry regiments, using a total of 1000 wind instruments. At this time Adolphe Sax included his
novel valved-brass instruments in the French military units.28
There is a direct pa rallel between the military bands of
Europe and the military bands in America. The first use of instruments in battle in America came after the capture of Ft. Ticonderoga in 1775. Massachusetts regiments were among
the first to employ bands in America in 1792, but it was not until 1812 that the regular army in America increased its allotment of monies for musicians for each regiment or company, and not until 1847 was the size of the standard band increased to sixteen men.29
28bid.
H. G. Farmer, Military Music (New York, 1950), p. 66. CHAPTER III
THE TROMBONE FROM 1900 TO 1945
Construction Differences
The early twentieth century saw no major constructional changes in the trombone. However, the tenor-bass trombone in Bb-F with a single valve became available for general use during that period. Such an instrument, a Bach Bb -F trombone custom-constructed for this writer, appears in Figure 4.
Uses in the Twentieth Century
A British musicologist describes the status of the trombone in standard literature at the beginning of the twentieth century as follows:
Yet in Germany, more particularly in Austria, the old idea of the trombone never really died. It lived, for example, in Beethoven's funeral Equali. The enlarged bell and bore which the German makers adopted towards the end of the last century show it, too; they perserve some of the suave vocal quality even in the great volume of large orchestras and bands. Wide bores are common in German and American orchestras, where the tenor with a thumb valve has largely displaced others, and an espe cially large-bore instrument is used for bass trombone parts. Medium-wide bores have been almost universal in dance bands and British orchestras. The French tend to keep narrow bores, and have long
25 26
Fig. 4--Bach Bb-F tenor-bass trombone, bell section with single trigger. 27
used deep, nearly conical mouthpieces, to round off the tone in loud passages.1
Symphony Orchestras
With so much national difference, concert trombonists were in a dilemma as to what type and size trombone to use
for the varied literature which they were required to perform.
George Maxted described the situation:
Ideally I suppose one should use a variety of instruments which would probably mean three or four different instruments for some concerts such as the following: Ruy Blas "Overture"; "Cello Concerto," Elgar; Bruckner "III Symphony." The "Overture" would require a German type alto trombone, the "Concerto" would require an English small bore and the Bruckner a German large bore tenor.
The following day one might be asked to play "Otello" of Verdi which was written for the valve trombone, therefore a valve trombone would be required. To play any one of these works with the appropriate conductor on the wrong instrument would lead to considerable frustration for both player and conductor. I am quite sure neither the audience nor critics would be any the wiser.
What we have tried to do is to find an instrument on which we can compromise. Most of the English and Continental orchestras have now accepted a large bore instrument of American design which appears to be made of a brilliant sounding brass and will give a big warm sound when required, but still retains brilliance of tone which can be reduced if necessary by using
1 Christopher W. Monk, "The Older Brass Instruments," Musical Instruments Through the Ages, edited by Anthony Baines (Baltimore, 1961), p. 285. 28
a small mouthpiece, a practice I may say I do not altogether favour. It is always possible to reduce a sound on a big instru ment but it is impossible to get more from a small instrument when it is producing its maximum.2
Jazz
The professional player found himself confronted with another situation requiring contemplation as to which type of trombone he should use. This situation was the Jazz Era that was beginning to form. The Dixieland player found himself in need of a very small trombone producing a thin and rather choked sound by today's standards. The trombonist playing the shows and working in the style of Benny Goodman,
Jimmy Lunceford, Artie Shaw, Duke Ellington, and Count Basie found himself in need of a "horn" with more strength, power, and fullness of sound. Another style, that of Eddie Duchin,
Freddy Martin, Jan Garber, Guy Lombardo, and Wayne King, required a softer, more classical sound.3 Today, as in the early part of the century, the trombone player is groping for the perfect trombone.
2 George Maxted, Talking About the Trombone (London, 1970), p. 37.
3 George T. Simon, The Big Bands (New York, 1967),, p. 114- 116. 29
Recording
The radio and the recording industry placed yet another
demand upon the trombonist. The primitive recording equipment
required much from the working professional. If the trombonist
were performing with a string group or miniature orchestra, he
was required to balance his sound correctly into the micro
phone. At times he was required to play ridiculously soft;
at other times he was seated many feet away from the microphone
and was forced to "bleed" in over the strings and woodwinds.
The performer found it necessary to again match the style of
music with the type of trombone upon which he performed.
Chamber Music
Following the example of Beethoven's Ecquali, the trombone
has been employed in many types of chamber groups by twentieth
century composers. Trombone quartets, quintets, brass
quartets and quintets are common. This rapidly-growing field has been especially fertile in America, where the brass player
is strong in musicality and virtuosity. Composers who have written for the brass chamber media are Hovhaness, Cowell,
Stravinsky, Poulenc, and Hindemith.4
4 Apel, "Trombone, " p. 870 . 30
Solo Literature
The trombone was almost unknown as a solo instrument
until the twentieth century when the featured trombone solos
of the military bands of Gilmore and Sousa came into being.
Herbert L. Clark and Arthur C. Pryor were the two men who
wrote these initial trombone solo works. The curious fact
is that the Clarke-Pryor pieces and those of a similar genre
are known to trombonists today as "standard" literature, even
though they are less than seventy years old. 5 The other
division of solo trombone literature is "contemporary," which
embraces the more adventurous idioms for the trombone,
expanding the accompaniment to full orchestra in concerto
writing or limiting it to chamber music or using piano accom
paniment alone.6
Military Band
Music for the trombone cannot be discussed without
considering Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore and John Phillip Sousa.
These men were both skilled bandmasters and musicians as well
as promoters. Gilmore took the Twenty-second Regimental Brass
Band on a world tour. Sousa, after his resignation as head
5 Joseph L. Bellamah, Brass Facts, privately published, p. 45.
6 Ibi d. 31 of the Marine Band, took his own group on such a tour.
Obviously these two great military bands were quite similar to those which developed immediately after the French Revolu tion. Today's large wind musical ensembles perform concert or symphonic band literature, thus placing them on a direct parallel with the English term "military band" with its sophisticated and stately style.7
The most standard piece of literature for bands in the twentieth century is the march, a paradigm of which is "The
Stars and Stripes Forever," by John Phillip Sousa. This march is a classic example of the more symphonic style which the music of the military or marching band exhibited in the twentieth century. It is evident upon analysis of the composition that the trombone is given a most important part melodically, stylistically, and as an accompanying or supporting instrument. The trombone is called upon to play gentle, pulsing background patterns and then to erupt with the brilliance of a fireworks display when the "break" in the trio is reached.
Sousa used two or three trombones to each of the three parts for which the march was scored. It must be realized that the modern band uses from two to six players on the part.
7Walker, op. cit., p. 529. 32
Usually all parts are scored for the standard tenor trombone, whereas in the modern orchestra only one player is required on each of three parts. CHAPTER IV
THE TROMBONE FROM 1945 TO 1970
The Bass Trombone and Construction Innovations
In the quest for the perfect tenor-bass trombone, the concept of operating valves with the left hand while manipu lating the slide with the right hand is the real breakthrough in construction. The Bb-F tenor trombone was, for all practical purposes, invented in two pieces, but these were not combined into one practical instrument until the twentieth century. In 1930, Conn instrument manufacturers, of Elkhart,
Indiana, produced a full bass trombone with a hand-operated valve on the F trombone that lowered it to E. Therefore, this instrument produced a bass trombone in the key of Bb-F or Bb-E, depending upon the performer's choice. This rotary valve, however, could not be operated while the instrument was being played. Hence, the player had to play extended passages in one key or the other. In 1962, F. A. Reynolds of
Chicago Music Instruments of Chicago, Illinois, developed a double trigger trombone with separate tubing for each trigger, thus producing a trombone in Bb-F and E at the same time.
33 34
This trombone brought about a major change in the concept
of bass trombone performance.
Currently, however, many fine trombonists who have mastered the performance techniques of playing the F trombone with the slide pulled to E prefer a single-trigger bass trom bone. It is probable that had the players had access to a
double-trigger instrument during their formative years, they would now be performing on double-trigger instruments. It
is confusing to most players to keep in mind and position
notes in two different slide positions to produce the same
pitch. Example: low D (Great D), F trombone, thumb and
flat fourth position; low D (Great D), E trombone, thumb and
flat third position. The following is a quotation from
Edward Kleinhammer's The Art of Trombone Playing (1963), which
discusses the need which has brought about the double-trigger
trombone.
Striving for accuracy of pitch and competing in technical agility with valve instruments often leaves one filled with frustration. About 1950, a few of us bass trombonists began to realize the benefits of a complete instrument, or one with which we would have command of this weak range. On one of my instruments, I had extra tubing added to my F attachment, with which, through another thumb valve, the instrument would be in E. With this improvement, the player has at his immediate command an entire chromatic scale, the top and bottom depending only on the player's embouchure. With the F-E equipment, the player has the low C and B at all time without having to adjust the 35
tuning slides (behind his head, as he plays), and he is freed of the third "guess and hope" set of slide positions which presents itself when the F tuning slide is pulled. He does not lose C and F in first position; he does not strain his slide by the extreme pressure on the stockings at full extension, and can play for the first time excerpts like the glissando in the Bartok Concerto for Orchestra.. In my opinion, any one of these benefits is well worth having the E attachment as part of the bass trombone equipment, and the combined benefits make it a "must. "
Manufacturers are realizing the need and demand for the two-valve complete bass trombone, and are begin ning to place them on the market. The trombone originated sometime in the fourteenth or fifteenth century, and now in the twentieth century is finally emerging a tonally complete bass trombone.1
In 1961 the C. G. Conn Company developed an accessory
that could be added to their standard bass trombone with an
F attachment. This accessory could be attached to the
instrument in approximately one minute. It consisted of a
folded slide or crook with an additional rotary valve already
on the bass trombone. An advantage to this system was that
the additional weight of the extra valve and tubing could be
added to the instrument when needed and removed when the musical literature did not call for passages with low C or B.
(See Figure 5) One of the most common problems discussed by performing musicians is the additional weight of the double
trigger trombone. This problem was quite noticeable on the
lEdward Kleinhammer, The Art of Trombone Playing (Evanston, Illinois, 1963), p. 53. 36
double valve Bb-F-E bass trombone manufactured by the F. A.
Reynolds Company. (Figure 6) Upon careful examination of the bell section, one will notice the F tubing coming forward toward the bell. This tubing is all located in front of the left hand which supports the weight of the instrument, thus making the instrument feel extremely slide-heavy.
In 1965, the Vincent Bach Corporation of Rochester, New
York, custom-constructed for this writer a double valve Bb-F-Eb bass trombone utilizing the F tubing and adding approximately eighteen inches of tubing, lowering the F tubing to Eb. All tubing, valves, and mechanisms remain behind the left hand of the player. This trombone is heavy, but with all tubing and valves behind the player, the instrument tends to balance and the point of fulcrum is at the player's left hand. This method of construction makes the instrument appear lighter, since it is not slide-heavy.
The instrument was ordered in the key of F-Eb to make more alternate position combinations available and to give the instrument additional length. This construction method enabled the bass trombone to be designed nearly eighteen feet in length, but appearing very little larger than the standard
Bb-F bass trombone. The principle in which the second valve is built on the first is much like the Reynolds design, 37
I
Fig. 5--Conn Bb-F-E bass trombone, bell section, with optional' second valve (1961) .2
Fig. 6--Reynolds Double valve Bb-F-E bass trombone. Bell section. (1962) 3
2 Kleinhammer, gp. cit., p. 55.
Ibid. 38 differing only in the key in which the second valve is built
(Eb instead of E) and the location of the tubing which off sets the additional weight of the instrument. This trombone was designed in the key of Bb-F-Eb to facilitate the usage of the trigger on the full range of the instrument. Experience with the instrument has shown numerous advantages during pro fessional performances. Legato passages were manipulated to a degree of perfection beyond the ability of most trombone players who use an instrument without triggers or with only one trigger. Extremely fast and difficult passages have also been conquered with a minimum of slide skill. The double trigger trombone in Bb-F-Eb makes it possible to enter many difficult legato passages either going from the trigger or to the trigger, bringing about a legato valve-like sound that is so very difficult to achieve on the slide trombone. This double-valved trombone is pictured in Figure 7.
The performer has at all times the standard trombone to call upon should he be in a situation that requires traditional playing. If the triggers can be used even once to raise per forming quality, their addition has been well worth the added expense and weight to the instrument. If a conductor or instructor perfers the traditional sound, the trombonist may 39
Fig. 7--Bach double valve Bb-F-Eb bass trombone, bell section (1965). 40
not wish to use the triggers and can merely bypass them, using traditional slide technique. Upon occasion the trigger trom bone will lend itself so perfectly and the resultant playing will be of such quality that the performer will wonder how he managed without the device.
Performance Modifications
"The double-trigger bass trombone has evolved from a
tremendous amount of experimentation, innovation, and dedica
tion on the part of many players throughout the world." 4
This new constructional innovation has brought about countless new techniques in addition to allowing the player to produce a low B (Contragreat) without the retuning of his instrument by means of "pulling"' his F trombone down to the key of E.
Unlimited possibilities are made available to the player of a double trombone. In a sense, the player now holds three
trombones of fundamental pitch, connected by an apparatus that allows one slide to work in conjunction with all three instru ments. The double valve trombone is capable of (1) extending
the low register downward and (2) producing a finer and more polished legato.
4 Alan Raph, The Double Valve Bass Trombone (New York, 1962), p. 3. 41
(1) Extending the low register downward. The double trigger trombone enables the performer to connect chromatically the lower range of his instrument through pedal tones which extend even below the compass of the piano keyboard. As the player performs in this range, certain pitches will be produced much clearer and more dependably on one trombone than another. By working between the trombones, the performer is assured of the proper darkness and fullness required of the bass trombonist.
(2) Performing the legato technique more accurately.
It is common knowledge that the distance the slide must be moved to accomplish certain legato passages is extreme. The double trigger makes possible a new concept in legato playing.
Quite apparently agility and quickness are facilitated by a lesser movement of the slide. The double trigger trombone takes full advantage of the- three fundamental keys that the instrument provides, thus allowing oscillation from one trombone to another; therefore, many choices are offered to position any given passage. Many trombone players feel that the triggers should be reserved for low notes only. However, this concept does not take full advantage of nor make full use of the double trigger trombone. To limit the double trigger horn to the low range only would be comparable to the 42
Renaissance practice of not using the thumb on keyboard instruments. It is true, however, that the player must have an extensive knowledge of the overtone series, usable and unusable. A careful examination of Figure 8 will explain in detail the overtone series.
One might think that the double trigger trombone is approaching the valved trombone and assuming its many faulty intonation characteristics. This situation would be true and will indeed occur if the instrument is played by a novice or an amateur performer. However, with this instrument in the hands of a knowledgeable and experienced professional, a new world of legato and high-speed slide technique is unveiled.
(3) Eliminating awkward slide position reaches. Again
it must be noted that the multi-trigger trombone can deal with position problems that are practically unconquerable on a standard trombone, converting a difficult position problem on a single trigger trombone to a routine position movement on a double trigger trombone.
(4) Extending alternate positions and combination possibilities. A trombonist's technique is a direct result
of his ability to involve alternate positions in his playing.
With no triggers, the trombonist has practically impossible
slide combinations that he must master. With one trigger, 43
Minor 2nd -a *Minor 2nd . . Major 2nd .3rd .* Major 2nd . . S2no Major 2nd . . o root
* Minor 3rd . . - .*7th4th Minor 3rd S5th."m Major 3rd .o. . roo Fourth .. . Fifth ...... 5th Octave root - Furdamertal .root
out oftun
Fig. 8--The Overtone Series 44
this condition is greatly improved, and with two triggers
the majority of these problems are eliminated.
(5) Approaching old techniques. One cannot pick up an
Arban's book for trombone, a Rochut legato study, or any
sound technique book without being confronted with tried
and proven trombone slide technique. The multi-trigger
trombone must not be sought out by the weak and unskilled
performer as a substitute for good, sound trombone technique.
It is not the perfect trombone. The trigger mechanisms only
assist the learned performer. He must at all times exercise
the proper musical judgment as he selects the alternate
position work he wishes to use. Improperly used, the double
trigger trombone can become a Frankenstein monster involving
the performer to such a degree that he loses all slide accu
racy. It can affect his legato work (by the sudden lengthening
of the instrument), shutting off or stopping the tone unless
proper breathing procedures are applied. Clicking and snapping
of the mechanisms can become so noisy that they may detract
from the overall aesthetic beauty of the performance. The
double trigger trombone will bring about extreme fatigue and
cramping of the hand which is required to support its additional
weight. Taking all of this into consideration, and using the
instrument properly, a new concept of trombone performance is possible. 45
(6) Approaching new techniques of the double trigger
trombone. The most outstanding technical feature of the
double trigger trombone is that it may be "programmed" in
advance to fit any composition that the performer may be
required to play. Most new double trigger instruments give
the performer a choice of the key in which he wishes the
second trigger. The player has the choice of F and E; F and
Eb; F and D; and F and Db; E and Eb; E and D; E and Db; E
and C. There is little doubt that a slide could be manufactured
to lower the horn to a full contra BBb bass trombone if desired.
At present, however, C, B, and Bb slides are not available on
the manufactured market. Figure 9 shows a slide positions
diagram for the double trigger-bass trombone. Because of
the increasing distance between the positions using the F
valve, the standard seven-position trombone slide is reduced to six positions, as the foregoing diagram shows.
A. First position and sixth position are the same
for the standard trombone and the F trombone.
B. Second position, fifth position, and seventh
position are only slightly altered between the
B b and F trombones.
C. Third position is greatly altered. It is even closer
to fourth position for general identification. 46
Bb' A Ab G F E 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1. "F" tuning A.1O X3t 5 FE Eb D D i 2 3 3 #5 6
a bDD b C
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
"bE" 3. 1 2 3 4 t'5 tuning EDb Cl C
1 2 34 56 4. "Eb1 7 tuning
D) Cl BC Bb 5. "D" tuning 1 2 3 4 5 3 4 5 66 7
6. Dbif tuning 1 1 3 13 b?6 Dl' C B'v
Fig. 9--Trombone Positioning Reference Chart for multi-trigger trombones. 5
5 Raph, _2. cit., p. 64. 47
A careful study of the diagram (Figure 9) will show
three tuning combinations of the six discussed will prove
to be of more use to the performer:
(1) The F-Bb or standard tenor-bass trombone single
trigger is present as first trigger on all other combinations
shown. To fully utilize the chart, superimpose the F tuning beneath each of the other tunings.
(2) The Eb tuning has tremendous advantage in regard to
the use of the triggers in the upper register and in performing
in flat keys. For clarification, the trombone under discussion
is Bb-F-Eb double trigger. The following line up perfectly on
the slide: Third position and sixth position. Numerous over
tones can be produced with usable intonation utilizing this
tuning. The Eb tuning is recommended and is more advantageous
to the performer if he wishes to do full range work or to employ
the tenor trombone range in addition to the full bass trombone
range.
(3) If the performer wishes to concentrate and perform in
the bass trombone range only, the recommendation would be for
a b-F-D tuning. Upon rare occasions, while playing in sharp
keys, the performer might wish to pull the F trombone slide
to E, programming the trombone to perform in the keys of Bb, E,
and D. While in this tuning, the following positions line up: 48
First position, third position, fourth position (between E and F only) and sixth position in the D trombone will produce
Contragreat Bb pedal by lowering the partials, not playing the pedal tone. Low A is also on the slide in flat seventh position on the D trombone. Low Great C, in third position,
Contragreat B in sharp fifth position, Contragreat Bb, flat sixth position, and Contragreat A, in flat seventh position are not pedal tones, but usable, controlled pitches lowered by the D trombone and the slide. CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION
The attempt to construct an eighteen-foot bass trombone
is, as has been shown, not a new endeavor. The concept of a trombone of this magnitude has been known at least since the early seventeenth century, when such an instrument was described by Praetorius and Mersenne. Many constructional
innovations have evolved over this period, but none could be
termed highly successful. The eighteenth century contra
trombone with four slides and the contra-trombone of double
proportions are both examples of trombone construction that
failed to succeed. The invention of the valve (rotary) and
the use of crooks or folded tubing is not new, but it was not until the twentieth century that these two devices were
successfully combined in the construction of the bass trom bone, although Adolphe Sax was close,with the development of a trombone with one mouthpiece and six bells and with the attachment of a valve to bridge the gap on the Bb tenor trom bone.
As one studies this historical background, it becomes obvious that trombone players have been called upon to perform
49 50
with accuracy passages that were technically difficult to manipulate. This practice has helped nurture unique attitudes among trombone players--to play in tune, to play anything needed, to play the impossible. These attitudes still exist.
Composers have given less and less consideration to the mechanical difficulties involved in the performing duties
required of the trombone. The modern trombonist is expected
to perform legato, extremely fast, and agitated passages that
only a few years ago were considered unplayable on the trom bone. Passing from one note to another might demand an
enormous change in the position of the slide. With the
extreme movement of the performer's arm, certain slide
combinations became most difficult to play at a fast tempo
or an extremely slow tempo.
The trombonist has always sought a trombone that maintains
the characteristics of the slide yet has the ability to move
at a greater rate of speed and remove certain unreachable
slide position combinations. This unending search has brought
modern instrument design to the multi-trigger trombone of
recent years.
The trombonist has always tried to develop the trombone
mechanically to cover any and all situations which the composer
might require. With the exceptionally wide compass of the 51
modern trombone, generated by the addition of triggers in the bass register and high tessitura requirements in the upper register, it is evident that the tenor trombone and the bass trombone range have been extended to the point that
few players can master both. In addition to the physical prowess involved, stylistic changes, attitude, concept, and performing skills needed for both tenor and bass trombones do not complement each other nor even remain compatible. The
instrument design today surpasses the ability of most players.
With the use of the F attachment, the tenor trombonist is able to perform down into the range of the bass trombone, but
is still capable of retaining the tenor trombone qualities.
To perform legitimate bass trombone repertory, an instrument
is required that is of such set magnitude in bore and length that many of the tenor trombone characteristic sounds are
forfeited. When concentrated indepth efforts are made to perform on the bass trombone, one must carefully consider the multi-valve as a special member of the trombone family with advantages and disadvantages all its own.
In this day of automation and technical knowledge, one puts himself at a disadvantage if he does not grasp the opportunity to avail himself of any mechanical asset that will improve his performing quality. The modern composer and 52 arranger will ask for anything to reach their aesthetic goal. This attitude, requiring the "impossible" from the trombonist, is not a new one. Berlioz probably summed up the attitude of many composers when he demanded that the trombones produce certain low notes which were not ordinarialy played. He wrote the pedal notes A, G#, and F below the lowest open note. Anticipating the reaction of players when they realized what was asked of them, he wrote in the margin,
"These notes are in the instrument and the players must get them out." 1
1Schwartz, _.2cit., p. 220. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books
Baines, Anthony, Musical Instruments Through the Ages, Baltimore, Md., Penguin Books, Inc., 1961.
Bellamah, Joseph L., Brass Facts, privately published, 1960.
Buchner, Alexander, Musical Instruments Through the Ages, London, Spring Books, 1965.
Carse, Adam, The History of Orchestration, Dutton, Kegan Paul, Trned, and Trubner, 1925.
, Musical Wind Instruments, New York, Da Capo Press, 1965.
Donnington, Robert, The Instruments of Music, London, Methuen and Co., 1951.
Edgerly, Beatrice, From the Hunter's Bow, New York, G. P. Putman's Sons, 1942.
Farmer, H. G., Military Music, New York, Chanticleer Press, 1950.
Galpin, Francis W., A Textbook of European Musical Instruments, London, Williams and Norgate Ltd., 1937.
Geiringer, Karl, Music Instruments, New York, Oxford University Press, 1945.
Hayes, Gerald Ravenscourt, Music Instruments and Their Music, London, Oxford University Press, 1930.
Kleinhammer, Edward, The Art of Trombone Playing, Evanston, Ill., Summy-Birchard Co., 1963.
53 54
Kinsky, Georg., A History of Music in Pictures, New York, E. P. Dutton and Co., Inc., 1937.
Maxted, George, Talking About the Trombone, London, John Bahn, 1970.
McCall, Harlo E., Instructional Guide for Instrumental Teachers, San Antonio, Southern Music Co., 1953.
Mersenne, Marin, Harmonie universelle, translated by Roger E. Chapman, The Hague, Martinus Hijhoff, 1957.
Monk, Christopher W., "The Older Brass Instruments," Musical Instruments Through the Ages, edited by Anthony Baines, Baltimore, Md., Penguin Books, 1961.
Montgomery, Elisabeth Rider, The Story Behind Musical Instru ments, New York, Dodd, Mead, and Co., 1958.
Palisca, Claude V., Baroque Music, Englewood Cliffs, N. J., 1968.
Praetorius, Michael, Syntagma Musicum, Band II, De Organographia, New York, Bdrenreiter, 1958.
Raph, Alan, The Double Valve Bass Trombone, New York, Carl Fischer, 1969.
Reese, Gustave, Music in the Renaissance, New York, W. W. Norton and Co., Inc., 1940.
Sachs, Curt, Reallexikon der Musikinstrumente, Hildesheim, Georg Olms Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1962.
, The History of Musical Instruments, New York, W. W. Norton and Company, Inc., 1940.
Schwartz, H. W., The Story of Musical Instruments, Elkhart, Pan-American Band Instruments, 1940.
Simon, George T., The Big Bands, New York, the MacMillian Co., 1967. 55
Articles
Apel, Willi, "Trombone," Harvard Dictionary of Music, Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1944, 870-871.
, "Trombone," Harvard Dictionary of Music, 2nd ed., Cambridge, The Belknap Press of Harvard University, 1969, 869-871.
Bessler, Heinrich, "Die Entstehung der Posaune," Acta Musicologica, xxii, (1950), 8-35.
Sachs, Curt, "Chromatic Trumpets in the Renaissance," Musical Quarterly xxxvi (January, 1950), 62-66.
Walker, James, "Military Music," Harvard Dictionary of Music, 2nd ed., Cambridge, The Belknap Press of Harvard University, 1969, 529-530.
Unpublished Materials
Highfill, Richard, "The History of the Trombone from the Renaissance to the Early Romantic Period," unpublished master's thesis, School of Music, North Texas State College, Denton, Texas, 1952.
Kesting, Gary, "The Bass Trombone and its Use in Selected Works of Smetana, Borodin, Tchaikovsky and Dvorak," unpublished master's thesis, School of Music, North Texas State University, Denton, Texas 1969.
Olson, Michael A., "The Development and Utilization of the Valved Brasses in the Orchestra of the First Half of the Nineteenth Century," unpublished master's thesis, School of Music, North Texas State University, Denton, Texas, 1969.
Seifried, Denver D., "The Use of the Trombones in Beethoven's Symphonies Nos. 5, 6, 9 and Schubert's Symphony No. 8," unpublished master's thesis, North Texas State University, School of Music, Denton, Texas, 1968.