1. 'With Beethoven the trombone performed a mostly decorative function; they were intended to increase the amount of sound and to surround a grandiose or picturesque composition with all imaginable brilliance. They didn't appear on the instrumental battlefield until near the end of the action, in the guise of a reserve, finally to support a supreme effort, to deliver the final blow.' François Gevaert, Cours Méthodique d'Orchestration, Paris, 1880, pp. 207-8. Trans. J. Wagstaff.
2. Hector Berlioz, A Travers Chant, 2me edition, ed. Mihel Lèvy Frères, Paris, 1872, p. 38.
3. 'The entire orchestra, reinforced by the trombones who have been tacet to this point, burst forth in the major key with a triumphant march theme.' Ibid., p. 38.
4. Although the valved horn did exist by the time of the Ninth Symphony, Beethoven was aware that only one horn player in Vienna – the fourth horn – possessed one (Felix Weingartner, Ratschläge fur Aufführungen Klassischer Symphonien: Beethoven vol. 1, Leipzig, 1906, p. 179). The horns probably could have managed the minor third by a combination of hand-in-bell technique and 'lipping'.
5. Jeremy Montagu, The World of Romantic and Modern Instruments, Newton Abbot, 1981, p. 103.
6. 'The last movement of the symphony has three trombones and a piccolo – and although, it is true, there are not three kettledrums, yet this combination of instruments will make more noise and, what is more, a more pleasing noise than six kettledrums.' A. Thayer (ed.) Ludwig van Beethovens Leben 3rd Edition, vol. iii, Leipzig, 1911, pp. 11-12. Translated in E. Anderson (ed.), The Letters of Ludwig van Beethoven vol i, London , 1961, p. 189.
7. This, as we whall see, was just the first of many such difficult entries following a tacet which were to be written for the alto trombone.
8. Today, one will find this passage on almost all first trombone orchestral audition lists and the ability to play this note is not only assumed, but candidates are judged on the quality of the sound as well. Lest one be tempted to speculate that modern technology has made the f" easier to play, the author wishes to point out that he found this note actually spoke more easily on an 1814 Leipzig Eb alto trombone than on the modern alto, because of the former's narrower gauge.
9. Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, Anweisung zur Composition, original manuscript: Archives Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien.
10. Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, Sämtlichen Schriften über Generalbass, Harmonie-Lehre und Tonsetzkunst, Vienna 1826, p. 200.
11. Fröhlich, op. cit., p. 35.
12. Ebenezer Prout, The Orchestra, London, 1897, p. 224.
13. Cecil Forsyth, Orchestration, London, 1914, p. 139.
14. Mozart called for an e" colla voce in the Gloria of the C Minor Mass, as well as in bar 182 of no. 6 in the theatre work Thomas, König in Ägypten, as did Bach in his Cantata no. 121; Gluck wrote an f" for the alto trombonist in Alceste. However, in all these cases, the trombone is doubling the voice part.
15. Although Baines contends that the F alto was used in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (Anthony Baines, Brass Instruments: Their History and Development, London, 1976, p. 245), neither Albrechtsberger nor Fröhlich makes reference to any alto trombone except the one pitched in Eb. In 1836 Kastner mentions an F alto: 'En général, en France, la première position du Trombone Alto donne l'accord suivant, mais on en rencontre d'autres, un notamment dont la première position est un ton plus haut et par consequent tous les dégrés dans la même proportion.' ('Generally, in France, the following harmonics can be played on first position on the alto trombone [eb-bb-eb'-g'-bb'-eb''] but one finds others, particularly one in which first position is one tone higher, and consequently the harmonics one tone higher per slide position.') J.G. Kastner, Traité Général d'Instrumentation, second edition, Paris, 1836, p. 40. According to Adolph Bernard Marx 'bisweilen, – man versichert es uns von der sächsischen Militärmusik, – wird die Altposaune in höherer Stimmung (also mit kürzerm Rohr) gebrauch… Ob die in F stehenden Posaunen engere Mensur haben und dadurch geeigneter sind für die Ansprache der höhern Töne, wissen wir nicht, müssen es aber vermuthen... Da nun ohnehin die Es-stimmung soviel wie wir wissen, die bei weitem verbreitere ist...' ('Occasionally – those from the Saxon military bands assure us – a higher-pitched alto (thus with a shorter slide) is used... We don't know whether the trombone with its narrower dimensions is thus more suitable for the playing in the upper register, but we must presume so... In any case the alto in Eb, so far as we know, is more prevalent.') Marx op. cit., pp. 505-506. Berlioz, in his Traité, describes a valved F alto trombone (p. 224); see also 'The Alto Valve-Trombone', Chapter 2.
16. Nicholas Bessaraboff, Ancient European Musical Instruments, Boston, 1941, p. 189. Flandrin asks: 'Est-ce que pour éviter un danger aux trompettes simples à changement de tons en usage alors, ou est-ce une sonorité de son choix?' ('Was this to avoid the risk of the natural trumpets changing [the way of playing] the notes commonly used, or was it his preferred sonority?') M.G. Flandrin, 'Le Trombone', Encyclopédie de la Musique et Dictionnaire du Conservatoire, Deuxième Partie: Technique-esthétique-Pédagogie, Paris, 1925, p. 1685.
17. 'in their true register'. Charles Marie Widor, Le Technique de l'Orchestre Moderne, Paris, 1904, p. 107. Translated by Edward Suddard, The Technique of the Modern Orchestra, A Manual of Practical Instrumentation, London, 1905, p. 86.
18. Widor, ibid, p. 107.
19. 'In augmenting the trumpets, the great symphonist used the trombone trio to counter them in the same manner he countered the trumpets with the woodwind quartet, that is to say, as an entity endowed with less mobility. Thus, he assigned the trumpets simpler rhythms and motifs than the other wind instruments which, likewise, received less complex passages than the strings.' Gevaert, op. cit., p. 208.
20. 'resulted in the creation of a brilliant brass choir of five voices: two trumpets above were joined by the alto, tenor and bass voices of the trombones. Due to the sheer weight of this powerful ensemble, the musical role of the individual parts was inevitably reduced: the delicate nuances vanished when the violent contrasts came into play. Moreover... even though the trombones technically were aligned with the trumpet section, Beethoven (following Gluck's example) treated them almost always as a special group with harmony more or less complete.' Ibid., p. 208.
21. A statement attributed to Albrechtsberger by Seyfried appears in the 1837 edition of the Sämtliche Schriften: 'Ein routinirter Bläser hat vorzüglich darauf Bedacht zu nehmen, daß er jeden Ton um ein Comma früher anschlägt, als es der eigentliche Takt-Rhythmus erheischt; weil die Luft erst sich entwickeln muß, und sonst immer etwas zu spät der Klang vernommen wird.' ('A practised [trombonist] will take care to commence every tone a comma earlier than necessary for the rhythm of the measure; otherwise the sound will occur too late, as the air takes time for development'. Albrechtsberger, Sämtliche Schriften, second edition, 1837, p.185 . Trans. Novello, op. cit., p. 253.
22. We know this is probably the case with Christus am Oelberge, op. 86. 'It is possible, indeed, that… the trombones here were a last-minute addition, as is implied also in Ries's account of how he was summoned to Beethoven at five in the morning on the day of the concert: “I found him in bed, writing on single sheets of paper. To my questions what it was he answered 'Trombones'. In the actual performance, the trombones played from these very sheets. Had the copying of these parts been forgotten? Where they an afterthought? I was too young at the time to see anything of artistic interest in the incident; but probably the trombones were an afterthought.”' Alan Tyson, 'The 1803 version of Beethoven's Christus am Oelberge', The Musical Quarterly 56 (1970), p. 559, n. 11.
23. 'Customarily the three trombones work as a unit: only very rarely could a part of the group act alone (for example the third to support an important bass part; the alto, the tenor to bring out a passage in tenuto). Accordingly to the effect to be produced, the resounding chords of the trio were sometimes short, sometimes very long. (During Beethoven's time the trombone section consisted of three species of instrument); occasionally their sounds broadly extended, other times in quick stabs, accentuating the most important rhythms.' Gevaert, Cours, p. 208-9.
24. Guion, The Trombone, p. 279.
25. Ibid., pp. 280, 283.
26. With 3rd horn and 1st clarinet.
27. Unfortunately some first trombonists, in their astonishment at being asked to actually play louder and in their enthusiasm to comply, end up splitting this solo note.
28. According to Widor (op cit., p. 95): 'Beethoven (dans sa jeunesse) [a] toujours écrit pour trois Trombones: Alto, Ténor et Basse' ('Beethoven, in his youth, had always written for three trombones: alto, tenor and bass'). However, I can find no evidence to support the implication that Beethoven ever scored for less than three trombones at a later time in his life. Furthermore, Missa Solemnis and the Ninth Symphony could hardly be called early works.
29. 'The use of two trombones (as opposed to three) [is a] procedure belonging exclusively to Beethoven'. Gevaert, Cours, p. 214.
30. Ibid.
31. Ibid.
32. 'When the trombones burst forth, the thunder of the timpani redoubles the violence: it is no longer just rain and wind. It is a frightful cataclysm, the Great Flood, the end of the world'. Berlioz, A Travers Chants, p. 40.
33. One chorus singer's lament that 'if my voice is to be drowned out by the blatant trombones, what is the use of my singing?' is a clear indication that Beethoven used the trombones simply to reinforce the voices. 'Beethoven's Use of the Trombone', The Musical Times 45 (1904), p. 444. No author given.
34. 'Reminiscent of the traditional performance of the Lutheran chorale, Beethoven also inserted the trombones in a song of great spirituality (Seid umschlungen, Millionen) in the Finale of the Ninth.' Gevaert, Cours, p. 208.
35. Today the first trombone often plays the d".
36. In contrast to the florid lines in the Missa Solemnis; but here the section is doubling the voice parts and, as Gevaert wrote: 'mais ici nous ne sommes plus sur le vrai terrain de la musique instrumentale' . ('But here we are no longer in the true realm of instrumental music'.) Gevaert, Cours, p. 208. Similarly, this passage, in support of the altos, appears in the alto trombone part in Beethoven's autograph score of the 1814 Der Glorreiche Augenblick, op. 136:
    
    
    Ernst Herttrich (ed.), Beethoven Werke, Gesamtausgabe, Abteiling x, vol i, Kantanten, Munich (G. Henle Verlag), 1996, Nr 3: 'Der Glorreiche Augenblick', op. 136. However, it seems Beethoven may have later deleted it, perhaps due to the strenuous demands.
37. Guion, The Trombone, p. 282.
38. Ibid., p. 287.
39. Dr Glendening makes the odd suggestion that 'since Beethoven was increasingly deaf... it is conceivable that the composer would not have been fully aware of the lack of quality trombonists'. Andrew Glendening, The Use of the Trombone in Schubert's Mature Symphonies and Symphonic Fragments, Indiana University Dissertation, 1992, p. 49.
40. According to Dexter Edge, there is evidence from book-keeping records to suggest that the trombones were not used in the Viennese production in 1788/9, perhaps due to a cost-cutting measure. Dexter Edge, 'Mozart's Viennese Orchestra', Early Music 20, no. 1 (Feb. 1992), p.68.
41. W.F.H. Blandford, 'Handel's Horn and Trombone Parts', Musical Times 80 (1939), p.794.
42. Adam Carse, The Orchestra from Beethoven to Berlioz, Cambridge, 1948, p. 41.
43. Blandford, op. cit., p.794.
44. To a large extent, of course, this depends on how the parts are played.
45. John Drew, 'The Emancipation of the Trombone in the Orchestra', International Trombone Association Journal 9 (1981), p. 2.
46. Commissioned by Franz Glöggl (1764-1839), the Kapellmeister of the Linz Cathedral, a trombonist who later became an instructor at the Vienna Conservatoire (V. O. E. Deutsch (ed.) Schubert: Die Dokumente seines Lebens, Kassel, 1964, p. 505n). Beethoven became closely acquainted with him while visiting his brother Johann in Linz in order to break up the affair Johann was conducting with his so-called housekeeper, Therese Obermeyer (B. Cooper (general ed.), Beethoven Compendium, London, 1991, p. 22). Contrary to Andrew Glendening's assertion (op. cit., pp. 61, 84), Josef – not Franz – Glöggl was employed as a copyist for Schubert's C Major Symphony. See E. Badura-Skoda and P. Branscombe (eds) Schubert Studies, Cambridge, 1982, p. 264. Originally written for All Souls' Day, the Equali were performed as Trauermusik at Beethoven's funeral, as well as the funerals of Gladstone and Edward VII (Alan Lumsden, The Sound of the Sackbut: A Lecture in Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Collection of Musical Instruments, 1988, p. 6). Alfred Pettet describes Beethoven's funeral procession, which included a 'walking orchestra' of four trombonists: 'the whole procession moved forward in the following order: 1. The cross-bearer. 2. Four trombone players, the brothers Böck, Waidl, and Tuschky. 3. The master of the choir, M. Assmayer, and under his direction 4. A choir of singers; M. Tietze, Schnitzer, Gross, Sikora, Nejebse, Ziegler, Perschil, Leidl, Winkopf, Pfeiffer, and Seipelt, which alternately with the trombone quartett, performed the Miserere'. (Alfred Pettet, 'Miserere', The Harmonicon 7 (1830), p. 444.)
47. Lobe described it as an example of how to 'best employ the instrument's tone to portray... solemnity, seriousness [and] pathetic grandeur'. Lobe, ed. Kretzmar, op. cit., p. 228 (original German not available). On the other hand, Kevin Thompson writes rather whimsically that the fact that these pieces were played at Beethoven's funeral is something 'we trombonists are very proud of… as it helps our image to be associated with the death of a great composer… Beethoven wrote masterpieces for most of the other instruments of the orchestra, as well as five beautiful piano concertos. So it is somewhat ironic that we trombonists go into paroxysms of emotion when we talk about the four minutes of slow chordal music Beethoven wrote for us…' (Kevin Thompson, 'On the Slide', Classical Music 585 (26 July 1997), p. 29.
48. According to the 1925 Encyclopédie de la Musique, 'ces morceaux... peuvent être exécutés par quatre tenors' ('These pieces... could be played by four tenors': Flandrin, op. cit., p. 1685).
49. Schreiber, op. cit., p. 139-40.
50. 'wurde, mit der nicht üblen Vertauschung eines Horns statt der Posaune'. Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung 7 (3 April 1805), col. 430.
51. Whereas the author takes exception to Guion's statement that 'such was Beethoven's influence on nineteenth century orchestration that the trombone's role continued to be limited to the same functions he allowed it' (Guion, The Trombone, p. 136), Guion is accurate in his assesment that 'no other instrument in Beethoven's orchestra was so consistently mistreated for so long' (ibid.).
52. Prout, op. cit., p. 224. Ironically, a younger Weber had criticised Beethoven for his use of trombones. Speaking through the character Dihl in his unfinished novel Kunstlerleben, Weber attacked Beethoven for making 'excessive demands... on the resources of art, which must soon lead to total bankruptcy... The musical wealth brought to light by the latest developments of instrumental music has been misused in the most criminal way. Luxuriance of harmony and overloading of instrumentation in the most trifling and unpretentious things have been carried to extremes. Trombones are quite the usual seasoning, and already no one can do anything without four horns'. C. M. von Weber, Tonkünstlers Leben, eine Arabeske, cited and translated in Gerald Abraham, Slavonic and Romantic Music, London, 1968, p. 248 (original German unavailable). Abraham adds: 'clearly it is the early critic of Beethoven who speaks here, not the composer of Der Freischütz' (ibid.).
53. Philip Bate, The Trumpet and Trombone, London, 1966, p. 232.
54. Carse, The Orchestra from Beethoven to Berlioz, p. 230.
55. Ibid.
56. Kastner, Traité Général, p. 53. This is precisely what the trombones had been principally known for since the days of Abblassen.
57. 'not too long'. A. Sundelin, Die Instrumentierung für Sämtliche Militär-Musik-Chöre oder Nachweisung über alle denselben gebräuchliche Instrumente, um dafür wirkungsvoll und ausführbar komponieren zu können, Berlin, 1828,p. 29.
58. A. Carse, The Orchestra from Beethoven to Berlioz, p. 249.
59. See Introduction to Part I, p. 2.
60. Whereas Monteverdi similarly used the trombones (with cornetts) to introduce the 'Chorus of Spirits' in his opera Orfeo in 1607, the effect of the trombones playing in pianissimo seemed to be less a compositional technique than a reliance on the intrinsic sound of the trombone in that period. Edward Tarr suggests that if Orfeo is performed on modern trombones, rather than original instruments, they should be muted. C. Monteverdi, Orfeo, edited by Edward Tarr, Paris, 1974, p. xxxvi. According to Richard Strauss, the same may be said of Gluck's trombone parts: 'Neuerdings mit Gluck [sind] dämpfer für die Posaunen in Anwendung. Sie sind gleich den Dämpfern für die Trompete nicht so schwer zu handhaben, wie die Dämpfern den Horner und geben den Posaunen im Forte einen Knatternden, im pp einen ungeheuer unheimlichen, phantastisch – düstern Klang'. ('Lately mutes [are] applied to the trombones with Gluck. They are exactly like the mutes for trumpets, not so difficult to handle, like the mutes for the horns and give the trombones in forte a rattle and in pp an enormously uncanny, ghostly, gloomy timbre.') Instrumentationslehre von Hector Berlioz, ergänzt und revidiert von Richard Strauss, Leipzig, 1905, p. 353.
61. 'an eerie impression.' Salomon Jadassohn, Lehrbuch der Instrumentation, Leipzig, 1899, p. 279.
62. François Gevaert, Nouveau Traité d'Instrumentation, Paris, 1855, p. 255.
63. Lobe, ed. Kretzmar, op. cit., p. 277 (original German unavailable).
64. Forsyth, op. cit., p. 149.
65. Ibid.
66. 'Fast technical passages are not idiomatic of the alto trombone; rather longer note values are, as well as the playing of short articulated chords'. Sundelin, op. cit., p. 28.
67. J.G. Kastner, Traité Général d'Instrumentation, Paris, 1836; second edition, Paris, 1840, p. 53.
68. 'always wrote [for the trombones] in semi-breves, minims [and] crotchets'. Widor, op. cit., p. 102. Translated in Suddard, op. cit., p. 82.
69. 'magnificent and brilliant'. Jadassohn, op. cit., p. 279.
70. 'Forzandos lassen sich dieses Instrument besondere gut bezeichnen'. Sundelin, op. cit., p. 28. Kastner in his Traité Général concurred: 'Les sforzandos surtout se dessinent bien sur [cet] trombone' – 'sforzandi are especially suitable on [this] trombone.' Kastner, Traité Général, p. 54.
71. Dennis Wick, Trombone Technique, second impression (revised), London, 1973, p. 77.
72. Daniel Koury, Orchestral Performance Practices in the Nineteenth Century, Ann Arbor, 1986, p. 180.
73. 'Das springende, nicht natürlich Fortschreiten der Septime und der andern Intervalle, darf man sich nicht erlauben...'. Sundelin, op. cit., p. 29.
74. Sundelin, op. cit., p. 29. Adolph Marx concurs: 'Die mittlern und tiefen Töne des Es stehenden Altposaune genügen vollkommen im Verein mit Tenor – und Bassposaune, die harmonie in den wirkungsreichsten lagen erschallen zu lassen, reichen... gut aus'. ('The combination of the middle and low notes of the Eb alto trombone with the tenor and bass trombones produces a perfectly fine sound and is conducive to good harmony in the most effective registers'.) Marx, op. cit., p. 506.
75. 'The alto trombone is the highest instrument of the family; its range is from C to a', at the very highest b'.' Sundelin, op. cit., p. 29.
76. 'Beethoven adopted the system of writing the two first trombones on one staff, never exceeding the limits of the tenor trombones [sic], and Weber and his successors followed his example'. Widor, op. cit., Translation Suddard, op. cit., p. 78.
77. Sundelin, op. cit., p. 29.
78. Ibid.
79. '[It] is inadvisable because this instrument has no reliable means by which to gauge its notes, and therefore such a passage does not emerge cleanly'. Ibid., p. 29.
80. Ibid., p. 29.
81. 'The entire sky becomes black as night. The thunder and lightning strike terrifyingly together. Flames strike the ground'. Weber, op. cit., p.179.
82. Carse, Beethoven to Berlioz, p. 41.
83. 'The military musicians not only gave their own performances... but also served as substitutes and extras in the theatre and in the concert orchestras'. Personal correspondence with the author, 13.06.94.
84. H. B. and C. L. E. Cox (eds), Leaves from the Journal of Sir George Smart, London, 1825, p. 208-9.
85. Carse, Beethoven to Berlioz, p. 41.
86. Ibid, p. 107. According to Ehmann, Weber himself was from a Stadtpfeiffer family. Wilhelm Ehmann, Tibilustrium: Das geistliche Blasen, Formen und Reformen, Kasel, 1950, p. 27.
87. Carse, Beethoven to Berlioz, p. 108.
88. 'A number of instruments, for example... the trombones... are often handled by players, who, despite the best intentions, either through bad habit or lack of ability, are unable to control themselves in executing their part. This lamentable situation can only be remedied, so far as it's possible, by concealing these players in the corner.' Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung 6 (Dec. 1803), col. 183.
89. 'comprehended all the importance of the trombone's duties... had applied the various characteristics of this noble instrument, with perfect intelligence, to depicting human passion, to illustrating the sounds of Nature... [and had] in consequence, maintained its power, its dignity and its poetry'. Berlioz, op. cit., p. 222. Trans. Clarke, op. cit., p. 173.
90. Lewis Coerne, Evolution of Modern Orchestration, New York, 1908, p. 74. Evidence of this innovation can be traced back to Schubert's 1814 stage work, Des Teufels Lustschloss, in which his then highly unusual use of the trombone section as an independent solo group in the following excerpt from the overture may be the earliest occasion in the orchestral repertoire in which the trombones are assigned melodic material in an extended passage.
    
    
    
    Franz Schubert: Kritische durchgesehene Gesamtausgabe: Dramatische Musik.
91. 'a splendid effect': Jadassohn, op. cit., p. 280.
92. Forsyth, op. cit., p. 149. Actually the first and second trombones are in unison whilst the bass trombone plays an octave lower (see Example 1.15). Forsyth contrasts this section with the 'Tuba Mirum spargens sonum' from Mozart's Requiem, which appeared to him 'not to have been written by one who understood the instrument, [and which] might be better described as “Tuba Dirum spargens sonum”' ('the dreadful trombone splatters its sound') Forsyth, op. cit., p. 149. One can only surmise that Forsyth's opinion resulted from hearing some very poor renditions of this trombone solo which, incidentally, is a standard orchestral repertoire/audition piece today.
93. Gevaert, Cours, p. 213.
94. ... or to be convinced that they, the trombones, indeed had the melody. Was this another indication of the deficiency of the supposedly vaunted Viennese trombonists? Glendening makes the contradictory suggestions that although 'none of Schubert's symphonies using trombones was performed in his lifetime' he would have been 'fully aware of the lack of quality trombonists' available to perform them in Vienna, 'considering the contacts... Schubert had with Franz Glöggl... Although Schubert must have had some contact with Franz Xavier Glöggl, especially regarding the parts for D. 944 [which Josef Glöggl copied, not Franz Glöggl, as Glendening incorrectly states (see n. 46, this chapter], there is no evidence to suggest that Glöggl had any direct influence on Schubert.' Glendening, op. cit., pp. 49, 84.
95. Vienna Philharmonic Archivist Hellsburg points out that although the Gesellschaft Orchester was frequently augmented by players of the Philharmonic, the two orchestras were separate, distinct bodies (personal interview with the author, 25.4.96).
96. 'As a solo instrument, the [trombone] was not used at all, with the exception of the 'Tuba Mirum' in Mozart's Requiem, for which it is usual for the bassoon to be assigned the trombone's part.' 'Necrolog: Carl Traugott Queisser', Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung 27 (July 1846), p. 460.
97. John Drew, 'The Emancipation of the Trombone in the Orchestra', International Trombone Association Journal 9 (1981), p. 2.
98. Joseph Fröhlich, Vollständige theoretisch-pracktische Musikschule, Bonn, [1811], vol. 3, p.35.
99. Worth noting are the solo interjections by the bass trombone with the woodwinds from bars 105 to 135. Although most of the statements are no more than a bar or two in length and obbligato in character, they appear to be the first prominent solo passages written for a single trombone in the standard orchestral repertoire.
100. Nicholas Bessaraboff, op. cit., p. 184.
101. Glendening, op. cit., p. 83.
102. Ibid.
103. Ibid., p. 51.
104. Ibid., p. 55.
105. The author has performed this work on both tenor and alto trombone and has found that no matter how quietly and discreetly the tenor is played, the sound is too large and does not blend as well with the woodwinds. It almost seems as if the higher-pitched alto 'seeks out' the timbre of the woodwinds, resulting in a superior mix of tone-colours and ensemble.
106. Forsyth, op. cit., p. 148.
107. Norman Del Mar, Anatomy of the Orchestra, London, 1981, p. 55.
108. Sundelin, op. cit., p. 30.
109. Marx, Allgemeine Musiklehre, p. 147.
110. 'Schubert wrote the three trombones in tenor clef when he used only one stave for all the trombones; when he used two staves he would write the alto and tenor trombone in alto clef and use bass clef for the bass trombone.' Doris Finke-Hecklinger (ed.), Franz Schubert, Neue Ausgabe Sämtlicher Werke, Serie 1, Kirchenmusik, Band iii: Teil a, 'Messe in As'. Erste Fassung, Kassel, 1980, p. xiv.
111. 'In new scores where sometimes space is very restricted and where the three-trombone ensemble is simply given chords, the notes appear one above the other on the same stave. Other times one finds the alto and tenor trombone written together on the same stave in tenor clef.' Kastner, Traité Général d'Instrumentation, Paris, 1837, p. 54. See for example the autograph score of Bruckner's F Minor Mass (Exx. 3.29 and 3.30).
112. Lobe, ed. Kretzsmar, op. cit., p. 310 (original German not available).
113. 'The three or four trombones are set in three or four systems, each part, according to its species, in its corresponding clef. For lack of space, or when the voice-leading is simple enough to permit, two systems will suffice with the tenor and alto trombone notated in tenor clef. Or one can even reduce all three species to a single line in bass clef – or for a high register use tenor clef'. Marx, op. cit., p. 72.
114. 'If the space on the score paper is very limited, in extreme cases only, one may write the alto and tenor trombones on one stave in the tenor clef. When copying out the parts, the alto trombone part must always be transposed into alto clef, because this instrument cannot be played from any other clef.' Sundelin, op. cit., p. 29 (italics added).
115. Berlioz, Grand Traité, p. 199. One notes that Richard Strauss apparently agreed, for in his Instrumentationslehre (op. cit., p. 321) he does not take exception to this statement by Berlioz.
116. Adolph Bernard Marx, Allgemeine Musiklehre, Leipzig, 1839, p. 87.
117. 'always written in C clef, third stave line.' Gevaert, Traité Général, p. 87 (italics in text added by author).
118. 'As for the clefs used to notate these instruments, great confusion reigns.' Ibid, p. 89. For example, Flandrin surmises that Beethoven's trombone Equali, written for ATTB combination, 'paraissent, d'après les cléfs, avoir été écrits pour deux trombones altos, un ténor et un trombone basse' ('seem, according to the clefs, to have been written for two alto trombones, a tenor and a bass trombone': M.G. Flandrin, 'Le Trombone', Encyclopédie de la Musique et Dictionnaire du Conservatoire, Deuxième Partie: Technique-esthétique-Pédagogie, Paris, 1925, p. 1685).
119. 'to the copiest or engraver the responsibility to transcribe each individual part in its proper clef'. Ibid., p. 87.
120. 'With respect to the symphonic genre, of all of Beethoven's successors, Mendelssohn has remained the most loyal to the Maestro's technical traditions.' Gevaert, Cours, p. 212.
121. Although, similarly to Beethoven, Mendelssohn often wrote for the alto in its extreme upper register.
122. Gevaert, Cours, p. 212.
123. 'by the particular liturgical character of this work.' Ibid., p. 212.
124. 'since the trombone loses its character and strength in the upper register, it is advisable, as far as possible, [to write] for the alto trombone no higher than c'' (already this note sounds forced)'. Marx, Lehre, p. 67. (cf. Sundelin, n. 74, this chapter).
125. Throughout Mendelssohn's Athalie the alto trombone is likewise scored higher than the first trumpet.
126. 'If it is not true, it is a happy invention' (trans. Crawford Howie). Sir Charles Groves, 'Queisser', Grove's Dictonary of Music and Musicians, fourth edition, vol. iv, London, 1940, p. 308. Unfortunately, this passage does not shed any further light on the question of whether Queisser was the alto trombonist or the bass trombonist in the Leipzig orchestra, for all three trombones play in unison. But given Mendelssohn's opinion of German bass trombone playing, and that Queisser – whose career in the Gewandhaus spanned 1827-46 – was a member of the orchestra during Mendelssohn's term as Chief Conductor, as well as the fact that the bass trombonist was customarily paid more than the other members of the section, it seems likely that the Leipzig virtuoso did play bass trombone, at least some of the time, in the Gewandhaus orchestra.
127. Berlioz, Grand Traité, p. 199. Three years prior to Mendelssohn's 'Lobgesang' Kastner had written that for the alto 'on ne jamis écrire... plus bas que f ou e' ('one never writes lower than f or e'). Kastner, Traité Général, p. 53.
128. The first performance of Lobgesang predated Berlioz's Symphonie Funèbre, the first proper orchestral trombone solo, by about a month. (See Ex. 2.3).
129. One recalls that the bass trombone served as the foundation of the military band (Bate, op. cit., p. 232) and in French opera was considered the most important instrument in the section (Guion, The Trombone, p. 253), being, therefore, usually the best paid. (Personal correspondence with Karl-Heinz Weber, 14.5.94.)
130. 'That [was] just the misery in Germany, that the bass trombone, the tympani and the double bass are excellent, and all the rest highly incompetent.' Ferdinand Hiller (ed.), Felix Bartholdy-Mendelssohn, Briefe und Erinnerungen, Köln, 1874, p. 41. Mistranslated as 'bass trombones and drums' in M.E. von Glehn, Mendelssohn, Letters and Recollections by Dr Ferdinand Hiller, 2nd edition, London, 1874.
131. 'The foremost trombonist of the King of Prussia'. A. Elwart, Histoire de la Societé des Concerts du Conservatoire imperial de musique (ed. S. Castel), Paris, 1860, p. 216.
132. 'Queisser the god of the trombone'. Robert Schumann, Gesammelte Schriften über Musik und Musiker, fifth edition, Leipzig, 1914, vol. i, p. 300. Mistranslated as 'god of the trumpet' in Fanny Raymond Ritter (ed.), Music and Musicians: Essays and Criticism by Robert Schumann, 5th Edition, 1877, vol. i, p. 365.
133. As a former Stadtpfeiffer, Queisser doubled skilfully on the viola, having originally joined the Leipzig Orchester on that instrument (Carse, Beethoven to Berlioz, p. 135). He was also for many years the violist of the Matthai Quartet, Germany's first professional string quartet, as well as the leader of the musical ensemble Euterpe (Rasmussen, Brass Quarterly 5, p. 6).
134. Edward Holmes, A Ramble among the Musicians of Germany, London, 1928, p. 254.
135. 'His virtuosity was unsurpassed by any trombonist in German, that is to say the world, because instrumental music in German is generally recognised to be of the highest level'. 'Necrolog', Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung 27 (July 1846), p. 460.
136. Baines, 'The Trombone', p. 558.
137. Rasmussen, Brass Quarterly 5, p. 8.
138. 'The entire musical world is aware of his astonishing virtuosity on this difficult instrument – the bass trombone.' 'Necrolog', p. 460.
139. 'In the style of an accompaniment to a solemn ceremony'. Max Alberti, 'Introduction', in Four Symphonies by Robert Schumann: Symphony No. 3 in E flat Major (score: Ernst Eulenberg), London, 1945, p. 2.
140. Del Mar, op. cit., p. 299.
141. 'extreme lip tension'. Widor, op. cit., p. 100.
142. 'The legato phrase on the slide trombone – used only in Germany – cannot be played in a satisfactory manner...'. Gevaert, Cours, p. 213.
143. 'When legato notes are produced by different positions, because of intermediary intervals which the movement [glissement=sliding] of the slide produces automatically.' Gevaert, Nouveau Traité, p. 239.
144. Ibid., p. 240.
145. 'German composers in general have treated the slide trombone in the same manner as a voice of a choir, giving it only long tones to play or otherwise short phrases of a forceful rhythmic pattern, and never separating the tenor trombone from the alto and bass.' Ibid., p. 241.
146. Ibid., pp. 240-41.
147. 'As most of the trombones' lyrical passages are doubled by other instruments, the composer need not scrupulously notate illusory slur-markings, since he can rely on the mass effect to cover up the short-comings of individuals.' Ibid., p. 240.
148. 'This instrument, one observes, provides rather meagre technical resources for the individual virtuoso.' Ibid., p. 240.
149. 'sometimes too high, sometimes too low'. Widor, op. cit., p. 107.
150. Robert Sheldon, personal correspondence with the author, 18.10.95.
151. 'Schumann sometimes uses the alto clef for the first two trombones, which he thus writes as if they are both alto trombones, for example... in his Third Symphony... This is certainly an example of dangerous writing... Let us be wise and not write so high.' Widor, op. cit., p. 100.
152. 'Indeed, Schumann had here demanded [two] alto trombones'. Kunitz, op. cit., p. 619.
153. Del Mar, op. cit., p. 312.
154. 'this solemn passage of austere and imposing attraction'. Gevaert, Cours, p. 213.
155. 'obviously Schumann wanted to have the trombones sound horn-like in this passage'. Ibid., p. 214.
156. Sheldon, personal correspondence with the author op. cit.
157. 'demonstrated taste less pure [than Mendelssohn]. Too often a coarse veneer of trombones weighed down the orchestration of their symphonies, and it brings to mind the banal orchestrations of Rossini'. Gevaert, Cours, p. 213.
158. Robert Sheldon, personal correspondence with the author op. cit.
159. Carse, Beethoven to Berlioz, p. 110.
160. [In Düsseldorf] there is nothing to be done in the way of music, and I long for a better orchestra... If you once heard me conduct this orchestra, not even four horses could bring you here a second time.' Hiller, op. cit., p. 40. Trans. M. E. von Glehn, op. cit., p. 46-7.
161. 'At the end of 1847, when I came to Düsseldorf as Director, I found the music there on quite a different footing [from that which Mendelssohn had described]. The twelve years' energy which Ferdinand Rietz had devoted to it had not been in vain. On my removal to Cologne in 1850, I managed to secure the post for Robert Schumann'. Hiller, op. cit., p. 42. Translated in von Glehn, op. cit., p. 50.

‹‹ Part I | Table of Contents | Chapter 2 ››

Tweet