01 July 2008 Last Updated on 31 October 2011 Written by Ken Shifrin

Chapter 2: The Ascent of the Tenor Trombone

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Footnotes

  1. 'Le meilleur de tous, sans contredit. Il a une sonorité fort et pleine... et son timbre est bon dans toute de son "echelle"'. ('Assuredly the best of all. It has a full and powerful sonority... and its tone is good throughout its entire range'). Berlioz, Grand Traité, p. 200.
  2. 'At the present, the alto trombone has been banished from all our Paris orchestras.' Hector Berlioz, 'De l'instrumentation', Revue et Gazette Musicale de Paris no. 10 (6 March 1842), p. 92. The Opéra-Comique in 1839 listed Carteret as 'alto' and Buisson as 'alto et ténor' (L'indicateur général des Théâtres de Paris no. 3 (1839); cited by Carse, Beethoven to Berlioz, p. 493). The year 1831 saw the publication of the Méthode de Trombone by the trombonist Cornette of the Opéra-Comique which included a section of instruction for the alto trombone ('Méthode de Trombone', Revue Musicale année v, tome xi, numero 25 (23 July 1831), p. 200). The fact that players in the Opéra-Comique used the alto was probably a matter of personal preference.
  3. 'the upper pitches, b', c", d", e", f" are highly useful'. Berlioz, Grand Traité, p. 199.
  4. 'The alto trombone, which is in general usage in Germany, is hardly found at all in French orchestras, which is very unfortunate, because the tenor trombone which is forced to replace it is not capable of playing as high and the composer finds himself deprived of using the notes b'-f" of which he would have been able to take great advantage.' Kastner, Traité Général, second edition, Paris, 1840, p. 41. According to Kastner, only tenor players of the greatest skill were capable of playing higher than bb', with db" being the highest note possible on the tenor (ibid., p. 41.)  However, Dieppo in his Méthode specifies d" as the highest note on the tenor as 'très difficile' (Dieppo, op. cit., p. 4) which is curious, as he was undoubtedly Berlioz' model for what was considered possible on the trombone, and Berlioz described db" on the tenor as 'très difficile' (Berlioz, Grand Traité, p. 199). In 1837, Kastner cited f" as the highest note possible on the alto (Kastner, op. cit., p. 53); in the 1840 edition of his Traité he states that it is gb" (Kastner, Traité Général, second edition (1840), p. 41), as Berlioz does in his Grande Traité (op. cit., p. 199), but with the proviso that this note is only attainable by a true virtuoso. Moreover, Kastner advises composers that the extremes of the alto's upper and lower register are generally to be avoided: 'les notes plus hauts et plus basses sont douteuses' ('the highest and lowest notes are doubtful': Kastner, Traité Général, first edition, p. 53) and best reserved for solos ('ne doivent s'employer que dans les solos': Kastner, Traité Général, second edition, p. 41), adding that, since only a few artists are capable of playing '[l]es tons plus hauts et graves... on ne jamais écrire plus hauts que c" ou d", ni plus bas que f ou e' ('the highest and lowest notes... one never writes higher than c" or d", nor lower than f or e': Kastner, Traité Général, first edition, p. 53). Finally, he advocates the avoidance of seventh position on the alto, as it seems did Eisel (Musicus Autodidactos, oder der sich, selbst informirende Musicus, Erfürt, 1738, p. 70), Christoph and Stoessel (Kurtzgefaßtes musicalischs Lexicon, Chemnitz, 1737, p. 184) and Fröhlich (op. cit., p. 34), 'à cause de la mauvaise qualité des sons ('because of the poor quality of the sound': Kastner, Méthode Elementaire pour le Trombone, Paris, c. 1840, p. 11); Adolph Marx points out the risk of losing one's slide in seventh position ('an der Festigkeit des Zusammenhalts leicht verlieren' – 'the firmness of the grip is easily lost': Marx, Lehre, p. 71) and advises composers to avoid writing notes played in this position. See also 'Range (Marx), in Chapter 1.
  5. Berlioz, Grand Traité, p. 199.
  6. ' Its tone is somewhat shrill compared to that of the lower trombones. Its low notes sound rather poor. It is all the more reasonable to dispense with them altogether as the same notes are excellent on the tenor trombone.' Ibid., p. 199.
  7. 'The alto trombone part should not be played, as is often done in France, on a big trombone [tenor]. I insist on a true alto trombone.' In 1972 Nicholas Temperley considered the alto practically obsolete:. Moreover, he maintained that the tessitura of the fourth movement was too demanding for a tenor trombonist: 'the part [in Marche au Supplice] reaches eb"... a note that is beyond the normal range of the tenor trombone.' (Nicholas Temperley (ed.) Hector Berlioz: New Edition of the Complete Works (NBE): Symphonie Fantastique, series 1, Kassel, 1972, vol. xvi, p. xiv.)  Temperley's opinion notwithstanding, the fact is that this work today is customarily performed on the tenor trombone, and 'March to the Scaffold' has been a standard orchestral audition requirement for tenor trombone since well before 1972.
  8. Source: NBE (vol xvi), ibid..
  9. According to Macdonald, Berlioz submitted the manuscript in December 1842. The letter is dated 8 October 1843. Hugh Macdonald, personal correspondence, 5.12.95.
  10. 'Having made repeated observations of the kind in Berlin, I now believe that the best solution in the opera house is after all the solution adopted at the Paris Opera, and that is to use three tenor trombones. The tone of the small, alto trombone is shrill and high and its notes are poor; I would therefore vote to exclude it too from theatre orchestras.' Hector Berlioz, Mémoires vol. ii, Paris, 1922, p. 97. Translation in E. Cairns (ed.) The Memoires of Hector Berlioz, London, 1969, p. 320; trans. ed. by John Wagstaff.
  11. David Mathie, The Alto Trombone: Current Use and Performance Trends, University of Georgia DMA, 1993, p. 29.
  12. Guion, The Trombone, p. 266.
  13. Berlioz, Mémoires, vol. ii, p. 97. Indeed, in his Grand Traité there is a hint, expressed almost as an afterthought, that Berlioz will reach this conclusion when he states: 'Il faut remarquer seulement que le son du Trombone Basse prédomine toujours plus ou moins, en pareil cas, sur les deux autres, surtout si le premier est un Trombone Alto.' ('It only remains to be said that the sound of the bass trombone always predominates more or less [in forte] over the other two trombones, especially if the first is an alto trombone'.)  Grand Traité, p. 215.
  14. 'the alto trombone and the bass trombone, encountered widely in Germany, are hardly used at all in France: one understands that this is a great disadvantage for our composers... Some professors seem to applaud this, contending that this homogenous timbre in harmony is so complementary in the orchestra, a sound which can only be derived by the same instruments: we do not share at all their opinion in this respect, and we painfully watch the adoption by French composers of the almost exclusive practice of writing for the tenor trombone for all three parts... We think that it is a great mistake not to have preserved the three different timbres of the trombone – Bass, Tenor, Alto – whose diversity seems to us highly useful and highly desirable.' Kastner, Traité Général; second edition, p. 41.
  15. 'unfortunate transformation'. Gavaert, Nouveau Traité, p. 248.
  16. 'By this regrettable innovation the trombone section has seen its range decrease by a complete octave. Its sound and technical qualities have suffered an attack no less serious: indeed the tenor trombone lacks the unforced sound in the upper register; and below c it hardly has any strength or flexibility.' Ibid., p. 248. Flandrin held that the demise of 'les trombones classiques' compelled composers to write 'une basse pour un ténor et un alto pour un autre ténor; deux instruments sur trois, jouent un rôle qui leur est étranger, et les instrumentalistes d'aujourd'hui sont souvent obligés d'exécuter, non sans danger, des parties hors de leurs moyens.' ('a bass trombone part for a tenor and an alto part for another tenor; two out of the three instruments of the section take on a role which is foreign to them, and the players today are obliged to perform, not without risk, parts which are beyond their capabilities.')  Flandrin, op. cit., p. 1659.
  17. Hugh Macdonald, personal correspondence with the author, 30.11.95.
  18. Hector Berlioz, 'Messe solenelle' in New Edition of Complete Works, ed. Hugh Macdonald, Kassel, 1967, vol. 23, p.172.
  19. Hugh Macdonald points out that the alto trombone part on this score is puzzling since it is notated in tenor clef, and asks 'was this defiance of convention a further cause of the Prix de Rome judges' displeasure in 1829?' Personal correspondence with the author, 30.11.95.
  20. Ibid.
  21. 'The first trombone part of Harold in Italy is also notated in alto clef and reaches b' several times, which although it lies above the upper limit of the tenor trombone, according to Berlioz's Treatise, is actually playable on the tenor.' Hans Bartenstein, Hector Berlioz' Instrumentationskunst und ihre geschichtlichen Grundlagen, Strassburg, 1939, p. 131.
  22. J. Rushton (ed.), 'La Damnation de Faust' in Hector Berlioz, New Edition of the Complete Works, Kassel, 1986, vol. viii(b), p. 459.
  23. 'Roméo et Juliette' in D. Kern Holloman (ed.), Hector Berlioz: New Edition of the Complete Works vol. 18, Bärenreiter, Kassel, 1990, p. 371.
  24. Hugh Macdonald, personal correspondence with the author, 19.12.95.
  25. However, one also recalls that Dieppo, in his Méthode, disagreed, indicating that d" was the highest note possible on the tenor trombone, see n. 4, this chapter. Modern editions used today score these bars of the first trombone part loco.
  26. 'Te Deum' in Denis McCaldin (ed.) Hector Berlioz: New Edition of the Complete Works vol. xix, 1967.
  27. W.E. Runyon, 'The Alto Trombone and Contemporary Concepts of Trombone Timbre', Brass Bulletin no.28 (1979), p. 45. Ian Rumbold writes: 'Although this part [in the autograph score] was originally described at the beginning of the movement as "Alto" the word was subsequently deleted; the part is labelled "2 Premiers Trombones". Rumbold also confirms that the original handwritten part is in alto clef (personal correspondence with the author, 15.1.96).
  28. 'the alto trombone had scarcely any reason to exist'. Flandrin, op. cit., p. 1655.
  29. 'three tenors [are] all that are known in France'. François Gevaert, Traité Général d'instrumentation, Paris, 1863, p. 161.
  30. Baines, Brass, p. 242.
  31. Indeed, Berlioz wrote that due to 'l'insuffisance des trombones' in the Mannheim orchestra he was unable to perform the Finale of Harold: 'Je dus supprimer le finale (l'Orgie) à cause des trombones manifestement incapable de remplir la rôle qui leur est confié dans ce morceau' ('I had to cancel the finale (the Orgy) because the trombones were manifestly incapable of filling the role that was entrusted to them in this piece.' Berlioz, Memoires, vol. ii, p. 40.)  Elsewhere Berlioz described the Hechingen trombonist – they had only one – along with the timpanist and trumpets as 'knowing nothing' ('ils ne savent rien': Memoires, vol. ii, p. 30). 'Le seul trombonist était livré à lui-même; mais ne donnant prudemment que le sons qui lui étaient très familiers, comme si bemol, re, fa, et évitant avec soin tous les autres, il brillait presque partout par son silence'. ('The sole trombonist was left to his own devices; but by prudently giving him only notes with which he was very familiar such as Bb, C, F, and carefully avoiding all the others, he distinguished himself mostly by his silence.' Ibid., p. 31). Of the Berlin trombonists he wrote 'Impossible!  Tout à fait impossible!... Et n'y a-t-il pas de qui aller donner de la tête contre un mur?' ('Impossible. Completely impossible!... It is not enough to make you bang your head against a wall?' Ibid. p. 129.)  However, for the Stuttgart trombones Berlioz had fulsome praise: 'Les trombones sont d'une belle force; le premier (M. Schrade) qui fit... à un véritable talent. Il possède à fond son instrument, se joue des plus grandes difficultés, tiré du trombone-ténor un son magnifique'. ('A fine section. The Principal Trombone (Mr Schrade)... is a talented player. He is a complete master of his instrument, capable of performing the most difficult passages and producing a magnificent tone on the tenor trombone.' Ibid., p. 24). In 1844 Berlioz wrote a b' in the first trombone part of the overture La Carnaval Romain, but scored it for a tenor trombone rather than an alto. It appears that either there were no alto trombonists available in 1844, or that by this time tenor trombonists were thought capable of playing this note.
  32. Macdonald, 19.12.95, op. cit.
  33. 'to take unpermitted latitude in the interpretation of the composer's wishes [and] to open the door to all sorts of incorrectness and abuses'. Berlioz, Grand Traité, p. 201, trans. Clarke, op. cit., p. 153.
  34. 'Generally, the French composers have the use of only the tenor trombone which they write in three parts, but often continue to indicate them by the denominations Alto, Tenor and Bass, which gives rise to a singular confusion for foreigners…' Kastner, Traité, second edition, p. 41.
  35. Koury, op. cit., p. 130.
  36. 'General prejudice charges large orchestras with being noisy. However, if they are well balanced, well rehearsed and well conducted, and if they perform truly good music, they should rather be called powerful. In fact, nothing is as different in meaning as these two expressions... Three trombones, if clumsily employed, may appear noisy and unbearable; and the very next moment, in the same hall, twelve trombones will delight the listeners with their powerful and yet noble tone.' Berlioz, Grand Traité, p. 297; trans. Koury, op. cit., p. 130.
  37. See n. 32, Introduction to Part I.
  38. 'the herd of composers'. Berlioz, Grand Traité, p. 223.
  39. 'human emotions'. Ibid., p. 205.
  40. 'The sound of the trombone is so markedly characterised that it should never be heard but for the production of some special effect... In fact it possesses the utmost nobility and grandeur. [I]t 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 chaunt (sic) like a chorus of priests; threaten, lament, ring a funeral knell, raise a hymn of glory, break forth into frantic cries, or sound its dread flourish to awaken the dead or to doom the living... But to constrain it... to howl out in a credo brutal phrases less worthy of a sacred edifice than of a tavern... [or] to mingle its Olympian voice with trumpery melody of a vaudeville duet... is to impoverish, to degrade a magnificent individuality; it is to make a hero into a slave and a buffoon; it is to tarnish the orchestra...; it is to commit a voluntary act of vandalism, or to give token of an absence of sentiment for expression amounting to stupidity.' Ibid., pp. 205, 223; trans. Clarke, op. cit., pp. 156, 173; edited by A. C. Howie.
  41. 'If there is no tenor trombone capable of a good rendering of the solo part in this movement, it can be played on an alto valve-trombone in F'. Hugh Macdonald (ed.), 'Grande Symphonie Funèbre et Triomphale' in Hector Berlioz, New Edition of the Complete Works (NBE), Kassel, 1967, vol. xix, p. xi. Translation by Macdonald.  Berlioz also provided alternative solo parts for horn and bass clarinet.  In the autograph score, a proviso to the statement above which read: 'La Clarinete-basse en ce cas est préférable au Cor et au Trombone Alto. ('In such a case the bass clarinet is to be preferred to the horn or alto trombone'.): ibid, was omitted in the first French edition. Ibid. In the autograph Berlioz scored the first trombone parts in the orchestra as '1rs Trombones altos ou ténors' in the alto clef, c" being the highest note written. Hugh Macdonald, personal correspondence with the author, 5.12.95.
  42. 'with rather more sonority'. Berlioz, Grand Traité, p. 224. However, for an earlier account of a more striking contrast see Berlioz's comment in the Gazette Musicale of 1838 (n. 52, this chapter).
  43. Consider that while both Fröhlich (Joseph Fröhlich, Systemischer Unterricht, zweiter Theil, Würzburg, 1829, p.272) and Nemetz (Gottfried Weber 'Versuch einer praktischen Akustic' Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung 4 (24 Jan 1816) p. 54) described the alto mouthpiece as basically the same as a trumpet mouthpiece but with a larger cup, a nineteenth century cornet mouthpiece was generally more bowl-shaped than that of a trumpet. Robert Sheldon, Musings about Brasswind Nomenclature or Name and Nature (first draft), Washington DC, circa 1989, p. 5.
  44. According to Berlioz, the two instruments had very similar ranges: the 'cornet à trois piston en fa' extended from f to a'', whereas the valved 'alto trombone en fa', whilst capable of playing from B to gb'', the notes B to e were considered 'd'un mauvais timbre'. Berlioz, Grand Traité, p. 224.
  45. Carse, Beethoven to Berlioz, p. 234.
  46. Music World 23, no. 7 (12 February 1848), p. 97.
  47. 'Lyrical solos are frequently written for the alto valve-trombone. If well phrased, a melody can have considerable appeal.' Berlioz, Grand Traité, p. 224.
  48. Del Mar, op. cit., p. 327.
  49. According to Flandrin, Berlioz's Funeral Oration, the 'grand solo' from Halévy's opera Le Juif Errant (Ex. 2.12), and the 'solo difficile' in Thomas's Hamlet (Ex. 2.10), as well as a number of other trombone solos that appeared in the French repertoire during the mid 1800s, were inspired by the example of Antoine-Guillaume Dieppo (Solo Trombone, Paris Opera, 1831-1867), who distinguished himself as a master of the tenor trombone (Flandrin op. cit., p. 1657). Dieppo, who performed the Funeral Oration on the tenor trombone, was regarded as the 'Dragonetti due trombone' ('Athénée musicale de la Ville de Paris', Revue Musicale, année v, tome xi, numero xxvii (27 August 1831), p. 234) and whom Rivière called 'the greatest trombonist that ever lived' (J. Rivière, My Musical Life and Recollection, London, 1893, p. 81), and who was described by Berlioz as 'un veritable virtuose' (Berlioz, Grand Traité, p. 224), caused a sensation at his Paris debut. At a recital on 18 August 1831, the correspondent for the Revue Musicale wrote: 'M. Deipo [sic], phénomène allemand, qui est parvenu, par un travail sans doute long et pénible, à adoucir d'une manière étonnante les sons durs et secs du trombone et à les diviser, dans des traits rapides, aussi exactement que s'il se servait d'une trompette à clefs... Cet artiste a émerveillé l'assemblée et électrisé l'orchestre qui l'a fort bien accompagné'. ('Mr Dieppo, the German phenomenon who has arrived here, is, obviously through arduous and long practice, astonishingly capable of turning the harsh and dry sound of the trombone into a mellow tone, and is able to play semi-quavers in rapid passages exactly as if he were playing a valve trumpet... This artist astounded the audience and electrifed the orchestra, which accompanied him admirably'.)  'Athénée Musical de la Ville de Paris' op. cit., p. 234). Ironically, Dieppo came to France originally as a clarinettist (Flandrin, op. cit., p. 1657). It is interesting to note that in 1855 von Gontershausen omits Dieppo when he lists the best trombonists of the time: 'Unsere grössten Posaunen-virtuosen sind Queisser (Leipzig), Belke (Berlin) und Whittman (Paris)'. H.W. von Gontershausen, Neu eröffnetes Magazin musikalischer Tonwerkzeuge, Frankfurt, 1855, p. 149. Besides German, Dieppo was also said to be Swedish, Danish (Carse, Beethoven to Berlioz, p. 77n) and Dutch (F.J. Fétis, Biographie Universelle des Musiciens, 2nd edition, Paris, 1869, vol. iii, p. 18).
  50. Carse, Beethoven to Berlioz, pp. 203, 236. Cioffi 'was a marvellous player on the slide trombone. His silk hat was lined with newspaper cuttings relating to his performances, and he would sometimes give us a taste of his quality which would rather open our eyes' ('Kneller Hall in the Days Gone By', The British Musician and Orchestral Times 7 (1894), p. 14). The following statement by Weingartner in 1900 demonstrates how much performance standards must have improved in little more than a generation: 'Sie erscheint heute wo der Musiker soviel Fertigkeit besitzen, um dieses Solo ohne besondere Schwierigkeit auf der Tenorposaune zu spielen, überflussig.' (['An alternative part for alto valve-trombone] seems superfluous today, when [tenor trombonists] are so accomplished that this solo offers no particular performance problems'.) Charles Malherbe and Felix Weingartner, eds., 'Sinfonie Funèbre' in Hector Berlioz Werke, Band i, Leipzig, 1900, p. xlviii.
  51. 'Several composers, among them Halévy, have composed some very beautiful solos for the alto valve-trombone. It is necessary, naturally, that these solos be a very expressive and a distinguished melody.' Kastner, Traité Général,second edition, p. 42. See Examples 2.5, 2.6, 2.7.
  52. 'This new instrument, admirably played by M. Schlitz, has a large and ample sound absolutely different from a valved cornet, which is so much over-used.  It ascends easily and maintains its true sound throughout its entire range' Hector Berlioz, 'Academie Royale de Musique: Guido et Ginévra ou la peste de Florence' Revue et Gazette Musicale de Paris 5, no. 11 (18 March 1838), p. 115.  Schlitz, like Koenig (see n. 45, this chapter), appears to have been either a cornet or trumpet player.  (Personal correspondence with Patrice Verrier, Director of Research and Documentation of the Musée de la Musique, Paris, 15.10.98).
  53. 'Possibly the highest and most dramatic trombone solo that exists'.  Flandrin, op. cit., p.1657.  See Ex. 2.6.  According to the autograph, Halévy's solo 'trombone soprano' is an independent part, distinct from that of the first trombone and functions separately from the trombone section.
  54. Gregory, op. cit., p. 293.
  55. Flandrin, op. cit., p. 1657.
  56. Herbert Heyde, Das Ventilblasinstrument, Leipzig, 1987, p. 81, p. 240.
  57. Lyndesay G. Langwill, An Index of Wind Instrument Makers, sixth edition, Edinburgh, 1977, p. 99.  In his Traité, Berlioz fails to mention either Labbaye's trombone or D. Jahn's two piston-trombone, patented in 1834 (Henri Marie Lavoix, L'Histoire d'Instrumentation. p. 144; Flandrin. op. cit., p. 1653). Berlioz describes a 'tenor' valve-trombone capable of descending chromatically down to BBb, which he implies was only found in Germany at that time: 'On trouve en Allemagne quelques trombones ténors à cylindres qui descendent jusqu'au sib grave' (Berlioz, Grand Traité, p. 227). Berlioz may have been referring to a four-valve tenor-bass trombone (Bb/F) similar to the Kleps model produced in Vienna in 1843 (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Collection of Ancient Instruments, Vienna, 21.11.96). Marx describes a three-valve bass trombone in F that would have been capable of descending chromatically to BB (Marx gives the range as extending from CC to c''), whose tone 'hält die Mitte zwischen Posaune und Horn; sie scheint übrigens wenig verbreitet vielleicht in Süden (in Österreich) mehr als in Norddeutschland' ('is half-way between a trombone and a horn; in any case it seems hardly prevalent – perhaps used in the South (in Austria) more than in northern Germany'). Marx, op. cit., pp. 99-100.
  58. For example, according to von Gontershausen, by 1855 in Germany the better players had abondoned the valve trombone due to its inferior sound, and had returned to the slide trombone: ' Unsere guten Posaunisten schaffen sie daher mit allem Recht wieder ab, und ergreifen die fruhere art mit Sangen zum Ausziehen'.  (Our good trombonists, righfully so, have done away with it and have taken up again the former type with the draw-slide'. Von Gontershausen, op. cit., p. 149). Ironically, Frederick Corder predicted in 1895 that the tenor slide-trombone, which he maintained was in a 'transitional stage', would be superceded by the valve trombone due to 'the impossibility of playing really legato' on the former.  Frederick Corder, The Orchestra and How to Write for It, London 1895, p. 58.
  59. In addition to the obvious technical advantages, it would have been a convenient double for valve-trumpet players, especially in locales where trombonists were in short supply.
  60. Del Mar, op. cit., p. 326.
  61. Gevaert, Cours, p. 213, see n. 142, Chapter 1.
  62. Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung 27 (July 1846), see n. 135, Chapter 1.
  63. Kastner, Méthode, p. 16. Perhaps another indication of the lower standard of French trombone playing: According to Kastner, lip trills were considered possible only by virtuosos (Kastner, Traité Général, p. 54).
  64. Rushton, op. cit., p. 459.
  65. Even with the F-thumb valve attachment that would have been invented seven years earlier by Sattler in 1839 (Baines, Brass, p. 245).
  66. 'to reinforce the first trombone part for the climax'. Bartenstein, op. cit., p. 134.
  67. Gregory, op. cit., p. 108.
  68. 'This example is very curious since no alto trombones were used in French orchestras after 1830.' Kunitz, op. cit., p. 780.
  69. 'This solo will be best performed on a valve trombone'. A. Thomas, Hamlet, Opéra en cinq actes, Paris: Heugel, 1869, p. 128. This suggestion does not appear on the autograph score, perhaps because it was assumed.
  70. Gevaert, Nouveaux Traité, p. 283.
  71. 'the near total disappearance of the slide trombone during this period'.  Flandrin, op. cit., p. 1657.
  72. Ibid.
  73. 'These days the piston mechanism is only applied to the tenor trombone... Today... the widespread usage of the valve trombone allows one to slur all possible intervals.' Gevaert, Traité Général, p. 98, 203.
  74.   Gevaert, Nouveau Traité, p. 283. Unfortunately Gevaert does not address the fact that this tenor solo is unusually high even by today's standards.
  75. 'the alto [slide] trombone possesses more flexibility and suppleness than the tenor; nevertheless, as far as I know, it has never been used in the orchestra as a solo instrument'. Ibid., p. 242.
  76. Josiane Laurent, Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris, personal correspondence with the author, 29.12.96.
  77. 'À partir de 1848 la Fanfare subit une heureuse transformation, conséquence des innovations d'Adolphe Sax, bientôt propagées ou imitées hors de la France... Malgré les divergences locales, toutes les fanfares actuelles des pays occidentaux se composent au fond des memes éléments... trois ou quatre trompettes (chromatiques)..., [l]es bugles-sopranos..., [l]es cornets..., trois trombones ténors à pistons..., [l]es bugles tenors-barytons et un tuba basse en sib.' ('After 1848 la Fanfare went through a successful transformation, thanks to Adolphe Sax's innovations which soon spread or were copied outside of France... Despite indigenous minor differences, all the military brass bands which exist in the Western nations are basically comprised of the same elements: three or four chromatic trumpets..., soprano bugles..., cornets..., three tenor valve trombones..., baritone horns and bass tuba in Bb.') Gevaert, Cours, pp. 288, 291.
  78. 'Exactly like the first trumpet, but less often, the first trombone serves as a melody instrument in the military brass ensemble: with a powerful, accented tenor voice, alternately heroic, smooth or terrifying.' Ibid., p. 291.
  79. In the score of the first printed edition published by Brandes et Cie, Paris 1851 (but not the autograph), this passage does not occur in the first trombone part but is assigned to a separate Solo Trombone player.  Although referred to as 'Trombone Alto' in the original hand-copied part, Gevaert reminds us: "Depuis 1830 les orchestres n'ont plus que des trombones-ténor, ce qui n'a pas empêche les compositeurs de continuer longtemps après à designer les trois parties sous leurs noms traditionnels ('Although since 1830 orchestras [in France] have used only tenor trombones, this has not prevented composers from continuing to designate the three parts by their traditional names for a long time since then'.) Gevaert, Nouveau Traite, p. 248.  See note 34 in this chapter.
  80. Bate, op. cit., p.177.
  81. 'no less brilliant an instrumentalist', Flandrin, op. cit., p. 1657.
  82. Ibid.  As late as 1949, Charles Kœchlin wrote that 'on souhaiterait pourtant qu'il y eût au moins un trombone à pistons dans les orchestres symphoniques; il vendrait bien des services.' (One would yet wish that there would be at least one valve trombone in symphony orchestras; it would be most useful'. Charles Kœchlin, Traité de l'Orchestration vol. ii, Paris, 1949, p. 94.)
  83. Bate, op. cit., pp. 150, 220.
  84. See notes 56, 57, this chapter.
  85. In France, shortly before his death in 1868, Rossini sketched a fanfare for military band entitled La Corona d'Italia. Published in 1880 in Carl Boosé's Military Journal (series 46, no. 2, London: Boosey & Co., 1880), the trombone parts contain passages that seem well suited to valved instruments. At present the author is researching whether the trombone parts are authentic or the result of Boosé's editing. Only the rapid quaver passages in the overture from La Gazza Ladra (1817), written for a single trombone with bassoon (and, significantly, predating the invention of the F-thumb valve by more than twenty years: Heyde, op. cit., p. 240) approaches the technical demands of the Guillaume Tell Overture. Heyde also mentions a Bb-Tenor/E-Bass Trombone (Müller-Posaune) built by Kruspe in 1897 (ibid.) which appears to have met with little success, and it seems unlikely that this instrument was used in Italy at the time Rossini was writing La Gazza Ladra for La Scala.
  86. 'Berlioz scrupulously avoided [scoring] difficult passages in rapid tempi that were scarcely playable on the slide trombone, such as the thunderous section in the first Allegro (the 'Storm Scene') of Rossini's 'William Tell' overture'. Bartenstein, op. cit., p. 133.
  87. 'Das Ventil-Cornet... bereits 1829 von Rossini Guillaume Tell verwendet war'. 'The valve cornet… was used in Rossini's 'William Tell' already in 1829'. Bartenstein, op. cit., p. 130.
  88. Bartlett, personal correspondence with the author, 20.12.95: 'I have seen no evidence about valve trombones in Paris in the 1820s'.
  89. During the mid-1800s a section initially comprising three tenor valve-trombones (latterly with a valved bass trombone: Anthony Baines, 'The Trombone', in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, London, 1980, p. 165) and sometimes with a cimbasso on the fourth part, was welcomed into the Italian opera, according to Carse, as they were far easier to manage in the cramped pit orchestra than slide trombones (Carse,  Beethoven to Berlioz, p. 249).  Perhaps a more plausible explanation is that Verdi, Puccini and other Italian composers favoured the valved instruments for their technical advantages: the trombone parts of Aida, Don Carlos (see below), Falstaff, Othello, La Forza del Destino, the Requiem, La Bohème and Tosca, for example, are filled with 'athletic passages' (Eric Crees, 'Trombone Evolution', part iv, Sounding Brass (Autumn 1976), p. 73), trills and grace notes.  (All examples cited, with the exception of La Bohème and Tosca are by Verdi.)  It is logical to assume that the Guillaume Tell would have also been performed on valve trombones in Italy.  In the early 1920s Sir Henry Wood introduced a set of valve trombones in the Queen's Hall Orchestra.  According to Simon Baines, Rossini's works were popular at that time with London audiences 'and it was probably hoped that the valve trombone would allow more exciting performances of the difficult trombone writing' (Simon Baines, The Evolution of Orchestral Brass in the Last Hundred Years:  Organology, Trends in Performance Practice and their Effects, PhD Dissertation, Keele University, 1996, pp. 9-10).

    none
    Verdi: Don Carlos, Act II, no. 17, sc.iv; bars 356-359 (Eulenberg).
  90. 'if one wishes for clarity and precision it is necessary to shy away from giving the trombones overly technical or rapid rhythms'. Kastner, Traité, second edition, p. 41.
  91. Berlioz, Grand Traité, p. 204.  For example, Bartenstein informs us that, in 'Rex tremendae' from the Requiem, Berlioz wrote the trombone part as A# – f# – c# [positions 1 – 5 – 5] rather than A# – B# – c# [positions 1 – 6 – 5] to avoid the awkward position change of A# to B#: 'An eine Stelle in 'Rex tremendae' des Requiem springen der Posaune…. Schwierige Folge Ais-His zu vermeiden von Ais nach fis – cis (statt Ais – His – cis)', Bartenstein, op. cit., p 132.  Berlioz relates how the trombone section of the Théâtre-Italien, in order to negotiate an especially awkward unison phrase, had to resort to alternating notes between players 'au grand divertissement, des autres musiciens' ('to the great amusement of the rest of the orchestra') Berlioz, Grand Traité, p. 204.
  92. 'imposing on the player a task above his capabilities'. Gevaert, Nouveau Traité, p. 239.
  93. 'only a valved instrument is capable of playing so many notes distinctly'. Ibid., p. 239.
  94. 'those of our contemporaries who continue to give preference to slide trombones would be well advised to abstain from [writing] similar passages'. Ibid.
  95. The virtuoso Dieppo would not join the Paris Opera orchestra until 1831, as previously mentioned (n. 49, this chapter).
  96. 'the utmost degree of velocity which we should require from the trombone', Jadassohn, op. cit., p. 277. Jadassohn further states that Rossini required a tempo of minim = 108. (Ibid).
  97. 'The trombone should be used for long, continuous periods as little as possible because they require so much breath'. Ibid., p. 278.
  98. 'takes full advantage of the fact that these three instruments have the same sound, strength and pitch, and are manipulated in the same manner'. Ibid., p. 275.
  99. 'easier and less fatiguing for the alto trombone than for the larger tenor and bass trombone'. Ibid., p. 275–276.
  100. 'of earth shaking power'. Ibid., p. 280.
  101. 'many sharps [and] rapid rhythms do not suit the alto trombone'. Kastner, Traité, first edition, p. 53.
  102. Elizabeth Bartlett, personal correspondence with the author, 21.12.95.
  103. Ibid.
  104. Carse, Beethoven to Berlioz, p. 188.
  105. Joseph Bennett, Forty Years of Music, London, 1908, p. 335.
  106. Bate, op. cit., p. 141.
  107. Prout, op. cit., p. 224.
  108. Carse, op. cit., p. 181.
  109. Baines, 'The Trombone', p. 558.
  110. Algernon Rose, Talks with Bandsmen, London, 1895, p. 108.
  111. The section of the London Philharmonic was led by the famed English trombonist, Cioffi. From Musical World 30, no. 9 (Feb. 28, 1852), p. 136, an article entitled '"The Societé des Concerts" at the Conservatoire at Paris': '(From a Correspondent): An anonymous Englishman, having recently attended a concert of this orchestra, proceeded to compare the Paris orchestra's trombone section with that of the Philharmonic in London: "The sweet trombones with their silver sounds and silver it was, each playing with the band, and not endeavoring to drown everybody else... are as superior to our ear-splitting Bartlemy- Fair bulls of Basham as can be conceived." From Musical World 30, no. 11, (March 13, 1852), p. 166, the following letter in 'Original Correspondence' was written in reply: 'To the Editor of the Musical World: Sir,– An article appeared in the Musical World of Febr. 28th headed "'The Society des Concerts'; at the Conservatoire of Paris", the gross falsehood and unfairness of the remarks contained in that article, compel me, in justice to myself, as professor of the trombone of the Philharmonic, and the profession to which I have the honour to belong, to demand the name of the writer. An immediate answer, under the circumstances I have a right to expect. I am, sir, your obediant servant. F. Cioffi, March 8th.' To which the editor of the periodical sarcastically responded: 'We anxiously sympathise with the indignation of our Correspondent, and have caused inquiries to be instituted as to the authorship of the article in question, about which at present we are wholly in the dark. Signor Cioffi, if he has been in the habit of reading Musical World, must be well aware the Musical World appreciates his talents. Moreover, the article complained of was not an editorial article, and to conclude we have not read it. Secondly, if contributions headed or tailed with the words 'From a Correspondent,' be admitted into our columns, we have no right to alter the expressions, modify the sentiments, or obliterate the sense of the writer;  but it does not necessarily follow that, because a 'Correspondent', who is not 'our Correspondent,' says so, or even so-so. So, under the circumstances, while earnestly sympathising, and, as we have already said, 'anxiously' (we quote from our own words) with the indignation of Signor Cioffi, we regret that we should have given way to it, since it needed only a mild protest on his part, to call attention to the offensive passages of the article in question, and to elicit the expression of our dissent. And 'firstly,' we have often said, and we now repeat, that Signor Cioffi is a very fine player on the trombone. ED' See note 50, this chapter.  See also Ken Shifrin, "An Exchange of Sharp Notes", The Trombonist (Spring 1997).
  112. George Bernard Shaw, Shaw's Music. The Complete Musical Criticism in Three Volumes, (vol. i: 1876-1890; vol. ii: 1890-1893; vol. iii: 1893-1950) ed. Dan. H. Lawrence, London 1981; vol i., p. 238.
  113. Ibid.; vol. i, pp. 91, 93, 216, 330-331.  Shaw also reports the use of an alto trombone for a performance of Schütz's Fili mi Absalon and Beethoven's Equale at the Inventions Exhibition of 1885 (ibid., vol. i, p. 332). In 1890 he observed that the Walküre bass trumpet part was played on an alto trombone in a Richter London Concert (ibid., vol. ii, p. 92). However, this seems rather unlikely: perhaps Shaw meant an alto valve-trombone?
  114. Del Mar, op. cit., p. 298.
  115. Ibid., p. 285.
  116. Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, 'Scheherazade Symphonic Suite', op. 35, in The Complete Works of Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Conductor's Score, facsimile edition, Belwin Mills, 1981.
  117. Ibid., p. 312.
  118. Walter Piston, Orchestration, London, 1955, p. 270.
  119. Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian Easter Festival Overture, op. 36, in The Complete Works of Nicolai  Rimsky-Korsakov, Conductor's Score, facsimile, Belwin Mills, 1981.
  120. Unfortunately the original parts to both works seem to be unavailable for perusal.
  121. Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Principles of Orchestration, ed. Maximilian Steinberg, trans. Edward Agate, Berlin, 1922, p. 25. Rimsky-Korsakov also refers to the tenor valve-trombone, ibid., pp. 23-4.
  122. Ibid., p. 25.
  123. Lumsden, op. cit., p. 10.
  124. 'in two styles: for the classical trombone section and for three tenors'. Flandrin, op. cit., p. 1659.
  125. Ibid.
  126. Source, Egon Voss, personal correspondence with the author, 24.11.94. WWV refers to John Deathidge, Martin Geck and Egon Voss (eds), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis: Verzeichnis der musikalischen Werke Richard Wagners und ihrer Quellen, Mainz, 1986.
  127. Marx, as late as 1857, states that it was g' (Marx, Lehre, third edition, Leipzig, 1857, p. 191). Marx makes the novel suggestion that rather than have a bassoon substitute for the tenor trombone in the 'Tuba Mirum' of Mozart's Requiem, as often was the case, the alto would make a more suitable replacement (Marx, Lehre, first edition, p. 69), due presumably to the ab.
  128. Kunitz, op. cit., p. 792.
  129. 'Wagner definitely wrote two alto trombone parts for the stage band.' Karl-Heinz Weber, personal correspondence with the author, 14.5.95.
  130. 'The Flying Dutchman is unequivocally scored for alto trombone and is traditionally written in alto clef. In the first version... the first trombone part ascends to d". Later Wagner definitely edited the overture for concert performance. Thus, tenor clef for the first trombone.' Weber, personal correspondence with the author, 14.5.95. Herr Weber's meaning is not that the tenor clef is more suitable for concert orchestra trombonists than the alto clef, but that Wagner lowered the tessitura of the first part so that it could be played by a tenor trombone.
  131. Teuchert and Haupt, op. cit., p. 89.
  132. 'In any case, an alto trombone should be found in every orchestra: even today it is indispensable for Mendelssohn's Ruy Blas Overture, Schumann's Third Symphony in Eb Major and Wagner's Rienzi.' Hermann Scherchen, Lehrbuch des Dirigierens, Leipzig, 1929, p. 131.
  133. 'According to the autograph score'. Reinhard Strohm and Egon Voss (eds), 'Rienzi, der letzte der Tribunen', Richard Wagner, Sämtliche Werke, Band iii, v, Mainz (B. Schott's Söhne), 1991, p. 149.
  134. Dr Eugen Voss, personal correspondence with the author, 24.11.94.
  135. However, Rienzi, a pre-Reformentwurf work, (see n. 141, this chapter) does call for a c" in the first trombone at a time when this note was considered above the tenor's Umfangsgrenze.
  136. 'I, II, III which, in any case, are modern designations'. Elizabeth Bartlett, personal correspondence with the author, 21.12.95.
  137. Gevaert, Nouveau Traité, p. 242. Or two tenors and a tenor-bass.
  138. '... the traditional custom of writing the three trombone parts in imitation of a vocal trio has been maintained up until today... Occasionally the parts are indicated "trombones I, II, III"'. Gevaert, Traité Général, p. 88. See n. 34, this chapter.
  139. '... by this time the tenor trombone played the highest part in the trombone group even though, by force of habit, the former notation of the trombone parts in alto, tenor, and bass clef, was retained.' Kunitz, op. cit., p. 780; trans. H Braunlich. See n. 34 and n. 79, this chapter.
  140. Gevaert, Cours, p. 246.
  141. 'The employment of another tenor trombone is necessary, because for most of the new operas, as well as for the French operas (in which only tenor trombones are scored) the alto trombone's compass is insufficient, and the alto trombonist is therefore often forced to omit entire passages or play them up an octave. A tenor trombone must therefore be put at the disposal of the alto trombonist in addition to his usual instrument.' Richard Wagner, Sämtliche Schriften und Dichtungen Band xii, Leipzig, 1846, p. 180-81. Would the tenor trombone be provided by the orchestra?  According to Karl-Heinz Weber, 'Die finanzielle Lage der meisten Musiker es gar nicht erlaubte, zwei Instrumente zu besitzen' ('The financial position of most musicians did not permit them to own two instruments'),  Karl-Heinz Weber, personal correspondence with the author, 14.5.95.
  142. Percy M. Young, 'Wagner', in Grove's Dictonary of Music and Musicians, 5th edition, London, 1940, p. 99.
  143. 'As a result the present-day trombone section in all orchestras, which consists of two tenors and a bass,found a permanent place in the Dresden orchestra'. W. Berger, op. cit., p. 41.
  144. 'Despite its admirable timbre, akin to that of the Trumpet in F, the Alto Trombone has now become more or less obsolete, because its compass being much the same it is almost a duplicate of that magnificent instrument.' Widor, op. cit., p. 95. Trans. Suddard, op. cit., p. 78; edited by Ken Shifrin.
  145. Baines, Brass, p. 252.
  146. Bate, op. cit., p. 277.
  147. Berlioz, Mémoires, vol. ii, pp. 68, 103.
  148. Baines, Brass, p. 232.
  149. Koury, op. cit., p. 96. In October 1843 Berlioz noted how the immense popularity of the valve cornet had held back the introduction of valve trumpets into France. 'Nous n'avons presque point encore en France de trompettes chromatiques (ou à cylindres); la popularité incroyable du cornet à pistons leur a fait une concurrence victorieuse jusqu'à ce jour.' ('We do not yet have in France chromatic trumpets (i.e. with valves); the incredibly popular piston-cornet prevails in the competition to this day.') Berlioz, Memoires, vol. ii, p. 95.
  150. Hector Berlioz, 'De l'Instrumentation', Revue et Gazette Musicale 10 (6 March 1842), Paris, p. 92.
  151. 'that it was quite possible and also customary for the natural trumpets and for the corno da caccia as well as for the natural horn redesigned after 1753 to execute diatonic or even chromatic motions in the principal range of actions of the alto (and soprano) trombone... Thus already at that time it would have been possible without any trouble to play the parts of the alto trombone and soprano trombone on the trumpet or the corno da caccia respectively, particularly since these instruments were utilised at that time in technically even more demanding ways than trombones. The standpoint... that the high trombones were used only because of their chromatic potentials and that they therefore became superfluous with the invention of the valve trumpet, is thus totally erroneous on this basis.' Kunitz, op. cit., p. 784. Trans. Helmut Braunlich.
  152.   Carse,  Beethoven to Berlioz, p. 249.
  153. 'Composers after the invention of the valve trumpet (that is, toward the middle of the 19th century) immediately made extensive use of its remarkable technical facility... The salient fact in all considerations of voicing was now that the whole range of 'sharp' brass instruments, the trumpets and trombones, had become chromatic throughout so that one proceeded to amalgamate these two instruments or their groups... This amalgamation came about concerning both thematic and chordal structures and the instruments were treated as a unified group. At the same time there also developed a tighter bond between trombones and horns, also now chromatic, which because of the same technique (i.e. a 'natural' technique) heretofore had been allied with the trumpets in compositional usage. This usage constitutes a quite important, even fundamental change of orchestral writing and of its specific sound components which generally persists even today. Its result is mostly that the composers from this time on, that is from about the middle of the 19th century, refrained from using the alto trombone...'. Heinrich Kunitz, Die Instrumentation: ein Handbuch-und-Lehrbuch, 3rd edition, Leipzig, 1970, pp. 779-780. Trans. Braunlich.
  154. 'The theatre orchestra appropriated the newly-invented chromatic brass that possessed a unique timbre, giving rise to a new section capable of harmonic sonorities heretofore unknown. This musical revolution, inaugurated in France by Meyerbeer, Berlioz, Halévy, came to Germany initially in the earliest operas of Richard Wagner... Gradually this new instrumentation spread to all of Europe and after two decades became standard in the theatre and concert orchestra.' Gevaert, Cours, p. 238.
  155. Bate, op. cit., p. 148.
  156. 'rather harsher than the bass and tenor trombone, and poor in the lowest register'. Lobe, Lehrbuch der musicalischen Composition, p. 385.
  157. 'one preferred to use the tenor trombone on the first part'. Ibid., p. 385.
  158. 'trembling might, sheer dignity and solemnity – is more in evidence in the lower types of trombone, being most prominent on the bass trombone, least definitive on the alto trombone'. Marx, Lehre, p. 67.
  159. 'The demise of the alto trombone was... due to its mediocre tone quality; subject to attempts at improvement, it was constructed in turn in F, E and Db, without appreciable results, because its general structure was inherently faulty.' Flandrin, op. cit., p. 1655.
  160. See 'Belcke and Queisser', Chapter 1, p 42.
  161. Whilst Dr David Mathie contends that 'historically, the alto trombone was used in both solo and orchestral music until the early twentieth century' (Mathie, op. cit., p. 132), he fails to provide a single example of the alto's use in solo literature beyond the eighteenth century – or, for that matter, after 1769, the year Albrechtsberger composed his Concerto.
  162. Concertino by Ferdinand David, the leader of the Leipzig orchestra, was written for Queisser.  Today it is the required solo piece for most German orchestral auditions for tenor and bass trombone.
  163. For example, a journalist for the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung in 1830 reviewed a performance of a lesser-known trombonist: 'Der Posaunist Herr M. Schmidt besitzt unstreitig eine höchtst bewunderungwürdige Bravour und Sicherheit, grosse Stärke und dann wieder Zartheit des Tones; er überrascht überdiess durch die kühnsten und schwierigsten Sprünge und Gänge insbesondere durch ein Schönheit des Trillers... [S]eines Gleichen auf diesen Instrument noch nich gehört zu haben'. ('The trombonist Mr M. Schmidt possesses unquestionably the most admirable bravura and assuredness, great strength and also a tender sound; he astounds everyone with his artistry in the most difficult leaps and passages, especially with the beauty of his trills… No one has yet been heard who can equal him on the trombone'). Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung 15 (14 April 1830), Leipzig, pp. 234-35.
  164. Koury, op. cit., p. 327.
  165. Ibid., p. 329.
  166.   Ibid., p. 162. For example, the old Leipzig Gewandhaus during Mendelssohn's tenureship of 1835-47 had a seating capacity of about five hundred and seventy (Koury, op. cit., p. 327) with an orchestral capacity (circa 1844) of 40 to 41 players (Schreiber, op. cit., p. 106), while the Neues Gewandhaus, built in 1886, had 1,560 seats (Koury, op. cit., p. 328) and 98 musicians in 1890 (Ibid., p. 149, citing Henri Kling, Der Vollkommene Musik-Dirigent, Hannover, 1890, p. 276).
  167. Robert Sheldon, personal correspondence with the author, 9.9.95.
  168. Bessaraboff, op. cit., p. 189. Berlioz's famous trombonist, Dieppo, gave the dimensions of his tenor trombone in his Méthode as 10mm bore and 12cm bell (Dieppo, Méthode Complète pour le Trombone, Paris, c. 1840, p. 2) which are smaller dimensions than for a modern alto trombone. See also Introduction to Part II, n. 13.
  169. 'The alto trombone, which in the lower register lacks the fullness of sound of the tenor trombone, and in the upper register easily becomes forced and blaring, seems hardly suitable, but at the same time, it is not always dispensable.' Marx, Lehre, first edition, p. 69.
  170. Bate,  op. cit., p. 140.

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