Trombone
I recently added this caption (below) to the Alto Trombone Timeline, bringing the total number of primary sources in that timeline to 93. The location is noteworthy; there are not many sources from Spain on the alto trombone.
1899—Madrid, Spain: Luisa Lacál, discussing the trombone family in her lexicon, Diccionario de la música, téchico, histórico, bio-bibliográfico, states that the alto trombone (trombone contralto or alt-posaune) is pitched in E-flat (Lacál 549).
I just added the caption and diagram below to the Alto Trombone Timeline and the Alto in Treatises page. Another alto trombone primary source. Notice that the alto trombone is not merely a tenor trombone with an extra-small mouthpiece, but a smaller trombone in a clearly different key.
1853—New York: Allen Dodworth shows position charts for alto trombone in F, tenor trombone in C, tenor trombone in B-flat, and bass trombone in G, in his book, Dodworth’s Brass Band School (see below image; public domain).
I recently added a new source to both the Alto Trombone Timeline and Alto in Treatises pages. I believe that brings the total number of alto trombone primary sources to 88, as you can see in the Alto Trombone History Bibliography. Here’s the caption, below:
1897—Frankfurt, Germany: Adolph Pochhammer, writing in his Einführung in die Musik, states that the alto trombone is pitched a fourth above the tenor trombone and the bass trombone is pitched a fourth below tenor trombone. With the tenor trombone presumably in B-flat, this places the other instruments in E-flat (alto) and F (bass). Pochhammer also explains that each instrument is written for in its corresponding clef (Pochhammer 168).
Added the following to the Trombone History Timeline (19th century), Alto Trombone History Timeline, and Alto in Treatises pages. Notice that, as with the vast majority of written sources, the alto trombone is not only in the key of E-flat, but is also the only trombone shown in alto clef.
1870—London, England: Adam Wirth’s trombone method, Posaunen-Schule für Alt, Tenor und Bass-Posaune…Instruction Book of the Simple and Valve-Trombone, written in both German and English, is apparently intended for a wide audience. It includes a “Table of the different Trombones” that shows alto trombone in E-flat (like the vast majority of written sources), valve and slide tenors in B-flat, and bass in F (see facing image; public domain) (Herbert, Trombone 192).