Added color version of Pinturicchio’s fresco (see below) to the 16th Century Trombone History Timeline. The painting provides one of the earliest examples of trombone iconography showing the instrument in a wind band setting (called pifferi in Italy). The color version…
Month: September 2009
Trombone History: 18th Century Image
Found a really striking painting today by Felice Torelli and posted it in the 18th Century Trombone History Timeline. I have not seen this painting in any of the standard trombone or brass sources. As I note in an earlier…
Trombone History: Early Jazz Trombonists
Added the following 2 entries to the 19th (2nd half) and 20th century timelines, based on information from Kurt Dietrich’s excellent Jazz ‘Bones: The World of Jazz Trombone: c. 1895—New Orleans, Louisiana: Trombonist William Cornish joins trumpeter Buddy Bolden’s band…
Big Brass Brain
On October 24th I’ll be premiering a work at the Bowling Green New Music Festival with trombonist Bill Mathis. The piece, by BYU composer Steven Ricks, is called “Force of the Mind,” and is written for 2 trombones and electronics….
Trombone History: Two 17th Century Images
Below are two new 17th century images, one a painting and the other a print. The painting, shown here only in a detail of one portion of the work, has been attributed to Sebastian Vranckx and Jan Brueghel the Younger…
Notes from the Netherlands and St. Louis
I received a very kind note from Hans Mons of the Netherlands, whose website on the dulcian, a predecessor of the bassoon, is extremely informative (see, especially, the section on iconography). I also received a nice note from Jonathan Reycraft, trombonist…
Trombone History: Trombone in Mixed Consort
Added the below image and caption to the 16th Century Timeline. One never knows how literal these depictions are, but the artist groups together an interesting combination of instruments. Another consort performs at a table in the background. c. 1585—Italy:…
Alto Trombone Update: Slide Position Chart
One of the most frequent alto-related requests I get is for a basic alto trombone slide position chart. I finally posted one on the alto trombone page today. Enjoy!
Barlow Prize Announced: New Concerto to be Premiered by Joseph Alessi
The Barlow Endowment for Music Composition at Brigham Young University has announced Benjamin Ellin as winner of the 2009 Barlow Prize, which includes a $20,000 cash prize and a commission to compose a new concerto for trombone and orchestra. The…
Trombone History: Trombone in Peruvian Procession
After a lot of searching, I found a much better reproduction of the Peruvian painting shown below (public domain; Wuffarden pl. 14). The trombonist is on the far left in the larger image. In this reproduction you can see the…