Added another clip to the 17th century timeline (first half), this one belonging to a genre that historian Jerome Roche calls the “trombone motet.” It’s a beautiful sonority. The clip and attached caption are below. Notice, incidentally, that the image with the clip is possibly from this timeline (1615, Lionello Spada; see the identical way the picture is clipped and the tint of the scan).

1620—Italy: Ercole Porta’s Corda Deo dabimus, contained in the collection Sacro convito, is scored for soprano voice, alto voice, and 3 trombones. Historian Jerome Roche later coins the phrase “trombone motet” for this type of piece, a genre that culminates in Schütz’s Absalom fili mi (1629) (Roche, North Italian 82). Also from the same collection is Porta’s Messe secunda toni, which calls for 2 violins and 3 trombones to accompany a 5-part choir; when doublings occur, trombones double the 3 lowest voices (Schnoebelen, The Role of the Violin).