Blog
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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. Yet another element of collaboration in the...
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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 (in collaboration) and is titled The Royal Palace at Brussels....
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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 in the Saint...
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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: An engraving by...
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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!
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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 concerto will be premiered by Jo...
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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 instrument in much better detail (including a red bow...
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Trombone History: New World Trombone Angels
Added the below image and caption to the 16th Century Trombone Timeline. Not only is it an unusual visual depiction from relatively early in trombone history (1550-1556), but it is from the New World. There is another image in the timeline that’s from 16th century Mexico, a f...
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Trombone History: Timeline Updates
Added the following to both the Alto Trombone Timeline and the General Trombone Timeline–19th Century (2nd half):
1891—London, England: Explanatory notes from an exhibition of musical instruments includes the following about the trombone family in England: “The family of tr...
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Alto Trombone Timeline Updates
Many of the entries from the Alto in Treatises page had not yet been included in the Alto Trombone Timeline, so those were added to the timeline. They include many primary sources relevant to alto trombone history, including those by Seyfried/Albrechtsberger, Prout, Barrett,...
