Milan is a city known for both high fashion and opera (home of Giuseppe Verdi and La Scala opera house). But trombone? I recently added a number of entries centering around Milan to the Trombone History Timeline, revealing a fairly…
France
Six Valve Trombone by Adolphe Sax
Added the following to the 19th century timeline (2nd half): 1864—Paris, France: Two prints in the illustrated newspaper L’Illustration depict instruments by Adolphe Sax. The first, Audition des nouveaux instruments d’Adolphe Sax, shows a man demonstrating instruments on a stage….
Head of a Dragon, Body of a Trombone
Added another image to the 19th century timeline. This one, a print from France’s L’Illustration, features a buccin, or trombone with a bell in the shape of a dragon head (see 1873, below). The instrument apparently saw its creation and…
Another Circus/Clown Trombone Image
Added a trombone image to the 19th century timeline (2nd half). It’s quite a colorful poster, another image related to the circus/clown theme in trombone history that seems to comprise a trend in the late 19th century (see earlier post)….
Circus Musicians: At Least They Have a Gig!
I recently added a painting, Fernand Pelez’s Grimaces and Misery, to the 19th century timeline (2nd half). Dating from 1888, it is an exact contemporary of Georges Seurat’s Parade de cirque (which I’ve also included below). Although there are obvious…
Valve Trombone Image
Added the below image and caption to the 20th Century Timeline. The artist spent the bulk of his career in Paris, so the depiction is as likely to be a French trombonist as a Spanish one. c. 1901—Spanish artist and…
Added Trombones: Enjoying the Full Sound Potential
Added the below entry to the 18th Century Trombone History Timeline. I think Mr. Rey may have been on to something. 1799—Paris, France: Jean-Baptiste Rey conducts a revival of Gluck’s Armide. Composer C.H. Plantade, armed with a score of the work,…
Trombone History: Pity and Donations
Added the following image and its caption to the 19th Century Trombone History Timeline (2nd half). There are two things that are interesting about the print, in my opinion. The first is that the instrument is a rear-facing trombone, which,…
A Remarkable Brahms Letter: “genuine little alto trombone”
I recently posted, in both the 19th century timeline (2nd half) and the Alto Trombone Timeline, a remarkable quotation from an 1859 letter written by Johannes Brahms to his friend and fellow-musician, Theodor Avé Lallemant (Avins and Eisinger, “Six unpublished letters from…
Trombone History: Marguerite Dufay, Parisian Music Hall Trombonist
In 1899, Louis Anquetin (1861-1932), a respected anti-Impressionist artist, published this lithograph of trombonist Marguerite Dufay. Part of the “Les Maitre de L’Affiches” series, it portrays a woman categorized among comique excentrique entertainers of the popular Parisian music cafes. Marguerite Dufay…