Where to start? Writing a trombone history paper and want to know where to begin? Below is a condensed bibliography listing some good introductory sources. The first category contains books on trombone (or brass in general), while the second contains…
Trombone History
Happy Halloween!
I don’t have any trombone history entries or images on Halloween, per se, but this depiction of a carnival procession from 1589 includes a trombone and involves some fairly elaborate costumes. The image, by artist Nicolas von Riedt, is titled Fastnachtszug…
Trombone Image: 19th Century Parisian Orchestra
Added the following image and entry to the 19th Century Trombone History Timeline (2nd half): c. 1883—Paris, France: Jean Beraud’s painting, The Box by the Stalls, offers a view, through a patron’s box seat, of a Parisian orchestra. Included is…
Trombone History: Beethoven's Drei Equali
Added the entry below to the Alto Trombone History Timeline. It includes information from a firsthand witness about Beethoven’s Drei Equali, arguably one of the most important works in the history of the trombone. Among the noteworthy observations about the alto…
Trombone History: Update from Museum of Musical Instruments–Poznan, Poland
An update from Patryk Frankowski, senior assistant at the Museum of Musical Instruments in Poznan, Poland: Mr. Frankowski has shared information about 2 additional alto trombones, both pre-1800, not listed in Trevor Herbert’s book, The Trombone, or subsequently on my…
Alto in Treatises
Trombone History: Added a new page, Alto in Treatises, that gives quotations from more than 45 treatises, dictionaries, and methods, most of them primary sources. It is arranged chronologically and spans from 1600 through the first quarter of the 20th…
Trombone History: Painting of Female Trombonist
Although it has perhaps not been widely known, there are records of female trombonists throughout trombone history, dating back to the 16th century. The Trombone History Timeline shows, for example, entries from 1594, 1600, 1613, 1618, 1630, and 1632 that…
2 More Primary Sources: Digitized Festival Books from British Library
Added entries to Trombone History Timeline from 2 new primary sources: 2 festival books from the British Library. The British Library has digitized 253 Renaissance festival books (printed accounts of special occasions, often kept by courts) and made them available…
Alto in E-flat: More Primary Sources
Added 8 more primary sources to the Alto Trombone Timeline, bringing the total number of primary sources for that timeline to more than 2 dozen. The sources (Gevaert, Riemann, Jadassohn, Saro, Galli, Mayerhoff, Coon, and Corder) are 19th and early…
Alto Trombone History Update
Added entries related to alto trombone in the Trombone History Timeline and Alto Trombone Timeline. Both have to do with late 19th-century instrument manufacturers (Boosey in London and Zimmermann in Leipzig) and their alto trombone production/offerings. This information may be…