I recently added 3 entries to the 19th Century Timeline (1st half, 2nd half) and Alto Trombone History Timeline from 19th-Century American newspapers. All three entries deal with the alto trombone. Two are from advertisements, the other a report of a…
When Is an Alto Trombone an Alto Trombone
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 trombones…
Update to Alto in Treatises Page: Summary of Alto Trombone Keys
Made the following update to the Alto in Treatises page, giving a summary of specific keys that writers have historically assigned to the alto trombone. For more on alto trombone keys, see also the Extant Altos page, which lists alto…
Update to Alto in Treatises Page
Made the below update about Seyfried’s edition of Albrechtsberger’s treatise to the Alto in Treatises page. This is a significant piece of the puzzle in the history of the alto trombone because 1) the original Albrechtsberger treatise does not provide…
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letter written by Johannes Brahms to his friend and fellow-musician, Theodor Avé Lallemant (Avins and Eisinger, “Six unpublished letters from…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: Lyon & Healy Alto Trombones
Added the below entry to the Alto Trombone History Timeline. Lyon & Healy, a Chicago company that later specializes in manufacturing harps, offered numerous models of alto trombones, both slide and valve, all pitched in E-flat. Several other companies, including…
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 Update
Added several new entries to the Alto Trombone Timeline, including Stössel (Germany, 1736), Eisel (Germany, 1738), Koch (Germany, 1802), Kastner (Germany, 1840), and the trombone article from the 1888 Encyclopaedia Britannica (Scotland, 1888). Also expanded the Daniel Speer entry (Germany,…