1837—Paris, France

Jean-Georges Kastner, a French composer and theorist, writes Traité Général d’Instrumentation, an orchestration treatise that predates that of Berlioz and is adopted into the curriculum at the Paris Conservatory.  He provides a position chart for alto trombone clearly indicating an instrument pitched in E-flat (see below image; public domain) (Kastner-Woodward, Traité 313). Kastner also writes about the security and purity of sound when using alto trombone in its middle register instead of tenor in its upper register: “If they are used in their middle register as much as possible, both alto and tenor trombone create a superb effect, because the tones can always be attacked with frankness and purity [franchise et pureté]” (Kastner-Woodward, Traité 250).

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