1889—Leipzig, Germany

Salomon Jadassohn, professor at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Leipzig, writes his orchestration text, A Course of Instruction in Instrumentation. The text, soon translated into English, includes information about the alto trombone, including a diagram of the overtone series of the E-flat alto trombone (see below image; public domain; Jadassohn 275). The author states, “Formerly we always had three trombones in the orchestra, namely: alto, tenor, and bass trombone. The last named instrument which is no more in use–as previously remarked above–is admirably replaced by the tuba. The alto trombone is of less frequent use, for its higher notes, such as one-lined B-flat, B and two-lined C can be taken much better by the valve-trumpet (Jadassohn 273).