1889—Paris, France

Pierre-François Clodomir (1815-1884), a cornet player in the 11th Legion Band of the Paris National Guard and later a teacher at the Lycée Imperial Napoléon, mentions alto trombone in his Manuel Complet (6th ed.). He says the alto, no longer in use, was an instrument pitched in F: “There were formerly four slide trombones that formed a small family: 1) the soprano trombone in B-flat, 2) the alto trombone in F, 3) the tenor trombone in B-flat, 4) the bass trombone in F. The only one employed today is the tenor trombone” (Clodomir 21).