1541—Königsberg, Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia) and Nuremberg, Germany

In an interesting exchange with prominent brass instrument maker George Neuschel of Nuremberg, Duke Albrecht orders, among other supplies, “4 tenor trombone mouthpieces” and “1 crook of a fourth for the quart-trombone.” Neuschel, in turn, attempts to sell Duke Albrecht numerous additional instruments and parts, including “1 silver trombone with a crook of a fourth, for use with voices and instruments” and “5 trombones, which are tuned together and from which a tenor trombone may be made into a bass or an alto” (Downey, From the Rim 8). This exchange highlights several items of historical importance, including the use of crooks on trombones, specific mention of the trombone’s “use with voices and instruments,” the flexibility in which “a tenor trombone may be made into a bass or an alto,” the making of silver trombones, and the evident employment of trombones by Duke Albrecht.