1581—Florence, Italy

Lute player and theorist Vincenzo Galilei speaks “concerning those who play the trombone, the cornet, the viola d’arco and the violone,” admonishing them against showing off: “I say that each one of these professors deserves to be reputed whenever his work is of that excellent standard which it is desirable to establish. I warn you, however, that those who have need of this sole particular, in order to show the disposition of the lips, the agility of the tongue, and the speed of their fingers, believing that knowledge consists of these, will thus detract from the true being, air, semblance, effigy, and natural beauty of any composition which they may have in hand, enveloping it from head to foot in the confused fog of their ‘winged’ passages, or tirades, as they are called.” He then addresses the purpose of cornetts and trombones: “The cornets and trombones were invented and introduced into musical concerts rather through the need for sopranos and basses, or let us say in order to provide more substance and noise in these concerts, or else for both reasons, than because of some good, necessary effect which they make there. In order to prove that this is true, observe that these instruments are not ordinarily heard elsewhere except where it is necessary for such voices….They will indeed be heard many times in masquerades, in the theaters, upon the balconies of the public squares for the satisfaction of the plebians and common people, and, against every propriety, in choruses and in organ lofts of sacred temples for the solemn feasts…Such instruments as these are never heard in the private chambers of judicious gentlemen, lords, and princes where those who indeed possess refined judgment, taste, and hearing reside, because they are totally banished from these chambers.” Galilei then proposes an alternate use for trombones: “Since the trombone possesses a sound quite similar to the bellowing of bulls—in order not to say buffaloes—and since it is consequently formidable, it would be very appropriate in forests in order to chase the wild beasts from their homes and lairs and frighten them like Astolfo Galigorante used to frighten them with the horn.” Galilei, a lute player himself, then compares the trombone with the lute: “One could not or should not, for various reasons, compare such professors as these to any of the reputed players of the lute and of keyboard instruments, first because of the great facility of the latter and the great difficulty of the former, and also because [trombones] play only one part, ordinarily [using] the [music]. In addition, only one of these is not worth a thing in the world, since four to six are needed—according to the usage of today—for the perfection of the harmony, and since in addition their professors are unable to speak, let alone discourse while they are playing them. In addition the one playing them can very easily remain not only without any knowledge and practice of counterpoint and theory, but also without the ‘mother of music’ or that of another good, important thing. The trombone in particular—in addition to most wind instruments—is an instrument less employed by noble than any other and they, being well-born, do not wish to practice on it…” (Galilei 874-880).