1596—Venice, Italy

Zacconi’s Prattica di Musica mentions trombones (tromboni) along with other wind instruments (Boydell, Crumhorn 297). Specifically, he says, “Among all the many musical instruments one might devise a certain small division that, as much as it is not subtle, at least it is such that one can know the principal differences among them. Thus seeking the opportunity, one finds that they are all made to imitate the [human] voice. And since they are made for this effect, one finds that in order to imitate it, one can produce the sound and make it resonate, by means of the breath, the keyboard, or the bow. And note that under the wind instruments, although there are also the trombones, nevertheless since the trumpets are instruments of the fields or battles and do not have all the diatonic tones, for that they are excluded, and attention is paid only to tromboni, cornetts, fifes, bassoons, cornamuti, dolzaine, doppione, cornamusi, recorders, etc.” (Meyer, Crumhorn 21).