1714—Venice, Italy

The wind players on staff at St. Mark’s include 2 trombones, 1 cornetto, 1 oboe, and 3 piffari (probably trumpets). Antonio Biffi, the maestro di capella, wants to expand the orchestra. He notes that “because it is impossible to find more players of bassoon, trombones and theorboes, they [the Procurators] will allow the substitution of suitable stringed or wind incstruments…” (Arnold, Orchestras in Eighteenth-Century Venice). When the last trombonist, Lodovicio Vazzio, dies in 1732, his place is filled by a trumpeter (Guion, Trombone 161).