1908—Daniel Mason, in his book *The Orchestral Instruments and What They Do

A Primer for Concert-Goers, first published in The New Music Review,* says the following about trombone: “As the slide is capable of the most minute adjustments, the trombone need never be even slightly out of tune, as are certain notes of the horn and trumpet. Moreover, owing to its straight tube, free from those sharp corners introduced by valves, its air column vibrates more evenly and regularly, giving it a sonority incomparably rich. For pure four-part harmony in simple chords there is no medium like the quartet of trombones” (Mason 78). He also remarks, “The three trombones and tuba, forming what we may call for convenience the trombone choir, constitute the most powerfully sonorous group of the entire orchestra, capable of dominating everything else. It must be confessed that this choir is often used vulgarly in modern scores, for the sake of mere noise; Prout cleverly remarks of it that ‘like charity, it covers a multitude of sins.’ Properly used, nevertheless, it is incomparably noble and moving. It ‘suggests to the imagination,’ says M. Gevaert, ‘the idea of a power strange to man, superior to man: a power sometimes benign, sometimes sinister, but always redoubtable’” (Mason 80).***

1908—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours: Guy J. Ropartz, Piece in E-flat Minor.