1925

In The Musical Times, under the title, “The Misuse of the Trombone,” J. A. Westrup writes the following: “We live in an irreverent age. There is no respecting of persons in the world, nor of instruments in the orchestra. The aristocracy which was the strong pillar of our forefathers is now compelled to cut capers worthy only of the clarinet. The noble sackbut that once lifted up its jubilant voice in simple four-part harmony is now condemned to dance, a monarch become puppet, to any inconsequent strains that may be forced upon it. To be plain, modern composers have misused the trombone, and if present tendencies continue, it will become a plaything instead of an instrument, subject rather to the caprice than to the intelligence of the composer. No one will deny that the trombone’s chief assets are tone and dynamic range. Its crescendo can be the most powerful in the orchestra; its tone is equally the most noble and dignified of any brass instrument now in use. It would seem then an elementary point of orchestral technique to assign to this instrument passages in which it is permitted to produce this characteristic tone….But composers have become so fascinated by the acrobatic possibilities of what is in reality a very dignified instrument that they must keep it ever on the move” (Westrup).