1958

Paul Apel, in The Message of Music, says, “In its serious moments, the trombone is especially sonorous and capable of intoning thrillingly broad and sustained melodies. Its tones are very solemn, grand, and noble, or menacing. It may portray almost every broad emotion, from sacred calm to the wildest strains of martial glory. In addition, its somber tones are well fitted for tragic effects, having a portentous and threatening quality. The use of the slide makes fairly rapid passages possible, thus enabling a soloist to dazzle an audience; but in orchestral work the trombone is treated more slowly” (Apel 467).