Trombone History: 19th Century
A history of the trombone in timeline form. For sources see Trombone History Bibliography.
1800s—Trombone enters a unique period in which it participates in all cultural levels
high culture (symphonic music and opera), middle culture (dance orchestras and military bands), and low culture (oom-pah bands) (Guion, Trombone 9).
Italian School drawing (see below; public domain).
A print entitled Macédoines—Jongleurs—Tours de force et d’adresse features a row of musicians, including a dragon-bell trombone (see below detail; public domain) (Paris, Musée des Civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée).
Though trombone is not considered a common solo instrument, several 19th-century trombonists make their reputation as soloists, including Carl Traugott Queisser and Friederich August Belcke in Germany, A. G. Dieppo in France, and Felippe Cioffi in the United States.
Early 1800s—Prague, Czech Republic
A slide position chart showing a bass trombone in F with extension handle is published (see facing image; public domain).
A wind band in Castel Sant Angelo, described as “concerto de tromboni e cornetti del Senato et inclito Popolo Romano,” apparently utilizes trombones (Herbert, Sackbut 8).
A tenor trombone in B-flat with a zoomorphic bell in the shape of a serpent’s head, also called a buccin, is one of many such instruments manufactured in France, Italy, Belguim, and elsewhere in Europe in the early 19th century. The instrument is currently held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. See below (public domain).
A tenor trombone with an extravagant dragon head for a bell is manufactured in Italy. It is currently held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Rueger 146).
Giovanni Battista Torriglia (Italian, 1858–1937), Lullaby (see detail and full image below; public domain).
A painting by an unknown artist depicts a young girl playing trombone with what appears to be a circus troupe (see below image; public domain) (Heckscher Museum of Art).
A print depicting various musical instruments includes a rear-facing trombone (see below detail; public domain) (German National Museum, graphic collection).
Heinrich Koch writes, “Years ago, this instrument was one of the most excellent of all types for performance of music, particularly church music. Since that time, only a few Stadtpfeifer have continued to play it here and there as accompaniment for the cornets at the New Year’s celebration. It was long kept out of all other kinds of music until Mozart made us aware of it anew in his Zauberflöte. This newly generated attention, however, has not yet been able to have any marked results for the reintroduction of this instrument, because it has been neglected too much, and because people are probably inclined to prefer to study wind instruments whose use is more common now” (Guion, Trombone 83).
A report from Paris complains, “Trombones, trombones, trombones, these are for our latest composers the most splendid, just like drums for children” (Guion, Trombone 195).
A writer for the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung says, “[The trombone] has spread all over Germany since the days of the French occupation, via the French military bands and the modern German military bands, which are modeled after them, so that, for example, in the vicinity of Leipzig almost no dance can be played without a bass trombone cavorting about” (Lewis, Gewandhaus).
Joseph Leopold Eybler’s Requiem in C minor, which includes alto, tenor, and bass trombone, is performed at the funeral of Emperor Leopold II (Chase 197).
François Adrien Boieldieu’s opera Ma tante Aurore includes trombones (Guion, Trombone 164).
Der Abend, by Philipp Otto Runge, features children playing musical instruments, including trombone, trumpet, and horn (see detail and full image below; public domain).
Friedrich Schneider composes 12 “Tower Sonatas” for 2 trumpets and 3 trombones (Guion, Trombone 156).
Bohemian composer Anton Reicha, teacher of Liszt, Berlioz, and Franck, writes his Missa pro defunctis. The requiem utilizes 3 trombones that double the lower vocal parts (Chase 221).
A pewter mounted Prószków faience jug features a trombonist who bears a strong resemblance to the trombonist in an anonymous Dutch etching from the 18th century (see second image, below). The pewter lid is monogrammed A.R.AE. and dated 1804 (see first image below; public domain; source: Lempertz Cologne auction 902 on 17 May 2007).
Antonio Salieri, teacher of Beethoven, Schubert, and Liszt, writes his Requiem in C minor. The piece, which calls for 3 trombones, is later performed at Salieri’s own funeral. Regarding Salieri’s use of trombone in the work, one commentator notes, “The bulk of the orchestration is for strings, but when the composer wanted to suggest solemnity, he used the trombones” (Chase 224).
St. Petersburg, Russia: François-Adrien Boieldieu’s French opera, Ma tante Aurore, which includes trombones, is produced (Guion, Trombone 164).
A military illustration labeled French Napoleonic Band depicts the foot grenadiers of the 1st Regimental Imperial Army Old Guard, including two trombonists marching with buccin-style instruments (trombones with dragon-head bells) (see facing detail; public domain) (Cassin-Scott and Fabb 15).
Where there is evidently a lack of skilled trombonists, the “Tuba Mirum” trombone solo of Mozart’s Requiem is performed on horn (Carse, Orchestra 40).
Trombones are used for the first time in that city for Mozart’s Requiem. A reviewer in the publication Allgemeine musikalischeZeitung comments: “Earlier, one could not risk using these instruments, because Mozart wrote very difficult parts (sometimes unreasonably so), and we had no trombonists who could perform them reliably. But now a trombone section that can already be called excellent has been trained among the young men, who study instrumental music according to the improved arrangement of the town musicians, and showed themselves to advantage in this and other concert and theatrical productions (Guion, Trombone 156).
Beethoven, Fidelio. Trombones are used in the overture and dungeon scene.
A music festival includes the following trombonists: Mariotti, Zwingman, Flack (Guion, Trombone 148).
Musicologist Charles Burney writes, “Tromboni and double-drums are now so frequently used at the opera, oratories, and in symphonies, that they are become a nuisance…” (Guion, Trombone 92).
St. Petersburg, Russia: Boieldieu produces his French opera, La jeune femme colére, which includes trombones (Guion, Trombone 164).
A watercolor labeled Batavian Republic and dated 1805 features a military trombonist playing a rear-facing trombone (see below image; public domain) (New York Public Library Digital Gallery).
Michael Haydn dies before completing his Requiem in B-flat Major. The existing movements—an “Introit,” “Kryie,” and “Dies Irae” (partial)—require 3 trombones. The “Tuba mirum” portion of the “Dies Irae” features soprano and alto soloists with a trombone obbligato (Chase 205).
An image depicting 7 French military musicians includes a soldier playing a rear-facing trombone (see below image; public domain) (New York Public Library Digital Gallery).
Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart writes, “This instrument is entirely ecclesiastical…This instrument has never been profaned throughout the millennia, but rather has always remained a heritage of God’s temple…In our days, however, they have been desecrated for the service of opera, and the trombone is no longer the property of God’s worship. It is also used now with great effect in the choruses of large operas…Not only church music has now been composed for trombone, but also concertos, sonatas, and solos, and these always have an admirable effect…But it is certain that the sound of the trombone is truly intended for religion and not at all for secular use” (Guion, Trombone 84-86).
Swedish composer Joachim Eggert composes his Symphony No. 3, which includes trombones (Guion, Short History).
The Imperial Orchestra includes 2 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 333).
John Marsh, in his Hints to Young Composers of Instrumental Music, explains that trombones are used more often than is indicated strictly by scores: “Composers seldom insert parts for them in their scores, but leave them to be added afterwards, as may be required, which can easily be done from the score by any composer or judge of composition.” He then complains, “The growing practice of over-straining the choruses, by trombones and double drums too forcibly beaten, what should occasionally produce an awful and grand effect, degenerates into continued noise and clatter.” (Guion, Trombone 88-89).
Christoph and Cornelius Suhr, in their book on military uniforms in Hamburg (Abbildung der uniformen aller in Hamburg), depict musicians from the Dutch military in Hamburg from the years 1807-08. Included is a musician with a somewhat awkwardly-rendered rear-facing trombone (see below image; public domain).
Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 calls for 2 trombones—in the storm and in the Peasants’ Thanksgiving.
Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 is the first orchestral work by a major composer to utilize trombones. It calls for 3 trombones—alto, tenor, and bass.
A rendering of a military musician from the 1st Hussars depicts a trombone with a dragon-shaped bell (buccin) (see below image; public domain).
The Opéra’s orchestra contains 3 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 333).
Beethoven refers to 3 separate trombones—alto, tenor, and bass—in a letter to his publisher about trombone parts for his oratorio, Christ on the Mount of Olives. The original German reads “Alt, Tenor, Bass,” bracketed to the word “Posaunen” (Beethoven, Letters 95).
The opera orchestra in Frankfurt am Main has 3 trombones (Guion, Trombone 267).
The San Petronio orchestra includes 1 trombone (Spitzer Ap D).
A charity concert utilizes 4 trombones (Spitzer Ap D).
An image by artist Boersch Thiébaut (1782-1861) that is part of set of figurines executed between 1810 and 1850 features musicians of the 14th Regiment, including 2 rear-facing trombones (see below image; public domain) (Paris, musée de l’Armée).
The Berlin Court Opera contains 3 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 333).
Joseph Frölich’s Vollständige theoretisch-pracktische Musikschule, is published. Frölich details many aspects of trombone playing not found in other methods or treatises up to this point, including holding the instrument, mouthpieces, and alternative slide positions (Dudgeon 194).
Joseph Fröhlich writes, “Its full, solemn tone…exalts it to an especially useful musical tool. Its full, sonorous tone enables the player to express all noble and effective sentiments for the exhibition and maintenance of the most solemn states of mind. Therefore, it was usually played in the olden days for the exaltation of singing in church music, and to be sure, must have greatly contributed to the inspiration of prayer and devotion… Just as a beautiful result of harmonies always has, and must have, so much effect on this instrument when it is played with soul and gentle articulation, so it is revolting and spoils all good impressions when the trombone is played with a wild and blaring tone, if the composer has not expressly indicated it” (Guion, Trombone 95).
The Königliche Kapelle includes trombones (Guion, Trombone 154).
An illustration of the Duke of Gloucester’s Band, an ensemble associated with the 3rd regiment of the Scots Guards, includes a trombone (see bottom left of facing image; public domain).
William West, Duke of York’s Band (toy soldiers). See detail and full image below; public domain.
Tafelmusik for the emperor includes 2 trombones (Spitzer Ap D).
The Gewandhaus orchestra includes 3 trombones (Spitzer Ap D).
Beethoven, Drei Equali for 4 trombones.
St. Petersburg, Russia: An anonymous German instrument maker living in St. Petersburg manufactures several silver trombones that are presents of Tsar Alexander I to the trumpet corps of regiments that have displayed particular bravery in battle. They are used in ensembles known as “trumpet music,” comprised of numerous natural trumpets of various pitches and a trombone (Tarr, East Meets West 33).
1812-1816—Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Records of musicians active in the Bethlehem Moravian congregation identify at least 16 trombonists, 5 of them youths (Carter, Trombone Ensembles of the Moravian).
The orchestra of the Theatre des Verietes includes 1 trombone (Spitzer Ap D).
The orchestra of the Opéra includes 3 trombones (Spitzer Ap D).
An eyewitness German account of the Russian Cuirassier regiments’ music corps at the occupation of Paris observes, “The heavy cuirassier regiment with large horses had…its own music corps, [which was] not only beautiful and most effective, but also completely appropriate to and most characteristic of such a choir of soldiers. It consisted only of six trumpets and six trombones. The musical pieces were also completely as they should have been for their warlike destination in general and their character in particular, also as far as the nature and the most powerful effect of these very instruments were concerned…” (Tarr, East Meets West 34).
A set of three trombones by the workshop of Joseph Huschauer reveals instruments of three distinct lengths (Museum of Musical Instruments of the Galleria dell’Academia, Florence; see below image; photograph by author).
The Prague Opera contains 3 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 333).
Luigi Cherubini, who later becomes director of the Paris Conservatoire, writes a work for 5 brass instruments titled Pas redoubles et marches pour la Garde du Roi de Prusse. Scored for natural trumpet, 3 hand-horns, and serpent or trombone, it is conceived in the French Revolutionary military band tradition (Wallace, Brass Solo 240).
La Scala orchestra includes 1 trombone (Herbert, Trombone 333).
Musik der Bürger-Garde der Haupt u. Residenz-Stadt München, a print by J.C. Hochwind, includes players of both traditional and rear-facing trombones (see detail and full image below; public domain) (Ryan 202).
S. Potter’s method for keyed bugle, The Bugle Horn Major’s Companion, includes 12 brass quartet arrangements (“Two slow marches & ten Quick Steps”) for 2 keyed bugles, one natural bugle, and one trombone (Dudgeon, Keyed Bugle 156).
Bass trombones with double slides, pitched in F, are among the gifts from Tsar Alexander I (of Russia) to the trumpet corps of regiments that had displayed particular bravery in repelling Napoleon and in other campaigns. Bass trombone, apparently, is part of the regular Russian trumpet corps.
The “Oratorio Concerts” in Covent Garden include 3 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 333).
Heinrich Stölzel develops the modern valve (on a horn). He takes out a patent jointly with Friedrich Blühmel for the valve in 1818 (Bate 146).
There are 34 solo trombone performances at the prestigious Gewandhaus, helping establish the trombone as a solo instrument in 19 century Germany. Other soloists at the Gewandhaus during these years include many of the top performers of the Romantic era; e.g., Niccolo Paganini, Johann Hummel, Felix Mendelssohn, Clara Wieck, and Franz Liszt.
In April, trombonist Friedrich August Belcke appears as soloist with Gewandhaus Orchestra, marking the first solo performance by a trombonist at the Gewandhaus and the beginning of Belcke’s 30-year solo career. Belcke performs a new work by Carl Heinrich Meyer called Potpourri mit obligatur Bassposaune (now lost). A review of the performance in the Allgemeine musikalischeZeitung says, “Finally, Mr. Belcke, a young man of talent and considerable skill, astonished us with a potpourri for trombone with orchestral accompaniment, in a style which was for us completely new. The work [by] Mr. Meyer, likewise (from) Leipzig, was not only written with a complete knowledge of the instrument and skilled exploitation of all its principal qualities, but was also very well written as a piece of music in general; and, in spite of its great difficulty, the soloist played it with a precision, clarity and neatness—yes, even with a fine cantilena—such as we have never heard before from a trombonist” (Lewis, Gewandhaus).
In November, Trombonist Friedrich August Belcke appears again as soloist at the Gewandhaus, premiering another composition by Carl Heinrich Meyer, the Fantasie für Bassposaune (now lost) (Lewis, Gewandhaus).
The concept of the double slide is revived (see 1540) by Gottfried Weber and adopted by C. A. Moritz of Berlin, who constructs a B-flat contrabass to Wagner’s instructions for the first performances of The Ring (Gregory 94).
Luigi Cherubini composes his Requiem in C Minor, which calls for 3 trombones. Commissioned by Louis XVIII to commemorate the deaths of Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette, it is first performed at the Crypt of St. Denis. Considered by some to be among Cherubini best works, it is the model that Beethoven said he would use if he ever composed a requiem. Although Beethoven, of course, never composes a requiem, the Cherubini’s requiem is performed at Beethoven’s funeral (Chase 192).
Diagram of a double trombone slide by Gottfried Weber in Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung, volume 18 (see below; public domain).
Prussian Jägr regimental bands have an instrumentation of 2 trombones, 3 horns, 2 keyed bugles, and 2 trumpets as early as 1817 (Dudgeon, Keyed Bugle 166).
The Bremen Town Orchestra contains a single trombone (Herbert, Trombone 333).
The “Ancient Concerts” include 3 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 333).
Gioacchino Rossini, La Gazza Ladra.
*
Gottfried Weber designs a complete set of double-slide trombones. Made by Schott of Mainz, these instruments all have 9 slide positions instead of 7 (Carse, Musical 258).*
The Theatre Italien orchestra includes 2 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 333).
1817-1818—Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Sources document a rivalry between 2 different Moravian trombone ensembles, an adult choir and a youth choir (Carter, Trombone Ensembles of the Moravian).
There is 1 trombone in the King’s Theatre orchestra (Herbert, Trombone 333).
Portugese composer João Bomtempo writes Messe de requiem consacrée a Cameos, which calls for 2 trombones and features a brass fanfare at the opening of the “Tuba mirum” (Chase 247). See 2:21 of clip below—
The orchestra of the Covent Garden Theatre contains 1 trombone (Herbert, Trombone 333). Samuel Pritchard, who is also listed as player of the “bugle horn,” is trombonist in the orchestra (Carse, Orchestra 489).
The famous “Besses o’ the Barn,” a brass and reed band, is formed and includes one trombone (Bate 142).
The Prince Regent’s Band of George IV, said to be the finest band in Europe, is headquartered at the Pavilion at Brighton. It includes 4 trombones: soprano, alto, tenor, and bass (Carse, The Prince Regent’s Band).
The orchestra of the Teatro San Carlo includes 3 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 333).
Advertisement appears in the German publication Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung, stating that Stölzel and Blümel have invented a trombone valve enabling trombonists to play all notes of the chromatic scale. However, according to Nemetz, the Viennese maker Riedl is actually the first to apply the valve system to the trombone (Carse, Musical 258).
Gaspare Spontini, Olympie. Brass band appears on stage in 3rd act. First use of brass instruments on stage in Paris Opera.
Schubert’s incidental music to Rosamunde calls for trombones, who accompany a chorus of evil spirits and play in a ballet.
Bernhard Crusell writes 10 military marches and dances for a brass ensemble consisting of keyed bugle, 3 horns, 2 natural trumpets, and trombone. This instrumentation, known as the Hornseptett, soon becomes standard in Swedish military music (Wallace, Brass Solo 241).
An etching titled The French Garrison, probably set in Normandy, depicts a group of French soldiers mingling with villagers. A fiddler and a regiment trombonist with a rear-facing instrument provide music for dancing while standing on a makeshift stage (see upper-right of below image; public domain) (Fromrich 24).
The Royal Artillery Band, which is comprised of 39 players, includes one alto trombone, tenor trombone, and bass trombone (Dudgeon, Keyed Bugle 29).
c. 1820–Paris, France: An anonymous illustration of a French military band includes two rear-facing trombones (see top row of below image; public domain) (Camus, Military Musicians).
The Opéra contains 3 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 333).
A hand-colored engraving entitled Banda degli Ulani Francesi (Band of French Lancers) features a number of mounted musicians, including trombones (see below image; click to expand; public domain) (source: Oberlin Conservatory Library Special Collections).
Records from the dedication of a Moravian church building reveal that after the proceedings of the dedication are read by the pastor, “Then we went with the sound of trombones and the singing of the verse, ‘God bless our going out,’ …two by two through the courtyard, and formed a circle on the street, facing the new church” (Hartzell 50).
A hand-colored engraving, entitled Banda Militare, includes depictions of 2 rear-facing trombones (see below image; click to expand; public domain) (Oberlin Conservatory Special Collections).
Carl Heinrich Meyer, Concertino for Bass Trombone.
1820-39—Rotterdam, Netherlands
A catchpenny print by T.C. Hoffers and A. van Alphen depicting various military instruments includes 2 rear-facing trombones, one with a dragon bell (see below detail; public domain) (Catchpenny Prints of the Dutch Royal Library).
The West Point Academy Band includes a single trombone (Mendoza da Arce 184).
Solo career of trombonist Carl Queisser (1800-1846). He appears as soloist 26 times in Leipzig’s prestigious Gewandhaus concerts during these years—more than many famous soloists such as Anton Rubenstein, Clara Schumann, Johann Hummel, and Franz Liszt (Lewis, Gewandhaus). His primary repertory includes the Carl Heinrich Meyer Concertino for Bass Trombone (1820), a transcription of the Carl Maria von Weber Horn Concertino (1826), and the Ferdinand David Concertino (1837). According to historian John Wallace, the trombone’s popularity in Leipzig wanes after Queisser’s death.
George IV, King of England, Entering Dublin, a painting by William Turner, depicts a band of cavalry musicians, including trombones and serpents (see detail and full image below; public domain) (National Gallery of Ireland).
Carl Queisser gives his debut solo performance with the Gewandhaus Orchestra. He performs the premier of the Carl Heinrich Meyer Concertino fur Bassposaune (Lewis, Gewandhaus).
The Frankfurt Opera orchestra includes 1 trombone (Herbert, Trombone 333).
The Vienna Court Opera orchestra includes 3 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 333).
A depiction of musicians from the Italian grenadiers includes a trombonist with a rear-facing instrument (see facing image; public domain) (Melegari 147).
The Manchester Philharmonic includes 3 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 333).
1822—Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia, predecessor of the Philadelphia Orchestra, performs Haydn’s Creation. There are no trombonists in Philadelphia, so 3 Moravian trombonists from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania are hired to play the parts (Guion, Trombone 122; Carter, Trombone Ensembles of the Moravian).
A lithograph depicts a military band of the Hungarian LIR 52, marching on the glacis just outside the Vienna city wall. The depiction includes both a rear-facing trombone and a front-facing trombone (see detail below; public domain) (Brixel, Österreichs Militär Musik).
Carl Queisser performs the Meyer Concertino again at the Gewandhaus. The review in the Allgemeine musikalischeZeitung says, “On February 13 the Concertino by Meyer was performed by Mr. Queisser…the beautiful music seemed to us not entirely suitable for the instrument…there were too many fast runs in the piece for the nature of the instrument” (Lewis, Gewandhaus).
In response to a female clarinet player performing a concerto in Munich, a reviewer writes sarcastically, “Our modern belles are determined not to be excluded from exercising any department of art; all we now want is a female virtuoso on the bassoon and trombone, we believe the list will then be complete” (Stratton).
The orchestra of the King of Prussia includes 2 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 333).
The Darmstadt Court Opera includes 3 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 333).
The orchestra of the Grand Duke of Hesse-Cassel includes 3 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 333).
A pen and ink drawing of a Belgian military trombonist depicts a player in full military regalia with a rear-facing trombone (see below image; public domain) (New York Public Library Digital Gallery).
Francesco Mirecki, a Polish musician active in Italy, mentions trombone in his treatise, the earliest known Italian orchestration treatise. He considers bass trombone a useful alternative to serpent as the effective bass of the brass family (Meucci).
Ludwig van Beethoven composes Symphony No. 9, which includes prominent use of alto, tenor, and bass trombone. As historian Thurston Dart notes, “Few concert-goers probably realize that of all the instruments they hear in Beethoven’s ninth symphony, for instance, the only ones whose sounds have not changed since the symphony was first performed in 1824 are the kettle-drum, the triangle, and the trombone. All the others have been transformed, some more and some less, and even if the symphony is played with the same number of instruments and voices that were used in 1824, the resultant sound will be quite different in quality” (Dart, Interpretation 34).
One of the earliest valve patents for brass specifically mentions trombone (Bate 148).
Pellerin, publisher of French popular prints, publishes a print titled Musique d’Infanterie Francaise, which includes a rear-facing trombone (upper-right). Other low brass instruments of interest in the image include a serpent next to the trombone and an ophicleide on left side of the next row (see below detail; public domain) (Museum of Civilization in Europe and the Mediterranean).
Sir George Smart, a British traveler, observes, “We heard a very good military horse band which was all trumpets, bugles and tromboni” (Smart 66).
Sir George Smart, a British traveler, hears the Darmstadt opera and very briefly mentions the trombones: “Three tromboni (these had not much to do and were not conspicuous)” (Cox 77).
Sir George Smart, a British traveler, attends a church service in Stuttgart, where he is impressed with the trombones: “After breakfast I went into what I believed was a Protestant church….A few men singers were singing a tune exactly like our psalm tunes, accompanied by a soprano and three tromboni, with the organ—the effect was grand—they were dressed in black gowns and played excellently” (Cox 82).
Sir George Smart, a British traveler, hears a military band that includes trombones: “I was delighted with the military band when they were mounting guard at twelve o’clock at the palace, they played several pieces which were new to me. The band seemed about forty strong with four trombones, etc., but I have not yet heard a good sounding trumpet (Cox 84).
Sir George Smart, a British traveler, hears a performance of Weber’s Der Freischütz in Munich: “The tromboni were good but I have not yet heard a trumpet equal to Harper” (Cox 90).
Sir George Smart, a British traveler, attends a performance of Weber’s Euryanthe, noting the makeup of the orchestra: “The strength of the Dresden theatre band is as follows: Five first violins, five second violins, two viole, two ‘cellos, two basses, two of each wind instrument—the flutes taking the piccolo—four horns and three tromboni.” Smart also observes the specific layout of the orchestra: “All the strings were on the right and all the wind instruments on the left of the conductor, who beat time with a roll at a square piano-forte. The tromboni were one behind the other, each in the centre of the oboe desks” (Cox 140).
At the monument of the celebrated French general, Moreau, just outside of Dresden, Sir George Smart witnesses a military band: “We saw the guard mounted between eleven and twelve o’clock, there were plenty of officers but not many men. The band numbered twenty-two and was good, but nothing extraordinary. There were three tromboni and two bassoons. Several of the marches and airs were in the minor and one of them was very chromatic and ineffective” (Cox 147).
Sir George Smart, a British traveler, attends the Berlin Opera and records that the orchestra includes three trombones (Smart 168). Of a performance of Spohr’s Jessonda, he specifically notes: “The wind instruments were so much out of tune in the overture that the effect was ruined, the rest however was very good. The playing of the tromboni in one of the songs was beyond all praise” (Cox 175).
Sir George Smart, a British traveler, attends a parade, where he hears several military bands that include trombone: “There was a mixture of bands on the parade, namely the guards band in white, the artillery in blue and the rifle band in a sort of dark green. Their instruments were chiefly bugles and trombones, besides drums and fifes, altogether they numbered about one hundred and fifty. I did not hear them play together” (Cox 203).
Schubert’s Symphony No. 9 (“The Great”) is probably the earliest orchestral work to use trombones for primary melodic material and on equal terms with the other winds of the orchestra (Wills, Orchestra 160).
The Dresden Court Opera includes 3 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 333).
The Berlin Opera includes 3 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 333).
The Darmstadt Court Opera contains 3 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 334).
The Hoftheater includes 3 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 333).
The Covent Garden Theatre includes 1 trombone (Herbert, Trombone 333).
La Scala orchestra includes 3 trombones (in contrast to 1 in 1814) (Herbert, Trombone 334).
Funeral services are held for Antonio Salieri, teacher of Beethoven, Schubert, and Liszt. Music at the services consists of Salieri’s own Requiem in C minor, originally composed in 1804, which requires 3 trombones. Regarding Salieri’s use of trombone in the piece, one commentator notes, “The bulk of the orchestration is for strings, but when the composer wanted to suggest solemnity, he used the trombones” (Chase 224).
Carl Queisser performs the Meyer Concertino again at the Gewandhaus. The review in the Allgemeine musikalischeZeitung says, “Mr. Queisser performed very favorably with regard to sound and execution,” while mentioning a separate performance, in which “Mr. Queisser delighted us in a still more beautiful and masterly way in a benefit performance for Mr. Hoch in the theater” (Lewis, Gewandhaus).
The brass section of the Independent Band consists of horns, trumpets, trombones, and serpent (Mendoza da Arce 185).
Tuning slide at end of u-bend of bell pipe, water key at lower end of slide begin appearing on trombones (Carse, Musical 258).
A drawing by George Scharf features military musicians playing various instruments, including both serpent and trombone. The writing below the drawing reads, “At the Marine Officers Mess Room, at Woolwich, during Dinner” (see below image; public domain) (British Museum).
The Royal Academy of Music concerts utilize 3 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 334).
Friedrich Belcke’s Concertino is first performed (by the composer). Breitkopf and Härtel publishes it a few years later (between 1826 and 1829).
Carl Queisser performs a transcription of Carl Maria von Weber’s Concerto for Horn for a benefit concert at the Gewandhaus (Lewis, Gewandhaus). The transcription calls for multiphonics in the cadenza (Wallace, Brass Solo 250).
Marriotti, Smithies, and Schoengen are trombonists in the orchestra at Weber’s funeral at Moorfields Chapel (Carse, Orchestra 491).
3 trombonists are included in the Royal Academy of Music 6th concert at the Hanover Square Rooms (Carse, Orchestra 491).
March of the Cavalry, a “catchpenny” military print that features numerous musicians, includes a rear-facing trombone on horseback (see facing detail; public domain).
The Opéra Comique contains 3 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 334).
Cherubini’s Requiem in C Minor, which calls for 3 trombones, is performed at Beethoven’s funeral (Chase 191).
Carl Queisser performs the Meyer Concertino.
A political cartoon by John Doyle entitled The Tory Band includes a trombonist in military uniform playing an instrument with an extension handle (see below image; public domain).
*
British traveler Edward Holmes witnesses a church performance: “Two horns, clarionets, bassoons, and a bass trombone, played in a smooth manner and extremely subdued, supplied the place of an itinerant organ, and supported the voices in those parts where the modulation was somewhat more learned than suits merely vocal music” (Holmes 29).*
British traveler Edward Holmes hears outdoor instrumental music with virtuosic trombone playing: “For the benefit of the strollers and holiday-makers in Munich, bands play twice a week in the open square of the king’s palace, which both for look and accommodation may vie with the Palais Royal in Paris. Here, while the cooling luxuries of lemonade and ice are imbibed, there is a regale of excellent instrumental music. An overture in E minor attracted my attention from the brilliancy of execution and expression with which the trombone players accomplished some most unwieldy passages for their instrument. The faces of the performers appeared as if animated by a prophetic fury, and their distended cheeks would have reminded one of the fat-faced cherubim sometimes seen on a church organ, only that they were older, redder, and accompanied by a ‘jutting friz’ of mustacio that cast a shade. Their enthusiasm, and the earnestness of their manner, were delightful, as those qualities always lead to excellence” (Holmes 61-62).
British traveler Edward Holmes attends a ballet by “Cramer of Manheim,” where he is disturbed by the orchestra’s performance: “There is something certainly absurd and contemptible in employing impassioned melodies, full of meaning and tenderness, to accompany balancing and feet-twirling; and it becomes very ludicrous when, to a solemn blast of trombones and horns, such as might prepare us to wait in silent dread the sentence of an oracle, the dancer, for some mysterious and inscrutable purpose, slowly and deliberately raises her limb to an altitude as little consistent with grace as dignity” (Holmes 70-71).
Edward Holmes comments on Spontini’s orchestration: “They are right in saying that the French have spoilt what was originally good in this composer [Spontini]. Every fresh opera which was intended by Spontini to make a sensation among the Parisians had more horns or trombones than the last;…as if degrees of noise constitute those of excellence in music…” (Holmes 80).
British traveler Edward Holmes attends a church service, where he is impressed with the trombones: “After the requiem was finished, a whole procession of priests and choir paraded the cathedral, at distant intervals chaunting [sic] a Gregorian phrase, accompanied by four trombones, and I have heard nothing comparable to the delicious effect these instruments produce when heard at a distance in the cathedral; their tones are so softened in the space, and they join in the gradual swell of voices upon the silence with a sweet severity. Well might the hearer who had found a seat in the choir remain listening to their echoes as they died away in those arches, and cherishing the expectation of a fresh burst” (Holmes 140-141).
British traveler Edward Holmes hears a solo trombone performance at a public park: “In this garden it is not unfrequent that concertos or solos on the bass trombone (the pausan, in Germany) are to be heard. The other evening there was a waltz with variations played, which for tone, the rapid tonguing of the notes, and extraordinary shifting, was delightful. On my complimenting the youth who had thus signalized himself, he smiled and said, ‘It requires good lungs;’ a conviction which had pressed upon me before from seeing his inflated cheeks, and the suffusion of moisture on his skin. The cavity of his chest in supplying this enormous tube must have been at every blast as the exhausted receiver of an air-pump; and the appearance of exertion would have been laughable, had not the effect counteracted any tendency of that sort. It is no more possible to affect east in an achievement of this kind, than it was for a stout man whom I once saw scrambling up a garden wall to get out of the reach of a mad dog that was pursued in full hue and cry down a country lane” (Holmes 204-5).
British traveler Edward Holmes, after hearing a trombone solo in a public park (see above), offers praise for another trombone soloist, the well-known Carl Queisser: “Here, in one of the suburban gardens, may be occasionally heard the famed trombonist M. Queisser, by his townsmen vaunted the greatest performer of the whole empire. He is himself the proprietor of this rural retreat, having captivated the affections and wedded the form of its female possessor, thus enticing the inhabitants to discuss his viands, and enhancing his fortune, as host, by means of his music. I have heard nothing so soft, round, and deep as the tone of this extraordinary player, who has, at the age of twenty-seven, attained the most surprising mastery. At the last music meeting in Zerbst he performed a concertino on his instrument, which will not be soon forgotten. The palm of excellence for the knack in the management of wind instruments must certainly be given to Germany: in this performer there was no appearance of exertion, and the horrors of apoplexy with which swollen veins and starting eyes fill one in ordinary players, were here wholly dismissed from the mind” (Holmes 244-5).
British traveler Edward Holmes hears music, including a trombone chorale, performed from a balcony by the local Stadtpfeifer: “From the balcony of the ancient Stadt-Haus in Leipsic the inhabitants are regaled three mornings in a week with an instrumental concert, which is played by the town musicians purely for the amusement of the citizens….The music, after a full overture or two, always concludes with a simple chorale, which, softly breathed from four trombones, produces one of the most delicate combinations I ever heard” (Holmes 255-6).
British traveler Edward Holmes hears a performance of Spontini’s La Vestale, motivating him to complain about the composer’s orchestration for brass: “But why Julia should, with the consciousness of broken vows, and even the fear of death upon her, be called upon to overpower four horns and three trombones, is hard to guess” (Holmes 258).
Beethoven’s trombone quartet, Drei Equali, is performed at his own funeral procession (a trombone quartet alternates with a vocal version retroactively set with a Miserere text). A contemporary watercolor by Franz Stöber depicting Beethoven’s funeral shows 4 trombonists leading the enormous procession (see Franz Stöber entry, below).
Franz Stöber depicts Beethoven’s funeral procession. A close detail of the very front of the procession (bottom-left) shows the 4 trombones (see detail and full image below; public domain) (source: wikimedia commons).
Frédéric Bouchot’s La Grisette abandonée, No. 2, second in a series of seven lithographs, includes a rear facing trombone in the music ensemble (see below image; public domain).
Wilhelm Wieprecht, charged with reforming the bands of the Prussian Cavalry Guards, includes only 3 trombones—basses—in his first band (Bate 141).
Caricaturist J. J. Grandville depicts a country dance in his lithograph, Sundays of a Good [Middle-Class] Citizen. At the front-center of the orchestra is a rear-facing trombone (see facing detail and full image below; public domain) (Fromrich 29).
Typical instrumentation for German military bands, according to J. A. Kappey, includes “3 slide bass trombones” in a band of 21 members (Dudgeon, Keyed Bugle 41).
There are 3 trombonists in the Société des Concerts (Conservatoire Concerts) (Carse, Orchestra 493).
Nemetz writes a method for trombone (Dudgeon 195).
The Earl of Mount Edgcumbe complains about opera in his Musical Reminiscenses: “It is really distressing to hear the leading voice strained almost to cracking in order to be audible over a full chorus and full orchestra, strengthened often by trumpets, trombones, kettle-drums, and all the noisiest instruments” (Edgcumbe 124).
Ludwig Emil Grimm’s Morning Service at Albrecht Dürer’s Grave, depicting a commemoration of the 200th anniversary of Dürer’s death, features a quartet of trombones performing at the service (see detail and full image below; public domain) (special thanks to Iris Tjoonk).
Carl Queisser performs a new work by C.G. Müller, the Concertino für Bassposaune, at the Gewandhaus (Lewis, Gewandhaus).
Artist Joseph Scholz depicts a group of 4 military musicians of the Prussian Army on horseback in an image titled Preussisches Heer–Garde Artillerie (see facing detail of trombonist; public domain) (Ryan, Paper Soldiers).
Two wind players from the Swedish Royal Court Orchestra, Carl Anton Philipp Braun and Bernard Henrik Crusell, collaborate on Adagio and Polonaise for solo Kenthorn and 2 keyed bugles, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, and alto, tenor and bass trombone. Swedish cavalry and artillery regiments throughout the country likely adapt this instrumentation. The same instrumentation is also used in Braun’s arrangement of the Adagio movement of Beethoven’s Septet, Op. 20 (Dudgeon, Keyed Bugle 166).
Gioachino Rossini, William Tell.
British traveler Vincent Novello attends a performance of Aubert’s opera La Muette de Portici, complaining about the overbearing nature of the orchestra: “Finale to 1st Act too violent and noisy—the crowing, shouting, bawling, and the furious crashing of the Orchestra was enough to split our ears—it was absolutely frightful….The finale [2nd act] again consisting of more trumpeting, drumming, bursting of trombones and smashing of cymbals, and upon the whole the melodies want delicacy, sweetness and expression. Orchestra too violent and noisy throughout and, though accurate as to time, but coarse in execution” (Novello 265-7).
Carl Queisser performs the Müller Concertino on two separate occasions the Gewandhaus. The review of the first performance in the Allgemeine musikalischeZeitung says simply, “Mr. Q. performed masterfully” (Lewis, Gewandhaus).
British traveler Vincent Novello attends a Mass at the Salzburg Cathedral. Although he does not specify the complete makeup of the orchestra, he comments specifically on the trombones: “The best Performers were the three Trombone players, who produced a fine tone and added much grandeur to the general effect” (Novello 104).
British traveler Vincent Novello attends a performance of Mozart’s Don Giovanni at the Kärntnerthor Theatre. His evaluation of the orchestra’s winds is cursory, although the trombones draw brief praise: “The Oboe I did not like—but the Trombones were good—as were also the Bassoons and Clarionets…” (Novello 177).
British traveler Vincent Novello hears the Royal Military Band, which includes trombones: “In the Evening at 6 we went to the Garden belonging to the King’s Palace (the Hof Garten) to hear the Military Band. It consisted of two Portions, the Brass Band and the Regular Military Band—which consists of about half a dozen 8ve Clarionets, the same number of common Clarionets, 2 Flutes, an octave Flute, 2 Bassoons, 4 Horns, 4 Trumpets, 2 Trombones, 2 Bass Horns, Long Drum, Side Drum and Cymbals” (Novello 274).
British traveler Vincent Novello attends Mass at the Antwerp Cathedral, where he hears Eybler’s Third Mass, de Sancto Leopoldo, in D. His notes include the following brief remark: “at the Et Resurrexit, trombone good” (Novello 287-8).
British traveler Vincent Novello hears Haydn’s Sinfonia in B-flat during the procession at the church of St. Jacques. Although the piece does not originally call for trombone, at least one is apparently used, as Novello is disappointed by the performance: “…it is in a very elevated style of writing and full of energy. Effect spoiled by the Trombone nearly ½ a tone too flat throughout” (Novello 289-90).
British traveler Vincent Novello attends Mass at the Salzburg Cathedral. The trombones, which include a full complement of alto, tenor, and bass, receive special praise and are the only wind instruments in the orchestra: “The Orchestra was placed in the right-hand Gallery near the Altar against one of the large Pillars which support the Dome. It consisted of two first Violins, a second Violin, Tenor [viola] and Double Bass (no Violoncello), three trombones (alto, tenor and bass), and the Organ….The best performers were the three trombone players, who produced a fine tone and added much grandeur to the general effect” (Novello 303-4).
British traveler Vincent Novello attends Mass at St. Stephen’s Cathedral, where trombones are again the only wind instruments in the orchestra: “At 9 o’clock High Mass. The band consisted of about half a dozen Violins, Viola, Violoncello and Double Bass, and Trombones” (Novello 310).
Uhlmann, a Viennese brass manufacturer, improves on Riedl’s valve design, making B-flat and G trombones with the double Vienna valve (Carse, Musical 258).
K.k. Österreichischer Militair Leichen-Conduct, lithograph no. 8 from a series edited by Michael Tretsentsky, shows a military band that includes trombones with both traditional and rear-facing bells (see below image—click to expand; public domain) (Pirker).
A rear-facing trombone is made by manufacturer Charles Kretzschmann (Heyde, Metropolitan).
Sometime before this date, a print by Jacques Perlasca of a mounted chasseur band illustrates both a standard rear-facing trombone and a rear-facing buccin (see detail and full image below; public domain) (Ryan 23).
The Gewandhausorchester contains 3 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 334).
The Royal Music orchestra contains 1 trombone (Herbert, Trombone 334).
The Dortmund Concert Orchestra contains 3 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 334).
Correspondent for Allgemeine musikalischeZeitung says, “Truly we live in an age of trombones” (Lewis, Gewandhaus).
Hector Berlioz writes Symphony Fantastique, one of the earliest orchestral works to give trombones a prominent, independent role. Regarding the orchestration of the top trombone part, Berlioz says, in an early document listing the instrumentation, “The alto trombone part must not be played on a big trombone, as is often done in France: I demand a true alto trombone” (see above image) (Macdonald 210; Massip 33).
Auguste Bertini, a musician active in France, Italy, and England, publishes New System for… All Musical Instruments, an instruction book for a variety of instruments. He mentions alto, tenor, and bass trombones, the alto apparently pitched in E-flat (Myers, Fingering Charts).
Victor Cornette publishes his Methode de trombone (see illustration below; public domain).
A lithograph titled Musiciens d’infanterie belge, or “Belgian infantry musicians,” portrays a musician holding what appears to be a rear-facing trombone (see facing image; public domain) (Bibliotheque royale Albert I; Wangermée vol. 2, 264). Another image (below facing; public domain), apparently another version of the same image, depicts a Dutch military musician holding a rear-facing trombone (source: New York Public Library Digital Gallery).
Carl Queisser performs as soloist on two different occasions at the Gewandhaus. The latter performance is the premier of a work by Friederich August Kummer, Concertino für Bassposaune. The review in Allgemeine musikalischeZeitung says, “Our oft praised Mr. Q. performed wonderfully on a new and very difficult concertino by Mr. Kummer” (Lewis, Gewandhaus).
Hector Berlioz, writing from Rome, voices his disgust with the military music there: “…but for this fatal imagination of mine, I should not have been so disgusted by the impious, coarse cacophony of those two groups of quacking clarinets, roaring trombones, crashing drums, and circus trumpets. Had it ushered in old Silenus, riding on his ass, and escorted by a troupe of coarse satyrs and bacchantes, it would have been highly appropriate…” (Whitwell, 19th Century 102).
J.I. Müller, Prelude, Chorale, Variations and Fugue. Müller (1774-1839) is a cantor in Erfurt (Germany) and presumably composes the solo for Carl Queisser for a festival held there. It becomes one of the more popular Romantic-era trombone solos.
The earliest example of trombone pedal notes notated in music, Ferdinand Hérold’s opera, Zampa, is composed (Gregory 60). The pedals are found in the first act finale, where 3 tenor trombones hold pedal B-flat in unison for ten bars (Macdonald 218).
St. Petersburg, Russia: Trombonists Schmidt and son perform in concert but are unable to meet expenses. They had spent a significant period of time in Riga, concertizing on 5 separate dates in the theater, as well as participating in a performance of Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Records also show that later, in 1840, a trombonist of the same name (Schmidt) from the Dresden Court Chapel gives a performance in Riga (Tarr, East Meets West 44).
Carl Queisser performs as soloist on two separate occasions at the Gewandhaus, performing the Müller Concertino and a transcription of the Carl Maria von Weber Concerto for Horn. The reviewer of the Weber performance says, in the Allgemeine musikalischeZeitung, “The work does not seem to us to be entirely suited for the [trombone]” (Lewis, Gewandhaus).
A trombone soloist is featured on a set of variations at the popular Camp Street Theater (Kmen 210).
The King’s Theatre contains 3 trombones (Carse, Orchestra 488).
The Hamburg Opera contains 3 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 334).
The English Birmingham Festival is noted for its “introduction of nine trombones in addition to the organ at the church service” (Mansfield).
A print by Belgian artist Jean-Baptiste Madou titled Officier Garde Civique Premier depicts an officer of the Belgian Civil Guard. Behind the officer stands a military musician who appears to be holding a rear-facing trombone (see facing image; public domain) (source: New York Public Library Digital Gallery). For a similar image, see 1831 (above).
Carl Queisser performs the Meyer Concertino at the Gewandhaus.
The Philharmonic Society contains 3 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 334).
Franz Lachner writes Andante in E-flat for 2 valve trumpets, 4 valve horns, and 3 trombones—the brass section of the Künstlerverein, a forerunner of the Vienna Philharmonic.
1833—Canada: In Upper Canada, the Children of Peace, a separatist sect from the Quakers, supports a band that includes trombone (Mendoza de Arce 182).
An engraving by Charles James Grant features a very unusual looking trombone. The full caption for the engraving reads, “The Royal ‘Feast of Harmony’ in Vestminster Habby: Alias ‘The Music Shop Over the Vay,’ in which John Bull Figured in the Capacity of Double Drum and Old Gery as Calfskin Thumper!!!” According to the British Museum, the images depicts the king conducting an orchestra of politicians and John Bull (meaning a typical Englishman. See below image; public domain.
John Doyle’s lithograph, The Waits, includes a trombone player. See below; public domain.
Felix Vobaron runs the trombone studio at the Paris Conservatory (Dudgeon 195).
A catchpenny print entitled Harmonie, probably published by Glenisson and Van Genechten, features musicians playing various instruments, including a buccin (trombone with dragon-head bell) and a standard trombone (see below detail; public domain) (Catchpenny Prints of the Dutch Royal Library).
The trombonist of the Orleans orchestra is featured soloist at the Camp Street Theater (Kmen 210).
According to the American Musical Journal, “On the closing of the Opera House, some of the spirited members of the Orchestra entered into an arrangement with Mr. Niblo for the use of his Saloon and Garden, and during the season a series of most excellent concerts have been given at this delightful place of resort…The violin solos of Mr. Halma, double base [sic] of Casolani, flute of Messrs. Cuddy and Kyle, trumpet of Gambati and Norton, horn of Aupick, trombone of Cioffi, and harp of Trust, formed a prominent feature in these concerts” (Guion, Four American).
At Niblo’s Pleasure Garden, William Niblo stages a competition between valve trumpeter Alessandro Gambati and the slide trumpeter John Norton. Scuffles break out in the crowd of three to four thousand, so trombonist Felippe Cioffi comes to the front, marches through the center of the gathering playing “Hail Columbia,” and most of the crow follows him out (Wills, Orchestra 163).
Three very similar prints depicting the Distin Family Brass Quintet, an ensemble known for adopting Adolph Sax’s valve instruments, include a member holding a slide trombone, indicating the instrument was probably used at least during the early days of the ensemble (see below 3 images; public domain) (top image, by John William Gear: New York Public Library; bottom image: Baines, Brass plate XI). According to Dudgeon, “The early quintet performances of the Distin family used various combinations of keyed bugle, cornopean, slide trumpet, natural horns, and trombone; all made by the firm of Pace. By 1844, the Distins met Adolph Sax and made the switch to valved saxhorns” (Dudgeon, Keyed Bugle 28).
Carl Queisser solos twice at the Gewandhaus. Plays an unspecified work the first time, Müller Concertino the second performance.
A review in Allgemeine musikalischeZeitung of a solo performance by a trombonist named Fritsche with the Euterpe Orchestra says he performed with such “bravura and tone that he earned as much applause as Mr. Queisser” (Lewis, Gewandhaus).
Hector Berlioz, complaining about Mozart’s depiction of the Last Judgment in the Requiem, says, “Why just one trombone to sound the terrible blast that should echo round the world and raise the dead from the grave? Why keep the other two trombones silent when not three, not thirty, not three hundred would be enough?” (Macdonald 220).
1834–Paris, France: In his Grande Méthode de trombone Vobaron includes a graphic showing a rear-facing trombone from both sides (see facing image; public domain).
An E-flat alto trombone is manufactured by Charles-Joseph Sax (Haine 125).
An illustration of a theatre orchestra as part of a toy theatre shows a trombone with a slide extension handle (see below image; public domain).
The American Musical Journal offers the following report of a concerto performance by trombonist Felippe Cioffi: “Signor Cioffi played a concerto, in a most inimitable style; the beauty of this performer’s tone, fine execution and every other requisite that constitutes good performance, renders every instance of their exhibition a source of the greatest pleasure” (Guion, Four American).
Hector Berlioz composes Le cinq mai, in which he begins writing for 3 trombones in tenor and bass clefs rather than alto, tenor, and bass. It is presumed that it is at this point that he intends all 3 parts to be played on tenor trombone, as specified in the Requiem, rather than performed on alto, tenor, and bass (Macdonald 209).
Carl Queisser performs the Müller Concertino at the Gewandhaus, with Felix Mendelssohn conducting. The review in Allgemeine musikalischeZeitung says that Queisser, an artist of the greatest brilliance, “could not escape the stormy applause of the audience” (Lewis, Gewandhaus).
Trombonist Felippe Cioffi leaves New York along with several other leading instrumentalists to join the St. Charles Theater orchestra in New Orleans—at the time, the largest concert hall in the United States. Cioffi soon becomes a “frequent attraction” as soloist, and is featured at every major venue in the area, including the St. Charles Theater, St. Charles Hotel, St. Louis Hotel, Vauxhall Gardens, Carrollton Gardens, and St. Louis Cathedral (Kmen 138, 210; Guion, Four American).
Felippe Cioffi performs as featured soloist at the St. Charles Theater. Both the audience and the other musicians of the orchestra demand an encore, a sight which the popular newspaper The Bee proclaims unprecedented. The editor of the The Bee remarks, “Though we are not oversolicitous to hear such an instrument performed alone, we were very much pleased with the skill and taste evinced by Cioffi” (Kmen 210).
At the St. Charles Theater, when a popular French ballerina dances a new ballet, “The Revolt of the Harem,” she is accompanied by Felippe Cioffi “in a grand trombone solo by Weber” (Kmen 140, 211). A newspaper advertisement for a “grand ballet dance” at the St. Charles Theatre mentions a trombone solo by Felippe Cioffi: “In this beautiful dance Signior Cioffi will accompany Madamoiselle Celeste in a grand Trombone Solo. The whole of the music by Carl Maria von Weber” (New Orleans Commercial Bulletin).
An alphabet picture book by George Nicolaus Renner features an image of “Musikdirector” that includes a rear-facing trombone (see upper-right below detail; public domain) (Nuremberg, German National Museum).
Antoine Dieppo serves as solo trombonist of the Opéra orchestra (Sluchin, Slide Trombone).
Antoine Dieppo’s Méthod complete pour le trombone, an early method book for trombone (Wallace, Brass Solo 240). See illustration from Dieppo’s method, below (public domain).
A trade-card depicting the Distin Family Brass Quintet, an ensemble known for adopting Adolph Sax’s valve instruments, includes a member holding a slide trombone, indicating the instrument was probably used at least during the early days of the ensemble (Baines, Brass plate XI). According to Dudgeon, “The early quintet performances of the Distin family used various combinations of keyed bugle, cornopean, slide trumpet, natural horns, and trombone; all made by the firm of Pace. By 1844, the Distins met Adolph Sax and made the switch to valved saxhorns” (Dudgeon, Keyed Bugle 28).
Antoine Dieppo runs the trombone studio at the Paris Conservatory (Dudgeon 195).
Johann Baptist Lachmüller’s print, Bamberg Maskerede, features 2 different rear-facing trombones (see below image; public domain). Special thanks to Tassos Dimitriadis.
the Stuttgart Court Opera contains 3 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 334).
Carl Queisser performs the Müller Concertino at the Gewandhaus.
Popular trombonist Felippe Cioffi teams with trumpeter Alessandro Gambati to perform a transcription of the duet from Bellini’s Norma. A visiting newspaper reporter declares, “We have heard them once and shall never forget their heavenly music” (Kmen 211).
Hector Berlioz writes Messe des Morts, a requiem which is one of the earliest works by a major composer to call for trombone pedal notes (the earliest known example is actually Hérold’s Zampa, 1831). Berlioz later remarks that “although at the first rehearsal of this work five or six of the eight trombone players exclaimed with indignation that this was impossible,” they were able to get the notes to sound “quite full and pure—played by artists who did not believe in the existence of these notes” (Burton 173). Berlioz includes the following sentence in the score: “These notes are on the instrument and the players must get them out” (Gregory 60). Regarding this passage, Cecil Forsyth, who had never heard it, later says, “It probably sounds very nasty,” to which Gordon Jacob responds, “The present writer has heard the passage. It does!” (Macdonald 217). The requiem, which calls for 16 trombones, is premiered at the entombment of General Charles de Damremont (Chase 245).
Hector Berlioz hears the true bass trombone, probably for the first time, when Johann Strauss, Sr. brings his Viennese orchestra to Paris. Berlioz notes that the instrument is “full, rich and powerful in effect.” He calls for a true bass trombone only once in his own compositions: the Symphonie funebre et triomphale, where he labels it “grand trombone bass” but marks the part “non oblige,” possibly because there are no available players in Paris (Macdonald 213).
Ferdinand David writes his Concertino for trombone for Carl Queisser, principal trombonist with the Gewandhaus Orchestra. David is concertmaster of the same orchestra (and Felix Mendelssohn is conductor). The concertino is originally a violin work consisting of only the slow movement; the outer movements are added later by the composer. The review of the premiere by Queisser at the Gewandhaus says, “New work by F. David was performed by Mr. Queisser and was of appropriate dignity for the instrument” (Lewis, Gewandhaus).
Samuel Vale as Timotheus Trombone in “The Battle of Sedgemoor,” an engraving by G. Adcock, after a painting by R.W. Buss, portrays an actor with trombone. The actor, Samuel Vale, lived from 1797 to 1848 (see below image; public domain) (source: www.artstor.org).
The earliest collection of brass band music originates. Written for the Cyfarthfa Band, it includes trombone parts (Herbert, Brass Bands 183).
Giovanni Simone Mayr complains about the overuse of trombone in his brief orchestration treatise, Trattatella sopra agli stromenti ed instromentazione: “If in Semiramide the trombone part fills 20 pages; if this strong imposing instrument must, like a second violin, imitate the bass in eighth-notes; if every solo in the ballet must be accompanied by three trombones; then this very instrument has lost every importance, and we can only restore that to it by employing it rarely, and never solely as a means to generate noise. Rather, I would permit one bass trombone to reinforce the bass line, and mark it, since the majestic perfect chord should only appear thus and proceed slowly. Otherwise, how could the spirit of the Commendatore in Don Giovanni speak, [or] how should we make heard the voice of Thanatos to Alceste?” (Mayr 289).
L’Enragé Musicien, a lithograph by Bourdin after an image by Robert William Buss, depicts a trombone player practicing in the middle of the night (the clock shows 2:30), with neighbors protesting and a scowling portrait of Handel looking on. The trombonist plays on an instrument with a slide extension handle (see below image; public domain) (Goodfriend, Prints and Drawings of Musical Interest).
Below is the original painting, “The Musical Bore,” by Robert William Buss (public domain; special thanks to Brian Haapanen).
Although my source for the top image (the lithograph) indicates that the lithograph is after the painting by Robert William Buss, below is a painting by Carl Zimmerman (according to this auction house) that is almost identical to the other 2 images—except the time appears to be 1:30 instead of 2:30 (see below image, click to enlarge; public domain). It may be a copy by Zimmerman of Buss’s painting.
Another engraving after the Buss painting, this one by Carl Mayer, dates from c. 1850 (see below image; public domain) (special thanks to Tassos Dimitriadis).
A painted snuffbox from around the same time period follows the same basic image as the 4 above (see below image; public domain) (source: Europeana, Museum Rotterdam).
Finally, Man Playing and Keeping Others Awake, a French tissue stereocard marked B.K. Photos and J.M., appears to be something of a loose photographic re-creation of the painting by Robert William Buss. It dates from 1862-65 (see below image; public domain).
The Rudolstadt Court Orchestra contains 3 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 334).
Carl Queisser performs the David Concertino at the Gewandhaus.
Musicians, an engraving by Lemaitre after The Triumph of Maximilian, features 2 trombone players (see below image; public domain).
Antoine Dieppo serves as solo trombone with the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire (Sluchin, Slide Trombone).
Musica militaris, a print depicting musicians of the boarding school of Fribourg, features a percussionist and a trombonist with a rear-facing bell (see facing image; public domain) (Bovet and Curchod 28). For a similar image from Belgium, see 1831, above.
In a collection of scores for wind band, a 119-page manuscript score of C. Ostreich’s Simphonia für Blasinstrumente includes parts for alto trombone, tenor trombone, and bass trombone (Dudgeon, Keyed Bugle 41).
Félicien David writes Nonetto in C minor and Nonetto in F major for 2 cornets a pistons, 4 cors a pistons, 2 trombones, and ophecleide (Wallace, Brass Solo 240).
Her Majesty’s Theatre contains 3 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 334).
The following 4 people are listed as trombonists in the Opéra Comique: “Carteret (alto), Buisson (alto et ténor), Marchal (ténor et basse), Marez (ditto)” (Carse, Orchestra 493).
The F rotary valve attachment is invented by instrument maker C. F. Sattler. It is initially only used for bass trombones (Gregory 85).
A lithograph by George Scharf (the elder) entitled London Street Band includes a trombone (see below image; public domain).
Joseph Novakowsky, Concertino for Trombone and Piano. Novakowsky (1805-1865), a famous Polish piano virtuoso, had played trombone in his student days. This work was published posthumously by Fischer as both Theme and Variations and Concertino.
c. 1840—Markneukirchen, Germany
Schuster manufactures an alto trombone in E-flat. The instrument is now held in Germanisches National Museum, Nuremberg. See below.
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J. C. Kuhne, Concertino for Trombone and Piano. Kuhne, a German composer from Erfurt, had likely come into contact with well-known soloist Carl Queisser.*
*
A “buccin trombone” in B-flat with a dragon-head bell is manufactured by an unknown maker. The instrument is now held in the Edinburgh University Collection (Bevan 46; wikimedia commons). See below.*
Tenor trombone by Antonio Apparuti (currently held in Museo Civico di Modena). See below.
A lithograph depicting a lively Dutch house concert, from a drawing by David Joseph Bles (1821-1899), incudes a trombonist (see below image; public domain). Click on image to expand.
Friedrich Kaiser depicts an aristocratic dance in his lithograph, Geschlossene Gesellschaft (Closed Society). A trombone pokes over the edge of the balcony, where the orchestra is playing (see below image; public domain) (Salmen, Tanz im 19 114). Click on image to expand.
American clergymen Kidder and Fletcher visit a plantation called “Soldade,” where a slave orchestra that includes trombones performs “an overture to some opera,” and a Latin mass “with admirable skill and precision.”
A print depicting a Napoleonic military band includes what could be a buccin-style trombone (dragon-head bell) (see far left of above image; public domain) (Brenet 125). For a similar image, see 1804-1815, above.
Carl Queisser performs the David Concertino and Müller Concertino at the Gewandhaus.
The Conservatoire Orchestra contains 3 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 334).
The Hague Royal Orchestra contains 3 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 334).
Popular trombone soloist Felippe Cioffi is featured at the Vauxhall Gardens. As the local newspaper, The Bee, remarks, one can go to the gardens for “ice creams and songs, soda water and Cioffi’s trombone” (Kmen 212).
Donizetti’s opera, La favorita, features a technically challenging trombone obbligato.
In a late example of Stadtpfeifer activity, French composer and musicologist Jean Georges Kastner hears Stadtpfeifer consisting of a cornett and 3 trombones play a chorale each day from a balcony in Stuttgart (Dickey, The Cornett 67).
John Doyle, The Waits. Each musician represents a political figure of the time (Peel, Wellington, Stanley, Lyndhurst and Graham). See sketch and lithograph, below; public domain.
Hector Berlioz, Symphonie Funebre et Triomphale. The 2nd movement, “Recitative and Prayer,” is a trombone solo—the most extensive in the orchestral literature. It was composed for Antoine Dieppo, teacher at the Paris Conservatory (Wallace, Brass Solo 241).
An engraving entitled Musique d’Amateurs, published by Pellerin, features 3 trombones among 27 figures with various musical instruments. One of the trombones is a buccin, or dragon-bell instrument (see below image; click picture for larger version; public domain).
Simon Knaebel (1812-c. 1880), Rockaway Quick-step from The Boston Collection of Instrumental Music.
The Coburg Court Orchestra contains 3 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 334).
Extant Alto Trombone. Maker: C. F. Sattler; Location: Leipzig, Germany; Key: E-flat; Holder: Museum of Musical Instruments, Leipzig University. Three trombones by C. F. Sattler (later labeled 4137, 4138, 4139 by the museum) form a tuned choir and are acquired in 1841 for the music of St. Thomas and St. Nicholas Churches. In an inventory compiled around 1845 (Leipzig City Archives), the instruments are listed simply, without further details, as “a new choir of trombones.” At that time, they are located in the instrument cabinet of St. Thomas School and kept by the cantor of St. Nicholas Church, A. E. Müller. Later, the instruments are moved to St. Nicholas Church and from there, in 1974, along with two cellos and a pair of timpani, are donated to the museum.
Carl Queisser performs a new work, Ferdinand David’s Concerto Militaire, at the Gewandhaus (Lewis, Gewandhaus).
Hector Berlioz, in a review of Alexandre Montfort’s opera-comique La jeunesse de Charles-Quint, complains about contemporary use of the trombone: “The craze for the bass drum began to recede a few months ago, but the trombone craze is on the rise. Just when we were learning to admire the magnificent orchestration of Der Freischütz, where Weber uses the trombones only three or four times and with remarkable reserve, those hounds started barking, howling and bellowing at the Opéra Comique in the middle of a love duet or a comic ensemble.” Berlioz goes on to fault a Mass by Dietsch for “using trombones to reinforce the orchestra without any regard for their tone, which disqualifies them from the appropriate style of so many pieces. Let them mutter a solemn prayer in the Kyrie or blaze away with fanfares in the Iterum venturus, but…. So this is where the art of instrumentation now stands! If hearing the chorus of furies in Iphigénie en Tauride or the entrance of the Commendatore in Don Giovanni or the nuns’ orgy in Robert le diable, would you not? But no, it is M. Petipa or M. Mabille stepping on stage to dance a… pas de deux…. At the Opéra Comique an old chap is upset at losing his snuffbox—three trombones! He rejoices when he finds it—three trombones! A blind man drinks a glass of cheap wine—three trombones! A stable lad tightens some layabout’s belt—three trombones! Every time!” (Macdonald 225).
Trombonist Felippe Cioffi, one of the most popular and frequent soloists in the active musical environment of New Orleans, is declared by newspaper The Picayune to be “incomparably the best trombone player in America, and we have been told in the world” (Kmen 211).
Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 1 (Spring) utilizes trombones independently, including a solo chorale in the second movement.
Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 4 is premiered in Leipzig and calls for 3 trombones. A revised version is performed for the first time in 1853.
Festzug des Veteranenvereins (Veterans Association Parade) includes a rear-facing trombone (see below detail; public domain).
The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra contains 4 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 335).
The Vienna Court Opera contains 4 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 335).
3 trombonists are included in the subscription evening concerts at the Hanover Square Rooms and the London Tavern (Carse, Orchestra 492).
Depiction of a concert in the Hanover Square Rooms, London, from the Illustrated London News, 1843
Luigi Cherubini’s Requiem in D Minor, which requires 3 trombones, is performed at his own funeral (Chase 193).
Berlioz, on a tour of Germany, visits Stuttgart, where he is particularly impressed with Schrade, a trombonist in their orchestra. Berlioz says, “The trombones [in Stuttgart’s orchestra] are extremely good. The first, Schrade, who was in the Vivienne concert orchestra four years ago, is a most gifted player, a complete master of his instrument who makes light of the most formidable difficulties and produces a magnificent tone from the tenor trombone—I should rather say tones, for by some process not yet explained he can play three or four notes at the same time, like the young horn-player whom the musical Press of Paris has been so taken up with lately. During a fantasia which he performed at a public concert in Stuttgart, Schrade paused at a pedal point and to the astonishment of all present sounded simultaneously the four notes of the chord of the dominant seventh in the key of B flat, pitched as follows: E flat, A, C, F. It is for the acousticians to account for this new phenomenon of natural resonance and for us musicians to study it and profit by it if the occasion arises” (Berlioz-Cairns 276).
Berlioz, on a tour of Germany, visits Hechingen, where an orchestra is assembled that includes several strong players, but a brass and percussion section that leaves something to be desired. He says, “As to the trumpets, the trombone (there is only one) and the timpanist, whenever they play they make you wish you had asked them not to; their incapacity is total.” Berlioz proceeds with the concert, however, adapting several of his works to a scaled-down orchestra. He says the following about the trombonist’s performance: “The solitary trombone was left to his own devices; but as he wisely confined himself to the notes with which he was thoroughly familiar, such as A flat, D and F, and was careful to avoid all others, his success in the role was almost entirely a silent one” (Berlioz-Cairns 281).
Berlioz, on a tour of Germany, visits Mannheim, where he is forced to change his program because of the orchestra’s trombones. In his Memoirs he says, “I remember only that I wanted to give my second symphony (Harold) complete but that at the first rehearsal I had to suppress the finale (the Orgy) because the trombones were manifestly unequal to it.” A valve trombone is also adapted as a substitute for ophicleide: “There is no ophicleide; Lachner [the regular conductor] had attempted to devise a substitute for this instrument, which is used in all modern scores, by having a valve trombone made with a compass extending to bottom C or B. In my opinion it would have been simpler to send for an ophicleide and much better from the musical point of view, as the two instruments have little in common” (Berlioz-Cairns 288).
Curious Inns and Outs, a political satire lithograph by John Doyle, includes a man playing trombone (see below image; public domain).
Berlioz, on a tour of Germany, visits Liepzig. He reports in his Memoirs that “the ophicleide, or rather the meager brass object masquerading under that name, bore no resemblance to the French variety, having practically no tone,” so it was “replaced, after a fashion, by a fourth trombone” (Berlioz-Cairns 300).
Berlioz, in his Memoirs, remarks, “Repeated observations at Berlin led me to think that the best way of grouping the trombones in the theatres is, after all, that adopted at the Paris Opéra, where three tenor trombones are employed” (Carse, Orchestra 410).
The court orchestra, where Franz Schubert is vice-concertmaster, includes the following 3 trombonists: Gottschalk, Rühlmann, and Queissert (Carse, Orchestra 488).
First Paris Conservatory morceau de concours: Antoine Guillaume Dieppo, Solo.
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First season of New York Philharmonic. Original trombone section includes Tom Dodworth, W. Plain, and C. Schutz. Compensation for first season is \$25.00 per player. Tom Dodworth is 1 of 3 from his family in original NY Philharmonic and is also a member of the well known Dodworth Band, a military-style band that played for the inaugurations of three US presidents—Van Buren, Harrison, and Tyler (Shanet 8, 91).*
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Manufacture date of an alto trombone in E-flat, labeled “C. W. Moritz/ Königl.-Hof Instrumentenmacher, Friedrichsgracht No 50 in Berlin” (Kölnisches Stadtmuseum 252).*
A depiction of a theatre orchestra includes a prominently-positioned dragon-bell trombone (buccin). The image is printed in “La Parodie de la Vestale,” Chants et Chansons Populaires de la France II, 1843 (see facing image; public domain) (London, British Library; Remnant, Musical Instruments of the West 216).
A dragon-bell trombone (buccin) is made by manufacturer José Ramis, now held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Heyde, Metropolitan). See below image (public domain; see museum’s “open access policy”).
The Berlin Opera contains 4 trombones (up from 3 in 1825) (Herbert, Trombone 335).
The Frankfurt Opera contains 3 trombones (up from 1 in 1821) (Herbert, Trombone 335).
Carl Queisser performs the David Concertino and Müller Concertino at the Gewandhaus (Lewis, Gewandhaus).
Michael Beheim writes, “There was also the custom,/When a large cannon was around,/That with the same arms they would shoot a round/Just as in the town there were/Trombones and trumpets./And also the loud noises of timpani,/Which resounded throughout the town,/And when the sound was over,/Then from the house/They discharged their rifles./This was done a great deal” (Bowles, Timpani 356).
Paris Conservatory morceau de concours: Hyacinthe Eleonore Klosé, Air varié.
Hector Berlioz conducts his Symphonie funebre et triomphale in Dresden. He sends a message to Antoine Dieppo, the French trombonist for whom the second movement solo was written, saying that he had not found Dieppo’s equal, and that German trombonists had given him “chest-ache, not to mention ear-ache” (Macdonald 227).
Hector Berlioz visits Berlin, where he hears 2 bass trombones in the opera orchestra. Complaining that there are none in Paris, he says, “Parisian musicians refuse to play an instrument that is so tiring to the chest. Prussian lungs are evidently more robust than ours.” He is not, however, impressed with the balance of the trombone section there; he reports: “Their combined volume of tone is so great as to obliterate the alto and tenor trombones playing the two upper parts. The aggressive tone of one bass trombone would be enough to upset the balance of the three trombone parts as written by composers nowadays. But there being no ophicleide at the Berlin Opera, they give the part to a second bass trombone. The effect of having two of these formidable instruments one above the other (the ophicleide part being frequently written an octave below the third trombone) is disastrous. You hear nothing but the bottom line; even the trumpets are all but drowned. When I came to give my concerts I found that the bass trombone was much too prominent—although in the symphonies I was using only one—and had to ask the player to sit so that the bell of the instrument was facing into his stand, which acted as a sort of mute, while the alto and tenor trombonists stood up to play with their bells pointing over the top of their stands. Only in this way could all three parts be heard” (Macdonald 213).
A lithograph by Rudolf Joukowsky titled Kosakentanz depicts a lively “Cossack Dance.” The orchestra providing the music includes what appears to be a trombone with a slide extension handle (see facing detail and image below; public domain) (Berlin, Archiv für Kunst und Geschichte; Salmen, Tanz im 19 75).
An advertisement in the Ohio Observer labeled simply “Boston,” (though offering a Cleveland street address) mentions numerous musical instruments for sale, including “Alto & Tenor Trombone” (Ohio Observer).
Fermo Bellini’s Teoriche musicali discusses the use of trombone with ophicleide: “The modern custom, adopted by some composers, of forming a quartet consisting of three trombones and an ophicleide does not seem very sensible, given that the tone colour of the trombones, so dominant and in high relief, is very different from that of the ophicleide; it would be better for this instrument to double the bottom line, or else to find some way to give the trombones a good cantabile bass whenever they are on their own” (Meucci).
The Concert Spirituel orchestra contains 3 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 335).
The Imperial Orchestra contains 2 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 335).
The Munich Court Opera contains 3 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 335).
Simon Knaebel publishes brass quartet arrangements for 2 bugles in B-flat, trombone, and ophicleide in Keith’s Collection of Instrumental Music (Dudgeon, Keyed Bugle 173).
Famous caricaturist Jean-Ignace-Isidore Gérard (also known as J. J. Grandville) publishes a caricature entitled Melody for 200 Trombones. A parody of perceived overuse of brass in contemporary music, it depicts 2 longs lines of trombonists. The caption instructs that the piece be played “with fire, fortissimo, repeated 300 times, then louder still” (public domain image) (Thomson 61).
1844—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Louis Stanislas Xavier Verroust, Solo.
Kresser’s 12 Quatuors pour quatre Cornets a pistons is scored for 4 cornets or 3 cornets and alto trombone. The partbook for the lowest part is marked “Piston ou Trombon[one] alto a Pistons en Mi.” The composer’s first name is not known, although the title page of the collection states that he was a trumpeter in the Académie Royale de Musique, professor at the Gymnase Musical Militaire, and a member of the Société des Concerts in Paris (Kresser).
The first edition of Hector Berlioz’s orchestration text, Grand traité d’ instrumentation et d’ orchestration medernes, is published. The section on trombone demonstrates detailed knowledge of the instrument; later commentators suspect that he had “inside help” on the section, perhaps from Antoine Dieppo, trombone teacher at the Conservatory and one of the leading trombonists of the age (Macdonald xxix).
Hector Berlioz writes, “In my opinion, the trombone is the true head of that family of wind instruments which I have named the epic one. It possesses nobility and grandeur to the highest degree; it has all the serious and powerful tones of sublime musical poetry, from religious calm and imposing accents, to savage, orgiastic outbursts. Directed by the will of a master, the trombones can chant like a choir of priests, threaten, utter gloomy sighs, a mournful lament or a bright hymn of glory. They can break forth into awe-inspiring cries, and awaken the dead or doom the living with their fearful voice.”
Hector Berlioz, in his orchestration textbook, includes 4 alto trombones, 6 tenor trombones, and 2 bass trombones in his “dream orchestra” (Macdonald 329).
Hector Berlioz, writing about trombone, says, “Nevertheless, ways were found some thirty years ago to degrade this instrument by limiting its use to the worthless and ridiculous doubling of the double-bass part. Fortunately, this method has now been almost completely abandoned…”
Hector Berlioz, speaking of slide trombone, says, “It is the best of all without question. It has a full and strong sonority, it can perform rapid passages which are unplayable on the bass trombone and its timbre is good in the totality of its register.”
Hector Berlioz says, “The sound of the bass trombone is majestic, formidable and frightening. It has the right to the low part within the mass of the brasses. Unfortunately, we haven’t any in Paris, it is not taught in the Conservatory and no trombonist, until now, takes it seriously.”
Hector Berlioz says, “One often writes singing solos for the valve alto trombone. A well phrased melody can thus have a lot of charm. But it is an error to think that when given to a real virtuoso it would be less charming on the slide trombone. This was proven successfully many times by M. Dieppo.”
Hector Berlioz, makes the following interesting observation in his orchestration textbook about use of trombone with harp: “On their own [harps], or in groups of two, three or four, they are also felicitous in effect combined with the orchestra or accompanying vocal or instrumental solos. Of all known timbres it is odd that horns, trombones and brass instruments in general blend best with harps (Macdonald 73).
Hector Berlioz, in his orchestration treatise, speaking of the tenor trombone’s upper register, calls the notes c and d-flat “difficult.” In the 1855 edition he revises this, calling only the d-flat difficult (Macdonald 211).
A lithograph by respected German artist Heinrich Maria von Hess (1798-1863) portrays a short trombonist (see below image; public domain) (German National Museum, Nuremberg).
Hartman’s Methode Elementaire de Trombone includes an illustration of a military trombonist. “Hancké” is listed at the bottom of the print (see below image; public domain).
An illustration by Charles Vernier, Uniforms of the French Army, Musicians, includes a depiction of a military trombonist (see below image; public domain) (Mardaga 119).
An illustration by M.A. Hayes depicting the 8th King’s Royal Irish Hussars, a cavalry regiment of the British Army, includes 2 trombonists on horseback (see below image; public domain).
J. G. Kastner writes a method for trombone (Dudgeon 195).
A drawing satirizing the Prague music conservatory (Satira na prazské hudební konzervativce) includes 2 rear-facing trombones (see below image; public domain) (Volek, pl. 315).
The Teatro Regio contains 3 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 335).
Muller writes a method for trombone (Dudgeon 195)
Trombonist Franz Rex performs the David Concertino at the Gewandhaus. The review in Allgemeine musikalischeZeitung, comparing Rex with Carl Queisser,says, “Mr. Rex [was in a] difficult position [following Queisser] in the same composition Mr. David composed for him [Queisser]…he solved his difficult task, however, satisfactorily…” (Lewis, Gewandhaus).
St. Florian, Austria: Anton Bruckner composes one of his early works, Missa ex g-moll pro quadragesima, of which only a sketch of the opening bars of the Kyrie survives. The scoring, which is for chorus, organ, and trombones, is a foreshadowing of Bruckner’s emphasis on trombone throughout his career. In the words of one historian, “The choice of instruments may well have been determined by the day for which the work was intended–the first Sunday of Lent. Bruckner may have wanted the sombre sound of the trombones to mark this serious occasion. However, it must also be noted that this scoring became a particular favourite of the composer” (Kinder 8).
Berlioz conducts Félicien David’s Nonetto in F major for 2 cornets a pistons, 4 cors a pistons, 2 trombones, and ophecleide. Antoine Dieppo, author of the method book Méthode complete pour le trombone (c. 1836) is one of the trombonists at the performance (Wallace, Brass Solo 240).
A caricature by J.J. Grandville depicts Berlioz conducting a monstrous orchestra that includes a cannon and at least 7 trombones (see below image; public domain) (Hindley 252).
1845—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Antoine Guillaume Dieppo, Fantasie.
1845—Richard Wagner, *Tannhauser *(2
58 below).
Lithography firm Ludwig & Briggs publishes a print called Begging for the Holy Ghost, which includes a man playing a rear-facing trombone (see below image; public domain) (source: Google Arts & Culture, “Musica Brasilis”).
Trombonist Felippe Cioffi, who has been a well-known soloist in both New York and New Orleans, relocates to London (Guion, Four American).
An image printed in the London Daily News depicts a “monster concert” staged by Louis Antoine Jullien at Covent Garden (see 2 details and full image below). The performing forces, comprised of Jullien’s orchestra and 4 military bands, include at least 7 trombones: 4 at the top of the first section of seating (see top detail, below), and 3–or possibly 4–on the third row of the steeper risers (see second detail, below) (public domain) (Remnant, Musical Instruments of the West 218).
1846—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Louis Stanislas Xavier Verroust, Solo.
Hector Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust includes an important trombone passage in the “Hungarian March” section.
Hector Berlioz writes, “…there are eminent composers who are ignorant of the most rudimentary part of the science, the range of many of the instruments….Of the range of brass instruments and the trombone in particular they have only the most shadowy notion; you can see this from the way most modern scores, just as in the old days, cling to the middle register of these instruments and avoid taking them high or low, simply because the composer, not knowing their exact compass, is afraid of overstepping it” (Berlioz-Carnes 439).
Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 2 utilizes 3 trombones, including melodic material in the top voice.
The death of trombonist Carl Queisser prompts a full-page obituary in the respected music periodical, Allgemeine musikalischeZeitung (Lewis, Gewandhaus).
A lithograph by Henri Baron entitled Le pupitre de Palestrina, from the series Les Artistes contemporains, features a man holding a rear-facing trombone (see below image; public domain). For a nearly identical version of the image, only in reverse, published in the illustrated newspaper L’Illustration, see below, 1847.
Jørgen Sonne’s frieze, located on the outside of Thorvaldsens Museum, includes two panels that feature trombonists playing in boats in a brass band setting (see below lithograph from 1889, after original frieze; public domain image) (Henderson, Triumph 47).
There are 3 trombonists in the orchestra of the Covent Garden Theatre (Carse, Orchestra 490).
St. Florian, Austria: Anton Bruckner composes his Zwei Aequale for trombone trio, motivated by the death of his godmother, Rosalie Mayrhofer. This specific work and similar music is performed at the outer gate of St. Florian’s monastery, where the dead are placed until a priest undertakes the consecration. Although only the first of the Bruckner’s two aequale can be precisely dated, it is generally assumed that they were written at the same time. The bass trombone part for the second aequali is lost but has been reconstructed by musicologist Hans Bauernfeind (Kinder 8).
Gerard Grandville’s sketch, Parade de l’autruche, features a trombone, horn, and clarinet with conductor (see below image; public domain; Nancy, musée des beaux-arts).
A wood engraving depicts a group of Christmas carolers, including a trombonist (see below image; public domain).
The Frankfurt Opera includes 3 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 335).
1847—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Louis Stanislas Xavier Verroust, Solo.
Trombonist Moritz Nabich performs David Concertino at the Gewandhaus. The review in Allgemeine musikalischeZeitung says, “Mr. Nabich performed the Ferdinand David Concertino with great skill and a sure attack; however, (he had an) uneasy assignment following Mr. Queisser and he was occasionally flat, probably more out of embarrassment than a deficiency of refined hearing…and his tone was occasionally weak and covered. If he can, in the future, play out with more brilliance and strength, he would probably be on the same level with several [fine] trombonists, but not above any” (Lewis, Gewandhaus).
An article in the periodical L’Illustration titled “Le Pupitre de Palestrina” (“The Desk of Palestrina”) is accompanied by an image by Henri Valentin that includes a rear-facing trombone in what appears to be an attempt at a historical representation of a Palestrina-era performance (see far left of below image; public domain) (L’Illustration, vol. 9, May 1, 1847, p. 137).
Charles Dickens, in his novel Dombey & Son, describes several desperate musicians in search of employment for a bridal party, including a trombone player from a brass band: “The brass band…in the person of an artful trombone, lurks and dodges round the corner, waiting for some traitor-tradesman to reveal the place and hour of breakfast, for a bribe” (Lightwood 67).
Jean Georges Kastner, in a listing of the typical instrumentation of the German cavalry bands of this time, specifies that bands include “3 trombones (alto, tenor, bass)” (Dudgeon, Keyed Bugle 38).
Sir Michael Costa insists on the use of reverse bell trombones at the Sacred Harmonic Concerts in order to provide balance with the ensemble. As Anthony Baines puts it, “At this time apparently ‘overblowing’ and stridency were common among English players” (Baines, Brass 63).
When Berlioz conducts his Symphonie funebre et triomphale, the extensive trombone solo in the 2nd movement is played by Koenig on alto trombone (Macdonald 229).
A cartoon published in Punch magazine includes an aggressive trombonist among members of a band marching in the street (see below image, click to expand; public domain) (vol. XIV, p. 236).
1848—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Louis Stanislas Xavier Verroust, Solo.
*
Richard Wagner, *Lohengrin.**
Georges Kastner’s treatise on military music, Manuel Général de Musique Militaire, includes prints of a number of different types of trombones used in military music, including rear-facing trombone, double-slide trombone, and several types of valve trombones (see below image; public domain). The note on the bottom of the page reads, “There are, as we know, three types of trombone, alto, tenor, and bass; but it is simply a difference in size and not in the shape of the instrument (Kastner, Militaire Pl. XVII).
The Hanover Court Opera contains 3 trombones (Herbert, Trombone 335).
Claude Debussy, in a letter to G. Belloni, a Parisian well known in musical circles, gives the following satirical report about a performance of Wagner’s Parsifal under director Alfred Cortot: “Cortot, like Weingartner, leans affectionately over the first violins, murmuring intimate secrets; he swoops round to the trombones, adjuring them with an eloquent gesture, that might be translated: ‘Now my lads! Put some go into it! Try to be supertrombones!’ and the obedient trombones conscientiously do their best to swallow the brass tubes” (Kolodin, The Composer as Listener 106).
A drawing in the British weekly magazine, Punch, includes a band with trombone, ophicleide, bass drum, and cymbals. The article attached to the image, titled A Prospect of Greenwich Fair, mentions “half-a-dozen different Bands playing as many Tunes” (May 29, 1849; see below image; public domain).
A drawing in the British weekly magazine, Punch, accompanying an article titled “Kensyngton Gardens with ye Bande Playinge There,” includes trombone and ophicleide among the band. The article says, “The Tunes played mostly Polkas and Waltzes, though now and then a Piece of Musique of a better sort; but the Musique little more than an Excuse for a Number of People assembling to see and be seen (June 1, 1849; see below image; public domain).
England: A Promenade Concerte, one of 40 satirical drawings from Richard Doyle’s Manners and Customs of Ye Englyshe in 1849, depicts a large orchestra that includes trombone (see below image; public domain) (Doyle pl. 40). For a similar image, see 1846, above.
Anton Bruckner writes his Requiem in D Minor in honor of his friend, Franz Seiler. The orchestra consists solely of strings and 3 trombones, with a horn briefly replacing one of the trombones in the Benedictus (Chase 251).
1849—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Louis Stanislas Xavier Verroust, Fantaisie.
A watercolor depicts a trombonist from the Bologna Civic Guard Band (see below image; public domain) (Istituto per la storia del Risorgimento italiano, Rome).
mid-1800s—Huge production of instructional material, including etudes by Edmond Vobaron, Antoine Dieppo, O. Blume, Friedrich Belcke, C. Kopprasch, and J. Friedheim, some of which are still in use today.
K.K. Ungar: Regiments Feldmusik, a print published by Anton Paterrno, includes both a standard trombone and a rear-facing trombone (see detail and full image below; public domain) (Ryan 419).
An anonymous alto trombone in E-flat is manufactured in Germany. The instrument is now held in Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg. See below.
A relief on a vaulted rib in the Evangelische Stadtkirche portrays two decorative trombones and a banner/scroll. See below image; public domain (source: bildindex.de).
c. 1850—Bassano del Grappa, Italy
The firm Remondini publishes a print of military infantry and bandsmen. The band may represent Austro-Hungarians. Included among the band is a rear-facing trombone (see below detail; public domain) (Ryan 385).
Troupes de differentes nations, a print published by Brepols, probably copied from several slightly earlier prints by Pellerin, includes a depiction of French soldier on horseback playing a rear-facing trombone (see detail and full image below; public domain) (Ryan 440).
Use of large-bore tenors (essentially tenor built with bore and bell of an F bass trombone) begins in military bands. Composers such as Brahms write for large-bore instruments.
Large bass trombones in F or B-flat/F become the rule in German sections. Smaller bass trombone in G used in brass bands and orchestras in England for almost a century.
Artist François-Louis Lanfant de Metz (1814-1892) portrays a young child with a rear-facing trombone in his painting, Le Petit Musicien (see below image; public domain).
Artist François-Louis Lanfant de Metz (1814-1892) portrays a young child with a rear-facing trombone in his painting, Enfant au trombone (see below image; public domain).
Symphony Concert in Russia, a lithograph by R. Babajev, includes a depiction of a trombonist performing in an orchestra. A violinist conducts the group with his bow (see below image; public domain) (Schwab 80).
Musicien et trompette de cuirassiers, a lithograph by Henri Hendrickx, portrays a Belgian infantry musician playing on what may be a rear-facing trombone, the bell obscured by the player’s helmet (see below image; public domain) (Bibliotheque royale Albert I; Wangermée vol. 2, 263). For the color image, see New York Public Library Digital Gallery.
Trombones in B-flat with an F attachment appear briefly in France, where a piston valve rather than a rotary valve is used. Later, in the early 1900s, the B-flat/F concept takes root and flourishes (Baines, Brass 55).
Rod Nicker publishes an illustration of an infantry band and sapeurs that includes two trombone players (see detail below; public domain) (Ryan 25).
Anton Bruckner’s Psalm CXIV (114) calls for 5 voices and 3 trombones. In addition, a manuscript fragment labeled Missa pro Quadragesima indicates a separate work scored for voices, organ, and trombones (Rasmussen, A Bibliography of Choral Music).
Artist Carl Schild depicts a group of youth in a street dance in his lithograph, Pannkooken-Musikanten. The brass quintet providing the music includes a trombone (see below image; public domain) (Salmen, Tanz im 19 56).
c. 1850—Bassano del Grappa, Italy
The firm Remondini publishes a print, probably representing an Austrian band, that includes a rear-facing trombone (see detail and full image below; public domain) (Ryan 382).
The pipe organ is built in Annakerk, or St. Anna parish church. Decorative trophies on each side of the organ pipes include what appear to be rear-facing trombones (see right detail, left detail, and full image below; special thanks to Iris Tjoonk).
1850—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Louis Stanislas Xavier Verroust, Solo.
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3 trombonists are included in the Grand National Concerts at Her Majesty’s Theatre (Carse, Orchestra 492).*
Lithograph with decorative border that includes, among other instruments, 2 buccins and a serpent (see below image; public domain).
A lithograph accompanying Sigismond Stern’s Manuel élémentaire de musique includes depictions of “Lauréats du Conservatoire,” or the prizewinners of the conservatory, from the year 1849. Pictured are 6 brass players, including the trombonist in the below image (public domain) (Wangermée vol. 2, 192).
A print from The Illustrated London News titled M. Jullien’s Concert at Drury-Lane Theatre depicts an orchestra with at least one trombone (see below image; public domain) (Illustrated London News, Nov. 23, 1850).
Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 3, “Rhenish,” utilizes 3 trombones in the 4th and 5th movements, including an important chorale depicting the Cologne Cathedral and various melodic passages.
An illustration of a British infantry band by Ebsworth includes a trombonist (the player in the back facing outward, evidently having lost interest in the proceedings) (see below image; public domain).
Hector Berlioz praises Weimar trombonist Nabich, saying he could “do anything on it” (Macdonald 227).
1851—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Antoine Guillaume Dieppo, Solo.
An engraving by Johann Georg Heck in the Iconographic Encyclopaedia of Science, Literature, and Art features a man playing trombone on horseback in an army of the “modern age,” 15th and 16th centuries. The encyclopedia is based on Bilder Atlas zum Conversations-Lexikon, published in Leipzig, Germany, 1849-51 (see below image; public domain) (Iconographic Encyclopaedia vol. 2, pl. 17, accessed at biodiversitylibrary.org).
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Author Charles Dickens, in his story “Our School,” describes a trombone-playing usher: “He was rather musical, and on some remote quarter-day had bought an old trombone; but a bit of it was lost, and it made the most extraordinary sounds when he sometimes tried to play it of an evening” (Lightwood 45).*
1851–Boston, Mass: A woodcut from Gleason’s Pictorial Magazine (August 9, 1851) depicts the Boston Brass Band, which utilizes exclusively over-the-shoulder brass instruments (including trombones; see left side of below image; click picture to expand) (public domain image).
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The Goose Eye Band Books, an important early collection of brass band music that includes trombone parts, dates from this time (Herbert, Brass Bands 183).*
*
St. Florian, Austria: Anton Bruckner composes Psalm 116 (114), scored for 5-part choir and 3 trombones (Kinder 10).*
A cartoon from Punch magazine that includes a trombone accompanies the following poem: “What un-fairylike music steals slumber from me? Provoking a sentence that beginneth with D! ’Tis the voice of the trombone, Blown with might and with main, As it mingles its tone With the shrill cornet’s strain. The cabs are all hushed, And the busses at rest: But these sleep-murd’ring wretches The still streets infest. My ears from their torments No night-cap can save: So I groan for the summons To get up and shave” (see below image; public domain) (Punch 1852, p. 267).
*
Adolphe Sax invents a trombone with 6 independent valves and 7 separate bells (Carse, Musical 259).*
*
1852—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Girard, *Concertino.**
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Robert Schumann writes his *Requiem for Chorus and Orchestra,* Op. 148, a work he comes to see as his own funeral piece. The work includes 3 trombones (Chase 290).**
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A print by Janet-Lange entitled The Elections in England includes a rear-facing trombone (see detail below; public domain) (L’Illustration, July 17, 1852, p. 33).
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Among a number of instruments lost to members of the Milwaukee Musical Society in a fire is a “trombone alto” (Milwaukee Daily Sentinel).**
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H.G. Hine’s The Waits at Seven Dials portrays a group of “Christmas waits” or street musicians, including a trombonist. After the Municipal Corporations Act of 1835, there were no more official waits as funded by British municipalities, but ad hoc musicians would often form at Christmas time in hopes of raising money (see above image; public domain) (Illustrated London News, December 1853).**
The illustrated newspaper L’Illustration publishes a graphic, “La danse aux camps,” depicting a military celebration with a four-man dance band in the upper-left that includes what appears to be a rear-facing trombone (see facing image; public domain) (L’Illustration, vol. 22, July 23, 1853, p. 64).
**
1853—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Belloin, *Solo.***
Enderby Jackson, said to have invented the modern brass band contest, collaborates with John Jennison to run a brass band contest at the Belle Vue Zoological Gardens (Herbert, Brass Bands 180).***
Robert Schumann’s Allegro and Introduction in D for piano and orchestra uses a single tenor trombone in a long, exposed melody with first trumpet (Wills, Orchestra 162).***
A Düsseldorf magazine publishes an apparently satirical depiction of an all-female orchestra, including a trombonist seated at the front of the ensemble. The picture is labeled, “Damen-Conzert a la Strauss” (see facing image; public domain) (Düsseldorfer Monatshefte; Worbs 148).
St. Florian, Austria: Anton Bruckner writes Vor Arneths Grab, WAB 53, which is scored for male chorus and 3 trombones, for the funeral of Prelate Michael Arneth (Kinder 23).
Anton Bruckner’s Libera is scored for 5 voices, 3 trombones, and organ (Rasmussen, A Bibliography of Choral Music).
A drawing published in the French periodical, L’Illustration, features a trombonist-panhandler. The caption reads, “This poor dog moves the heart of my cousin. I cannot give less than a dollar” (see below image; public domain) (L’Illustration, Vol. 24, September 9, 1854, p. 172).
1854—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Antoine Guillaume Dieppo, Solo.
c. 1855—Artist Albert Kindler includes a trombonist in his painting After the Wedding. The trombonist stands in the musicians’ boat in the background (see below image; public domain).
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A photograph of the Cyfarthfa Band, a private brass band considered one of the greatest of the 19th century, shows an ensemble of 21 brass and percussion players, including 4 trombones. G.C. Bawden, one of the trombonists with the group, is also a cellist, violinist, and conductor of the Cyfarthfa String Band (Herbert, Cyfarthfa).*
Hector Berlioz, Te Deum,** calls for 6 trombones (3 doubled parts).
Von Gontershausen observes that the best German trombonists are abandoning their valve trombones, preferring instead the traditional slide instrument (Carse, Musical 259).
The Band of George IV is headquartered at the Pavilion at Brighton. It includes 6 trombones: an alto, a tenor, and 4 basses (Carse, The Prince Regent’s Band).
Heinrich Jenny includes trombones in his lithograph, Marten Banner Carrier and Swiss Military Musicians in Festive Procession (see detail below; public domain).
Le Lendemain de la Saint Sébastien, a painting by Jules Adolphe Breton, features a group of musicians that includes a woman playing trombone (see below image; public domain).
1855—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Charles Gounod, Solo.
An important collection of early music from the Black Dyke Mills Band, including parts for trombones, dates from this year (Herbert, Brass Bands 183).
Dieppo, Simon, and Dantonnet are trombonists in the Paris Opéra orchestra (Carse, Orchestra 494).
Franz von Suppé, famous for his German operettas, writes his Requiem in D Minor for his deceased friend, Franz Pokorny. Von Suppé utilizes 3 trombones prominently for the dramatic choral recitative, “Domine Jesu Christe,” as well as for an introduction and postlude in the “Tuba mirum” (Chase 298).
An illustration by Theodore Benecke titled Sleighing in New York includes a portrayal of a band performing from the balcony of Barnum’s Museum. The trombonist is playing a rear-facing trombone (see below detail; public domain) (New York Public Library, Eno Collection of City Views; Bowles, Timpani 295).
Theodor Hosemann’s watercolor, Kleine Blaskapelle, features a trio of brass musicians and a couple of curious onlookers (see below image; public domain).
Bridal Song, a watercolor and pencil image by Adolph and Alwine Schroedter, includes what appears to be a rear-facing trombone (see detail and full image below; public domain) (Museum Karlsruhe).
1856—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
François Théodore Labarre, Solo.
The publisher Glenisson and Sons publishes a print of military musicians that includes 2 rear-facing trombones (see below detail; public domain) (Catchpenny Prints of Royal Dutch Library).
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1857—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Henri Hippolyte Potier, *Solo.**
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A celebrated horn player by the name of J. Meifred develops the modern concept of tuning slides on brass instruments (Bate 182).**
Bass trombones from Henry Distin, Complete Catalogue of Military Musical Instruments (see below; public domain).
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Gustav Besson designs a valve trombone with 3 pistons dependants and a register (fourth valve), made in the shape of a tuba (Carse, Musical 259).**
An illustration of the band of the French National Guard published in London’s Illustrated Times includes trombone (see below image; public domain).
**
1858—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Charles Gounod, *Concerto.***
Johannes Brahms, discussing instrumentation in a letter to Theodor Avé Lallemant, insists, “On no account 3 tenor trombones! One genuine little alto trombone and, if possible, also a genuine bass trombone” (“Daß keine 3 Tenor Posaunen kommen! Eine ächte kleine Alt-Pos. u. wo möglich auch eine ächte Bass-Pos.”) (Avins 127). For similar wording by another composer of the era, see Berlioz’s note about a “true alto trombone” for Symphony Fantastique, above (1830).***
***
A sketch by Aldershot of musicians of the 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards, a cavalry regiment in the British Army, shows a trombonist among a number of military musicians riding on horseback (see upper-middle of facing image; public domain).***
Gounod’s opera, Faust, uses 3 trombones in orchestra, plus 2 e-flat altos and 1 tenor in a military band that appears on stage in 4th act.***
1859—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Antoine Guillaume Dieppo, Solo.
Manning the Navy, a painting by George Bernard O’Neill (1828-1917), features a trombonist as part of a naval recruiting party driving across London Bridge (see detail and full image below; National Maritime Museum, UK; public domain).
Brass manufacturer Carl Binder makes an alto trombone in E-flat. The instrument is now held in Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg. See below.
Tresor de l’imagerie Pelerin, a toy theater stage set, includes a depiction of a French pit orchestra that features a trombone prominently (see facing detail; public domain) (Bowles, Timpani 295; photo by Todd Weinstein).
Friedebald Gräfe, Concerto.
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The “B Series” part books of the famous Cyfarthfa Band include “Alto trombone,” “First Tenor Trombone,” “Second Tenor Trombone,” and “Bass Trombone” (Herbert, Cyfarthfa; Dudgeon, Keyed Bugle 32).*
c. 1860—Michigan, United States
A portrait painting on a cabinet card shows a valve trombone player (see below image; public domain) (special thanks to Tassos Dimitriadis and Mogens Andresen).
Artist Pancho Fierro depicts a trombonist performing with a wind band for a Peruvian wedding celebration in Fiesta de Matrimonio (see detail and full image below; public domain) (Lavalle 38).
1860—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Antoine Guillaume Dieppo, Solo.
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Italian-born trombonist Carlo Alberto Cappa joins the Seventh Regiment Band. He becomes conductor of the group in 1881 and performs as soloist with the band regularly until his death in 1893. One of the most influential American trombonists of his era, he also plays first trombone in the Theodore Thomas orchestra for 7 years, soloing multiple times with that group while in the position. He also plays with the Philharmonic in New York and Brooklyn for 5 years and Mapleson’s orchestra for 3 years (Guion, Four American).**
Theodor Hosemann’s lithograph, “Harzer Musikanten,” an illustration for the book, 52 Sonntage oder Tagebuch dreier Kinder, includes a trombonist playing with a small wind ensemble for a country dance (see below image; public domain).
A drawing for the cover of the piano-vocal score for Jacques Offenbach’s operetta, Les deux aveugles, features a man holding a rear-facing trombone, with a similar trombone along the border nearby (see below image; public domain) (source: Wikimedia commons).
Giovacchino Bimboni (1810-1895) is appointed professor of trumpet and trombone at the Cherubini Conservatory. He later writes a valve trombone method, Metodo per trombone a piston, between 1880 and 1889. Bimboni also invents a valve trombone called a Bimbonifono in which a separate rotary valve is used for each of the seven slide positions in an attempt to avoid the tuning problems of other valve systems. Below, a print by lithographer Giuseppe Ciardi shows Professor Bimboni with a valve trombone (see below image; public domain) (New York Public Library Digital Collection; Herbert, The Trombone 131, 332).
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Jules Worms depicts a somewhat villainous-looking trombonist in Le cabaret du Lapin-Blanc, an art work published in the periodical L’Illustration (see below image; public domain) (Vol. 36, 1860, p. 403).
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An early photograph of the famous Besses o’ th’ Barn band shows 2 trombonists among an ensemble of primarily brass instruments (see below image; public domain) (Baines, Brass pl. XIV). See also c. 1870, below.
Anton Bruckner’s Offertorium is scored for voices, 3 trombones, and organ (Rasmussen, A Bibliography of Choral Music).**
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The brass band competition at the Crystal Palace features a solo competition for bass instruments. The prize goes to a contrabass trombone player (Whitwell, 19th Century 198).**
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1861—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Henri Hippolyte Potier, *Solo.***
St. Florian, Austria: Anton Bruckner’s Afferentur regi is premiered, probably for the celebration of the feast day of St. Lucy. The best-known version of the work is set for chorus and 3 trombones (Kinder 41).***
August Bruhns performs the David Concertino at the Gewandhaus.***
1862—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Henri Hippolyte Potier, Solo.
Boosey and Sons becomes sufficiently interested in brass instruments to purchase patent rights to double-slide contrabass trombone, which they market as the Basso Profundo (Myers, Brasswind).
Concerto di Frascati, a watercolor depicting military musicians in the town of Frascati, part of metropolitan Rome, features trombone and ophicleide (see below image; public domain) (Italian Digital Library; Istituto per la storia del Risorgimento italiano).
1863—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Jules Demersseman, Solo en mi.
Two prints in the illustrated newspaper L’Illustration depict instruments by Adolphe Sax. The first, Audition des nouveaux instruments d’Adolphe Sax, shows a man demonstrating instruments on a stage. The second shows several instruments up close, including a “Nouveau trombone,” a six-valve trombone (see below image; public domain) (L’Illustration vol. XLIV, July 16, 1864, p. 48).
Jean-Baptiste Arban’s Grande méthode complete pour cornet a pistons et de saxhorn. The most universally used brass method, it is soon adapted for trombone.
1864—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Antoine Guillaume Dieppo, Solo.
Gustav Besson designs what he calls a trombone duplex, which includes both a valve section (3 valves) and a slide (Carse, Musical 259).
Washington, D.C.: The US Marine Band is photographed with a group of non-musician Marines in front of the Commandant’s house at the Marine Barracks. At this time the band employs 4 trombones, including the father of John Philip Sousa, Antonio Sousa (trombone player second from the right in the front row) (see below image; click to enlarge; public domain) (Garofalo & Elrod, 98).
1865—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Antoine Guillaume Dieppo, Solo.
A satirical graphic titled Domestic joys of parents whose daughters take part in women’s orchestras, published in Le monde illustré, includes a woman playing a rear-facing trombone (see below image; public domain) (Le monde illustré, 9, no. 442; Sept 30 1865).
A print by caricaturist Honoré Daumier depicting a group of country musicians (Musique de Fete Champetre) includes a rear-facing trombone (see below image; public domain) (Brandeis University Collection; Gartenberg 42).
A photograph of the 4th Lancashire Rifle Volunteers Band shows trombone players with alto, tenor and bass trombones (see below image; public domain).
David Martin Kanning publishes a print, Hamburger Bürger-Militair (Artillerie), which includes a trombone among a group of military musicians (see below detail; public domain) (Ryan 178).
A painting by artist Willem Constantijn Staring (1847-1916) depicts bandsmen of the 9th Regiment Infantry, including a pair of trombonists. Notice also the green-colored serpent (see below image; public domain).
Adolphe Sax manufactures a valve bass trombone. A very tall, narrow instrument, the lowest point apparently rests on the ground as it is played (Haine 151).
1866—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
François Bazin, Solo.
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German-born trombonist Frederick Letsch serves as soloist with the Theodore Thomas orchestra. The program for an 1866 concert at Irving Hall bills him as “the celebrated trombone soloist” and a performance at Steinway Hall announces him as “The Unequaled Trombone Player.” His repertoire includes David’s Concertino, Sachse’s Concerto, Giorgio Stigelli’s “The Tear,” and Peter Joseph von Lindpainter’s “The Standard Bearer.” According to Guion, Letsch performs as soloist with the Thomas orchestra at least 184 times (Guion, Four American).*
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Printer Franciscus Anthonius Beersmans publishes a woodcut, Ten strijde! (“To battle!”), that features several Dutch military musicians, including one with a rear-facing trombone (see below image; public domain) (Catchpenny Prints of the Royal Dutch Library).
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A trombonist by the name of Nabich performs the David Concertino at the Gewandhaus.*
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F. J. Fetis, in his orchestration guide published in the periodical The Musical World, says, “The compass of the trombone alto, like the bass trombone, is not alike in all countries; in Germany the dimensions of the tubes being larger than in France, and the manner in which some portions of it are disposed being different, the bass trombone descends to C, while in France, it only descends to E…The alto trombone is a fifth higher than the bass trombone, and descends to B-flat, reaching up to E-flat….Three parts are generally written for the trombones, which are called bass trombone, tenor trombone, and alto trombone. The tenor trombone part is sometimes played upon the bass trombone. Some composers write these three parts on the one set of lines, with the F, or bass clef; others the tenor part with the key or C upon the fourth line; others write upon the same set of lines, the tenor and bass trombone parts, and on the next lines write the alto trombone part. Others again write each part separately, and in the key of each instrument” (Fetis 477).*
*
1867—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Antoine Guillaume Dieppo, *Solo.**
A photograph of 3 trombonists of the Moravian community shows, from left to right, Charles F. Beckel, Jedidiah Weiss, and Jacob Till, with an empty chair in honor of their deceased colleague, Timothy Weiss (see below image; public domain) (Moravian Archives, Bethlehem, PA).
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Boosey becomes a major player in the brass market with purchase of Henry Distin’s instrument factory (Myers, Brasswind).**
**
1868—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Antoine Guillaume Dieppo, *Solo.***
Anton Bruckner composes the offertory Inveni David, scored for male chorus and 4 trombones (Kinder 66; Rasmussen, A Bibliography of Choral Music).***
A print by Alfred-Henri Darjou entitledThe Entertainers Behind the Barracks appears in the French illustrated newspaper, L’Illustration. Four musicians–flute, rear-facing trombone, ophicleide, and drums–rehearse together at a makeshift table (see above image; public domain) (L’Illustration vol. LIV, July 24, 1869, p. 60).***
Irish artist Daniel Maclise paints King Cophetua and the Beggarmaid, a depiction of a popular legend. The painting includes a trombonist as a member of the king’s party, the player’s instrument silhoutted against the blue sky behind the passing maid (see below image; public domain).
An anonymous depiction of a ball includes 7 musicians, probably Stadtpfeifer, performing dance music from a loft (see upper-left of below image; public domain) (Eisfeld, Museum Otto Ludwig; Salmen, Tanz im 19, 129).
A rear-facing trombone is featured in The Concert in the Garden Pavilion, an engraving by Capri, after an illustration by Anton von Werner (Der Trompeter von Säckingen,” 1860) (see below image; public domain).
1869—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Jules Louis Cressonnois, Solo.
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Part books from the Besses o’ th’ Barn band containing important large-scale arrangements by Alexander Owen for brass band, including trombone parts, date from this time (Herbert, Brass Bands 183).*
Carl Bernhard Schloesser’s Une Repetition General depicts a lively orchestra rehearsal, probably in Switzerland. A mixture of young and old players are represented, the trombonist taking a break to refresh himself (see below lithograph by Thielly after Schloesser; public domain).
A valve alto trombone is manufactured by Joseph Higham, bearing the marking, “Joseph Higham, 127 Strangeways, Manchester, Exhibition prize medal awarded London 1852 and Dublin 1863” (see below image; used by permission of Brass Players Museum: www.neillins.com/brass.htm).
English artist Robert Alexander Hillingford (1828-1904) paints Trombone Player. The unusual grip and posture of the player reflect a humorous struggle (not to mention the impossible configuration of the instrument’s tubing). See below image; public domain.
Pietro Borsari, an instrument manufacturer active in the late 19th century, makes what is called a tenor valve trombone in B-flat. The instrument is now held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. See below.
Adam Wirth’s trombone method, Posaunen-Schule für Alt, Tenor und Bass-Posaune…Instruction Book of the Simple and Valve-Trombone, written in both German and English, is apparently intended for a wide audience. It includes a “Table of the different Trombones” that shows alto trombone in E-flat (like the vast majority of written sources), valve and slide tenors in B-flat, and bass in F (see below image; public domain) (Herbert, Trombone 192).
First trombone teacher hired at St. Petersburg Conservatory (8 years after opening of school).
1870—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Olivier Métra, Concerto.
An engraving after a drawing by A. J. Levy (1845-1897) portrays a trombone playing with a brass band in the public square in Turnov (see detail below; public domain) (Volek plate 347).
A satirical lithograph by caricaturist De La Tramblais shows German Emperor Wilhelm I and Otto von Bismarck with a guitar and trombone, respectively, serenading an obviously unreceptive woman (see below image; public domain) (Victoria & Albert Museum).
Adolph Sax manufactures a valve bass trombone in F with six independent piston valves (Haine 175).
Giuseppe Verdi makes the following comment about bass trombone in a letter to his publisher about the forthcoming Italian premiere of Aida: “I must insist on the fourth trombone. That bombardon is impossible. Tell Faccio [the conductor] to consult the first trombonist if he thinks fit, to see what should be done. I should prefer a bass trombone, which is of the same family as the others: but if it proves too tiring and difficult to play, take one of the usual ophicleides which go down to low B. In short, do whatever you please, but not that devil of a bombardon which does not blend with the others” (Leavis, Cimbasso).
Léonce Schérer depicts a man with a rear-facing trombone in his lithograph, Souvenirs de la Commune (see below image; public domain) (Victoria & Albert Museum).
Franz Liszt completes his Requiem for Men’s Voices and Organ. The organ is supplemented with 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, and timpani for dramatic outpourings, including the “Tuba mirum,” “Lacrymosa,” and “Hosanna in excelsis” (Chase 280).
A lithograph titled A propos de la crise monétaire (“about the currency crisis”) from a series of prints by French caricaturist B. Moloch (B. Colomb) called Les Silhouettes de 1871 depicts a woman playing a rear-facing trombone, along with a well-dressed man wearing a sign asking for pity and donations (see below image; public domain).
Production records for Boosey & Co. show a surprisingly high number of alto trombones: 89 alto valve trombones in E-flat, 3 alto slide trombones in E-flat, and 2 alto slide trombones in F (Myers, Brasswind).
Paul Delisse runs the trombone studio at the Paris Conservatory (Dudgeon 195).
Date marked on unusually large bass trombone, now housed in Städt.Musik-instrumentensammlung, Munich. The instrument, pitched in F, has a typical slide extension handle, but also features a brace midway down the slide, probably to stabilize the unusually long, heavy slide. Overall length is 130 cm; bell diameter is 22.2 cm.
1872—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
A. Fessy, Solo de concours.
A humorous depiction of an ensemble titled German Band is published in The Graphic, an illustrated weekly newspaper (see below image; public domain).
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August Bruhns performs the David Concertino at the Gewandhaus.*
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1873—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Frederic Berr, *Air varié sur le Pirate.**
L’Alsace d’autrefois, an engraving from Le Monde Illustré, depicts a trio of musicians, including trombone, playing for a dance in old Alsace, France. 
Christmas Eve in a Spanish Church, a print after Miranda appearing in the Paris illustrated newpaper, L’Illustration, features a buccin, or trombone with a bell in the shape of a dragon’s head (see below image; public domain) (L’Illustration, January 4, 1873, pp. 10-11).
The Women’s Orchestra of Frau Amann-Weinlich, A woodcut after a drawing by Vincent Katzler, includes a female trombonist as part of a depiction of an all-female orchestra. The trombonist is situated in the upper-left (see below image; click to expand; public domain) (Schwab 159).
Angelo Inganni’s painting, Festa di nozze in un cortile (Wedding Party in a Courtyard) includes a trombone playing with a small ensemble (see detail and full image below; public domain) (Trieste, Civico Museo Revoltella).
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The brass band movement is dominated by 3 conductors: John Gladney, Alexander Owen, and Edwin Swift. Every Open Contest except one during this span is won by bands conducted by one of these 3. The standard brass band format is established during this time and features instrumentation favored by these 3 conductors. It includes 2 tenor trombones and a bass trombone (Herbert, Brass Bands 182).**
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The Moravians at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, an engraving by A.R. Waud published in Harper’s Weekly, depicts trombone ensembles performing from a church tower (“Funeral Notes”) and at a graveside service (“Burial Service”) (see below detail; public domain) (Harper’s Weekly, 1874, Issue 4/18, p. 346).
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Giuseppe Verdi composes his Manzoni Requiem, often called his “greatest opera,” in honor of poet-patriot Alessandro Manzoni. Premiered a year later at the Church of San Marco, Milan, the work calls for 3 trombones. The “Dies irae,” in particular, in which “volcanic anger is depicted by the powerful brass and timpani,” utilizes trombone prominently (Chase 300).**
**
1874—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Jules Demersseman, *Solo de concert en si.***
Harper’s Weekly publishes an engraving, entitled “Italian Acrobats,” after a painting by Román Ribera. It includes a man carrying a buccin, or trombone with dragon-head bell, which is possibly part of a one-man-band configuration (see below image; public domain) (June 20, 1874).
Richard Wagner completes Ring des Nibelungen, which features trombone extensively.***
Jules Denneulin’s painting, A Sad Recital, includes a trombonist performing in a wintry outdoor setting with what appears to be a town band (see below image, after painting by Denneulin; click to enlarge; public domain image) (Seidl, vol. 1, 122).
A set of paper theater figures by Matthäus Trentsensky for Der Letzte Zwanziger includes a bear playing trombone (see below image; public domain) (Germanic National Museum, Nuremberg).
Colección de Monos Filarmónicos, a satirical woodcut by Llorens Printing, depicts monkeys playing a variety of musical instruments, including a buccin, or trombone with dragon-head bell (see detail and full image below; public domain).
Artist Karl Jauslin (1842-1904) sketches a portrait of Hans Ramstein playing trombone (see below image; Museen Muttenz; public domain).
Polish artist Franciszek Streitt’s oil painting, Traveling Musicians Performing in a Galician Village, includes two trombonists (see cluster of musicians in front of largest building and cluster of musicians in front-center; public domain). Source: Lempertz Auction Hourse, Lempertz.com.
Franciszek Streitt’s oil painting, Dorfalltag (Everyday Village Life), includes a trombonist (see center of below image; public domain).
Polish artist Franciszek Streitt’s oil painting, Musicians in a Winter Landscape, includes a trombonist (see below image; public domain). A print after the painting with the caption “Am Wegweiser. Nach dem Oelgemälde von F. Streitt” is later published in 1882 (see second image below; public domain). Source: Wikimedia commons. 
Polish artist Franciszek Streitt’s oil painting, One False Note, includes a trombonist (see below image; public domain). Source: artnet.com.
Polish artist Franciszek Streitt’s oil painting, Musikanten auf frostiger Landstrasse dahinziehend (Musicians on a Frosty Country Road), includes a trombonist (see below image; public domain). Source: artnet.com.
1875—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Jules Demersseman, Solo de concours.
Harper’s Magazine publishes a humorous fictional piece, “The Story of a Trombone,” with illustrations by Charles Reinhardt. The story is about a man who lives below a French trombonist whose practicing has become an annoyance. “It is not to be endured,” the man complains to the landlord. “My rest is disturbed, my waking hours tortured, by this rasping fiend of a horn!” This complaining neighbor soon finds out, however, that the trombonist has an attractive daughter, and he is faced with the difficulty of putting aside his dislike for the trombonist’s playing in order to court the daughter (who, of course, is soon to join a convent). The conflict comes to a head when a fire threatens to destroy the apartment building and the daughter sends the suitor to rescue her father. After saving the father, the suitor is forced back into the flames to rescue the trombone (“I will not leave it to perish,” the father cries; “My dear trombone!”). In his escape after reclaiming the trombone, the suitor is ultimately saved by the instrument, the slide of which he bends in order to assist in scaling the wall of the burning building. The trombone is easily repaired, the father gladly gives his daughter’s hand, and they all live happily ever after. The captions to the illustrations read, “The cheeks of Monsieur Rigaud became like huge balloons” (upper-left image) and “Then I sprang over the yawning chasm” (upper-right image) (public domain) (Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, Vol. 51, No. 302 [July 1875], 225-230).
Breaking up of Our Summer Concert, an engraving by F.S. Church, is published in Harper’s Weekly. The picture includes a rear-facing trombone among several other instruments (see below image; public domain).
An image published by Pellerin, entitled French Music (Dragoons), depicts a group of military musicians on horseback, including one playing a rear-facing trombone (see facing detail; public domain) (Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilization).
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1876—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Jules Demersseman, *1er solo.**
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Robert Müller performs the David Concertino at the Gewandhaus. The review in Allgemeine musikalischeZeitung says, “Mr. Müller is to be commended for the tasteful handling of his instrument, and will certainly be successful with every educated audience” (Lewis, Gewandhaus).*
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Johannes Brahms, *Symphony No. 1.**
Caricaturist Adolf Oberländer features a trombonist in one portion of his print, Das Orchester (see below detail; public domain) (Nuremberg, German National Museum).
Artist Franciszek Streitt’s oil painting, Wandering Town Musicians, portrays an interesting grouping of trombone, horn, violin, and double bass, traveling along an icy country road. The setting could be Germany or the artist’s native Poland countryside (see below image; public domain) (Posen, Museum Naradowe).
A caricature by Solomon Eytinge and William Redding titled De Jubilee Am Come, featured in Harper’ Weekly, depicts a trombonist leading a procession of troops (see below image; public domain) (Harper’s Weekly 20, no. 1020, 15 July 1876).
Artist Jules Worms depicts an ensemble of musicians with animal heads for the cover the piano score of La Lutte Artistique (The Artistic Struggle), a quadrille by E. Marie. The trombonist has what appears to be the head of a rooster. The conductor, of course, is represented by a monkey (see below image; public domain) (source: Library of Congress).
Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Concerto for Trombone and Military Band. Written for the band concerts at Kronstadt, the imperial Russian navy base, while Rimsky-Korsakov is inspector of navy bands. Trombonist Leonov plays the first performance in 1878 with the composer conducting (Rimsky-Korsakov, My Musical Life 181).
Spanish artist Jose Garcia y Ramos features a trombonist in his painting, After the Concert (see below image; public domain).
1877—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Jules Demersseman, Cavatine.
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Johannes Brahms, *Symphony No. 2.**
A photograph of the Thoissey brass band, the band to which the famous French commander Jean Marchand belonged, includes at least 3 valve trombones. The photograph is later printed in the French illustrated newspaper, L’Illustration (see below image; public domain) (L’Illustration, June 3, 1899, p. 360).
**
1878—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Jules Demersseman, *Le Carnaval de Venice.***
The first Salvation Army band is formed, consisting of members of the Fry family: a father and 3 sons who play trombone, euphonium, and cornet (Whitwell, 19th Century 191).***
Benjamin Vautier’s painting, Dancing Break at an Alsatian Wedding, features a small group of musicians, including a trombonist apparently emptying the water out of his horn (see below image; public domain). Click image to expand.
Camille Saint-Saëns publishes a version of Requiem, op. 54, with reduced orchestra, wherein the only brass utilized are 2 horns and an offstage trombone (Chase 289).***
Polish artist Franciszek Streitt’s oil painting, Muzykanci (Musicians), includes a trombonist (see below image; public domain). Sources: mutualart.com, artnet.com.
Polish artist Francisz Streitt’s painting, Wędrowni muzykanci(Wandering Musicians), features a trombone player among 5 musicians (see below image; public domain).
Polish artist Franciszek Streitt,’s painting, Nowy rok—pozdrowienie poranne (New Year—Morning Greeting) includes a trombonist (see below image; public domain). Source: MutualArt. This painting has also been called Twilight Serenade in a version that is more yellow (see second image below). Source: Bamfords Auctioneers & Valuers.
Polish artist Franciszek Streitt’s painting, Musicians at a Crossroads, includes a trombonist (see below image; public domain). Source: MFABoston, collections.mfa.org.
Harper’s Weekly publishes John George Brown’s engraving, The German Band, which includes a trombone playing in the back of a small band on the street (see facing image; public domain). The description reads, in part, “The painting from which our engraving is made is also a faithful study from the streets of New York. The German bands are becoming a feature here, and there can be no doubt in the minds of our citizens that, if we are to be compelled to listen to music whether we will or no, at almost any hour of the day or evening, the brass band is a great improvement on the Italian hand-organ. To say nothing of the superior strains of music to which they give expression, there is rarely any likelihood that more than one band will play on a single block at one and the same time, whereas three or four organ grinders may inflict their discordant airs at once upon our agonized and frenzied ears” (Harper’s Weekly, August 26, 1879, p. 325).***
John Gordon Thomson, The Waits; or, Out in the Cold (Fun magazine, December 17, 1879). See below; public domain.
1879—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Jules Demersseman, Concerto (1er solo).
Harper’s Weekly magazine publishes an engraving titled “The Afghan War—The Fourth Goorkhas Marching through the Bazar, Jelalabad” that includes a trombone at the front of a military band (March 15, 1879, 208-209) (see below image; public domain). The 2nd Anglo-Afghan War is a conflict between British India and Afghanistan, and the Fourth Gurkhas is a regiment of the Indian army.
A poster by publishing firm C. Burckardt advertising for a circus features a life-sized caricature of a trombonist (see below image; public domain).
Vorstudium für den Pfingstchoral, an engraving after Th. Lederström, features an aproned trombonist (see below image; public domain).
An artist from the English School creates a color lithograph of a frog playing trombone. The lithograph is subsequently made into a New Year card (see below image; public domain).
1880—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Jules Demersseman, Solo de concours.
London-born trombonist Frederick Neil Innes, who had moved to Boston at the age of 20 become a popular soloist with Patrick Gilmore’s band, is called “the best trombone player in this country” in an interview given by Gilmore. In 1880-81 Innes tours Paris, Berlin, Hamburg, and St. Petersburg as a soloist. Several years later (1893), the Chicago Herald reports, “All the press of Europe combined in hailing him as the exemplar of a new school of playing this instrument (Guion, Four American).
A pen and wash drawing by Hugo Kauffmann features a trombone in a wind ensemble setting (see below image; public domain).
“Eine ziemlich lange Wurst,” a lithograph illustration in Märchengarten, Lustige Bilder und Geschichten für die Jugend, features a small band leading a very long sausage. The image is after a watercolor by Karl Offterdinger (see below image; public domain).
Before this date, Polish artist Franciszek Streitt’s oil painting, Village Musicians on Tour, depicts 6 somewhat ragged winter travelers, including a trombonist with his horn aloft, apparently hailing another group of travelers (see below image; public domain).
Polish artist Franciszek Streitt’s sketch (pen, ink on paper), Muzykanci, perhaps a sketch for an unknown version of his country musicians, includes a rear-facing trombone (see below image; public domain; source: MutualArt).
A valve alto trombone with 3 Périnet valves is made by manufacturer Henry Pollmann (Heyde, Metropolitan).
A poster for Edmond Audran’s operetta, The Mascot (La Mascotte in the original), features a trombone player. The comic operetta, set in 17th century France, is a popular success in France, as well as, shortly thereafter, at New York’s Bijou Theatre and in Brighton, England (see below image; public domain) (source: Library of Congress).
The newspaper Gazzetta Musicale di Milano runs an article titled “Visit by Verdi to the Pelitti factory,” detailing Verdi’s interest in the contrabass trombone. It says, in part, “Verdi having, however, expressed certain wishes regarding the range of the trombone basso, Cav. Pelitti undertook to build a new one for the following Thursday which would satisfy the Maestro’s requirements. Verdi, accompanied by maestro Boito and signor Giulio Ricordi, went accordingly on that day to the Pelitti factory where repeated experiments were made with the new trombone in B flat pitched one octave lower than the tenor. The new instrument gave splendid results regarding range, timbre, sonority, power, ease and facility of execution, blending perfectly with the other trombones. Resulting from this, two B flat tenor trombones, a bass trombone in F and the new bass trombone in B flat are necessary in order to achieve a trombone quartet that is perfect, homogeneous and effective without bringing into the orchestra a timbre from the band that would affect the instrumental blending of the various instruments” (Meucci).
1881—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Georg Friedrich Haëndel, Air varié sur Machabée.
Benjamin Vautier’s painting, Jahrmarkt, features a small group of musicians, including a trombonist, performing at a marketplace (see detail and full image below; public domain). Click full image to expand.
Harper’s Weekly publishes a print by illustrator Thurs de Thulstrup titled The Music Festival in the Seventh Regiment Armory. Depicted from a viewpoint of the back of the orchestra are what appear to be 2 trombone players (see below image; public domain).
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Vladislav Blazhevich, trombonist, composer, and pedagogue, writes numerous important method books and solo works for trombone. Methods include School for Slide Trombone (1925), 26 Sequences for Trombone (1946), Concert Duets for Two Trombones (1948), and Clef Studies for Trombone (1948).*
Vladislav Blazhevich, age 21
Artist Carl August Wilhelm Zimmer (1853-1937) depicts a trombonist among a group of brass musicians in the painting The Bowling Champion (see below image; click to expand; public domain) (source: wikimedia commons). For another painting by the same artist that includes trombone in an outdoor setting, see The Orchestra, Biergarten, below (c. 1900).
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1882—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Jules Demersseman, *Solo de concours.**
Dodworth of New York advertises several instruments for sale, including an alto trombone in E-flat (Raleigh News and Observer).
Poem appearing in the publication Music includes the following derogatory stanza about trombone: “The trombonist when playing looks savage and severe; He loves the works of Wagner and the scores of Meyerbeer; He loves the drums and trumpets; his head is always bent; He has lots of execution and little sentiment” (Slonimsky 304).
1882-Leipzig, Germany: Wedding Procession, after the oil painting by Adolf Eberle. See detail and full image below; public domain.
James Dromgole Linton, The Minstrel Gallery, an illustration for Illustrated British Ballads, Old and New, vol 2 (see below; public domain).
Jean Beraud’s painting, The Box by the Stalls, offers a view, through a patron’s box seat, of a Parisian orchestra. Included is a clear depiction of a trombone (see below image; public domain).
Englishman Hastings Charles Dent visits church near town of Pitanguy in Minas Gerais, Brazil, and is entertained with music that includes “guitar, trombone and concertina.” He asks the priest “why they had no sacred music, only dance music in church; he said the people were not educated up to it yet, but he hoped in time to introduce it.”
Oscar Coon publishes his text, Harmony and Instrumentation, and says the following about the trombone in the orchestra: “In this country, the Alto and Bass are seldom seen, and the three Trombone parts are played on Tenor Trombones….The prevailing fashion of getting as much noise as possible from a few instruments seems to sanction this abuse of one of the noblest instruments in the orchestra” (Coon 73).
Oscar Coon publishes his text, Harmony and Instrumentation, which says the following about trombones in military bands: “Slide trombones in the full Military Band should not be treated like the E-flat Tenors in a Brass Band. They are to be held in reserve for the strong, sonorous chords, and for the heavy, crashing effects of the grand climax. It is not to be inferred from this that they are out of poace in piano passages. On the contrary, most beautiful effects can be obtained from Trombones played pianissimo” (Coon 238).
1883—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Jules Demersseman, 3e solo.
Royal Waits Outside Marlborough House (London residence of the Prince of Wales), a caricature by an unidentified artist, includes a trombonist playing with a small group of musicians in the cold (see below image; public domain).
Thurmbläser, a print by Carl Schultheiss, features a group of trumpets and trombones performing from a tower (see below image; public domain) (Illustrirter Katalog der internationalen Kunstausstellung im Königl, September 1883).
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The Musical Standard, a wide-ranging British musical periodical with a publication run of 72 years (1862-1933), publishes the following as part of an unsigned review of the Leeds Festival: “The constitution of the Leeds orchestra for large choral works has proved as before to be a satisfactory one; and generally it is that adopted at Birmingham, with the wood wind doubled. Sir M. Costa’s first experiment included the doubling of the brass as well, but experience proved this to be unnecessary, so the brass remains the same as usual, save that two trumpets and two cornets are secured to form the upper group. Sir Arthur Sullivan deserves to be complimented upon his efforts to secure the proper trio of alto, tenor, and bass trombones. The French custom of using three in B flat, and the usual plan in England of employing two tenors and one bass, are not altogether satisfactory. The bass trombone in G is necessary to do justice to the lower notes below F, and the alto is equally necessary for the proper sustentation of the upper part, for the tenor cannot produce with effect the high B natural, C, etc., which appear in the scores of the great masters, as in ‘Elijah’” (emphasis added; Leeds Festival 240).*
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Johannes Brahms calls for 3 trombones in his *Symphony No. 3.**
The Great Rival Advertising Shows to “Boom Up” Stocks, a print by Bernhard Gillam, is published in Puck (v. 14, no. 339). It shows three advertising sideshows, one of them represented by a man playing a rear-facing trombone (see below image; public domain).
A print from G. Bruno’s Le tour de la France, depicting the principal musical instruments of the time, includes a rear-facing trombone (see below image; public domain) (Bruno 53).
Gustave Chouquet’s catalog of holdings of the Paris Conservatory includes a print of a buccin, or trombone with dragon-head bell (see below image; public domain) (Chouquet 161).
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1884—Frederick Niecks, in *A Concise Dictionary of Musical Terms,* provides the following
“Trombone. A brass wind instrument with a slide, by which means it can extend its compass downwards, and produce all the chromatic notes within this compass….Besides the notes comprised in the compass…each of the three trombones has four so-called ‘pedal-notes:’ those of the alto and bass trombones, however, are bad and not easily practicable; and of those of the tenor trombone (B-flat, A, A-flat, G), only the first three are good, the fourth being difficult to produce….Three is the usual number of trombones employed in the orchestra. But the bass trombone is becoming more and more rare, and instead of it a second tenor trombone is frequently employed. In France we find even three tenor trombones. Besides the slide trombones there are also valve trombones, which, however, are inferior with regard to tone” (Niecks 246).**
A photograph labeled Sell’s Bros Side Show Band, Prof. Solomon White, leader, features a group of 10 African American brass and percussion players, including valve trombone (see below image; public domain).
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1884—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Jules Demersseman, *1er solo de concert.***
Military musicians from the The Gordon Highlanders, a British army infantry regiment from 1881 to 1994, are depicted in an image subtitled Drummer and Bandsman. The regiment takes its name from the Clan Gordon and recruits largely from Scotland (see facing image; public domain). For a similar image, see 1908 in the 20th century timeline.
Anton Bruckner calls for 8-part chorus, organ, and 3 trombones in his motet, Ecce sacerdos magnus. The piece is written for celebrations marking the one-hundredth anniversary of the founding of the diocese of Linz and is specifically intended to be performed while the Bishop enters the church (Kinder 113; Rasmussen, A Bibliography of Choral Music).***
Johannes Brahms utilizes 3 trombones in chorale style in his Symphony No. 4.
1885—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Jules Demersseman, Solo de concours.
An illustration by Leon Benett in Mathias Sandorf, and adventure novel by French author Jules Verne, includes a trombone (see below image; public domain).
Boosey & Co. makes 13 different “Case Model” trombones (instruments made in collaboration with trombonist George Case), including alto in E-flat; slide trombone in C; trombones in B-flat small, [standard], medium and bass; bass slide trombone in G; and bass slide trombone in F. One unique feature of these instruments is the tuning slide at foot of the hand slide (Myers, Brasswind).
Artist Hugo Kauffmann’s artistic depiction of musicians includes a trombonist (see below image; public domain) (special thanks to Whelden Merritt).
A photograph of the Sunderland Monkwearmouth Salvation Army Band shows trombone players with alto, tenor and bass trombones (see below image; public domain).
Jean Béraud’s painting, Theatre Variétés, shows several instruments of a pit orchestra, including trombone (see bottom-right of below image; public domain) (Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Paris).
A print by M. Eugene Chaperon entitled La répétition, published in L’Illustration, features a pair of trombonists rehearsing with a band (see below image; public domain) (l’Illustration vol. 86, September 12, 1885, pp. 172-173).
Peter G. Thomson publishes a print of paper soldiers figures, called Brass Bands, which includes a trombone (see below image; public domain) (Ryan 280).
A political cartoon published by Puck magazine targeting the labor movement includes a depiction of an orchestra with a trombone player (who represents the “anarchist press”). See below image; public domain.
The French periodical L’Illustration publishes Au conservatoire: Classe de trombone, professeur M. Delisse (drawing by Paul Renouard), a depiction of the trombone studio of the Paris Conservatoire (see facing image; public domain) (L’Illustration, vol. 88, 1886, p. 56). Paul Delisse, the instructor named, was trombone professor at the Paris Conservatoire from 1871 to 1888 (Herbert, Trombone 136).
1886—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Hedwige Chrétien, Solo (andante et allegro).
Camille Saint-Saëns, Symphony No. 3, includes important trombone solo.
Ricardo Villegas Cordero paints After the Mass. The painting features children playing a buccin and a standard trombone, as well as another child picking up a buccin (see below image; public domain).
Hippolyte Perrin’s painting, Instruments de musique, includes two trombones (see below image; public domain) (museé des Ursulines).
Arcadi Mas i Fondevila’s painting, El Corpus Christi, includes a valve trombone (see detail and full image below; Museo del Prado).
Verdi’s Otello makes prominent use of trombones.
1887—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Jules Demersseman, 1er solo de concert.
Georges Seurat draws a crayon and chalk study that features a trombonist as a preparatory drawing for his painting, Circus Side Show/Parade de cirque (see below image for drawing and 1888 for painting; public domain images) (Philadelphia Museum of Art).
Georges Seurat depicts a circus trombonist in Parade de cirque (see below image; public domain). In contemporary photographs the circus that Seurat portrays, identified as the popular Cirque Corvi, reveals a trombone hanging from a pillar near its entryway. Advertisement posters of the time depict a clown standing on the central pedestal occupied by the trombonist in Seurat’s painting (Herbert, Seurat 137-143). An exact contemporary of Seurat’s work is seen in Fernand Pelez’s Grimaces and Misery, which depicts a similar scene, this time with two clowns on the central pedestal and three musicians, a clarinetist, trombonist, and bassoonist, seated to the right of center (see below) (Herbert, Seurat 152).
When Koussevitzky enters the Moscow Conservatory, trombone and string bass are the only 2 instruments that can be learned there without the payment of fees.
A series of cigarette cards advertising W. Duke Sons & Co. cigarettes depicts women playing various musical instruments, one of the cards depicting a woman holding what appears to be a valve trombone (see detail and full image, below; public domain).
An engraving published in Harper’s Weekly features the Bethlehem Moravian trombone choir playing by torchlight for arrivals at the Easter Dawn service (see below image; public domain) (Harper’s, March 31, 1888).
An image in Harper’s Weekly portrays Moravian trombones accompanying singing at the town cemetery at an Easter sunrise service (see detail and full image below; public domain).
Andrea Calmo reports that the civic wind band, consisting of 16 cornetti, tromboni, and pifferi, together with a drummer, plays for an hour each evening in front of the town hall (“palazzo publico”) (Rasmussen, Tower Musicians).
1888—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Jules Demersseman, Cavatine.
Erik Henningsen’s painting, Vagtparade, features several valve trombones in a military band (see below image; public domain) (Copenhagen, State Museum for Art).
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Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Russian Easter Overture includes a prominent 2nd trombone solo.*
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Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade includes a 2nd trombone solo.*
Fernand Pelez’s Grimaces and Misery depicts poor circus workers situated on a platform, including a group of three seated musicians (see detail and full image below; public domain) (Musée du Petit Palais, Paris).
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Louis Allard runs the trombone studio at the Paris Conservatory (Dudgeon 195).*
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Author George Bernard Shaw, in his music criticism column, comments on his family exposure to trombone: “I believe that a taste for brass instruments is hereditary. My father destroyed domestic peace by immoderate indulgence in the trombone; my uncle played the ophicleide—very nicely, I must admit—for years, and then perished by his own hand. Some day I shall buy a trombone myself.”*
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Author George Bernard Shaw, in his music criticism column, comments on an instrument he had seen at an exhibit: “At the Inventions Exhibition Messrs Rudall and Carte displayed a double-slide trombone, which I felt insanely tempted to purchase. Of the merits of this instrument I was, and am, wholly ignorant, except that I inferred that its ‘shifts’ were only half as long as on the ordinary trombone; and I ascertained that its price was 13 guineas. If ever I have so vast a sum at my command I shall probably buy that trombone, and ask Herr Richter to engage me for the next concert at which the Walkürenritt or Les Francs Juges is in the program” (Shaw, Corno di Bassetto 79).*
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Author George Bernard Shaw, in his music criticism column, discusses trombone performance practice in the orchestra: “Bye the bye, I do not agree with Musigena that Mr Manns keeps his brass too quiet at the Crystal Palace. I admire two things at Sydenham: the brass and Mr Manns himself. The strings are often snappish and mechanical, the wood wind stolid; but the brass is generally noble. I have never heard the statue music in Don Giovanni more finely played than at Mr Mann’s centenary recital of that masterpiece; and this is as much as to say that Mr Manns feels for the trombone like Mozart and myself. But I certainly believe that the time is approaching when it will be admitted that the doubling, trebling, and quadrupling of the strings which has taken place in the modern orchestra requires a proportional multiplication of wind instruments to balance them….And though I never want Mr Manns’s trombones to play four times as loud—the trombone being a tender plant that must not be forced—I sometimes want twelve trombones instead of three” (Shaw, Corno di Bassetto 79).*
An engraving published in Harper’s Weekly titled The Seventh Regiment Band on the March features a half dozen trombones in the front row (see below image; public domain).
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Harper’s Weekly magazine runs an image, titled “Quartette of Trombones” (see below image), accompanied by the following somewhat odd (and wildly inaccurate) paragraph about the history of the instrument: “The invention of the trombone has been attributed to Tyrtans, who made it from the bark of a tree, in 685 B.C. Moses, the law-giver of the Scriptures, was the first man to bring into prominence trombones, which were used at palm festivals and also at coronations. Among the ruins of Pompeii was found a trombone with a gold mouthpiece, which was afterward presented by the King of Naples to King George III of England. In the year 1520 an instrument maker, Herr Hans Menschel, in Nuremberg, made and perfected the slide trombone, which is considered the most perfect of the brass instruments. Pope Leo X was so fond of the trombone that his Holiness ordered two to be made of pure silver. Mozart was the first composer to use it in the orchestra. Since his time it has taken its place among the indispensable instruments. In Gilmore’s band there are three solo trombones and one bass” (Harper’s Weekly, 1889, Issue 9/28, p. 788).
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An engraving in La Ilustración Española y Americana depicting the wedding of princess Borghese in Rome includes a trombone with a music ensemble (see detail and full image below; public domain).
Two images from Randolph Caldecott: A Personal Memoir feature the trombone (see below 2 images; public domain).
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César Franck, *Symphony in D Minor.**
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Richard Strauss, *Don Juan.***
1889—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Adrien Barthe, Solo de concours.
Friedrich Alwin Heckel makes an alto trombone in E-flat. The instrument is now held in the National Music Museum in South Dakota. The museum points out the title of “Royal Saxon Court Instrument Maker (Königlich Sächsischer Hofinstrumentenmacher)” and remarks that this instrument “constitutes a nicely preserved example of the type of romantic German trombones being manufactured at the turn of the century” (nmmusd.org).
Small-bore Courtois-type trombones popular in France, England, and in bands in U.S. Players in American symphony orchestras prefer large-bore German instruments, influencing development of modern American symphonic trombone (which combines the features of both, but continues to favor large, German-type instruments).
A photograph of a children’s Posaunenchor includes a pair of trombones (see below image; public domain).
Antonio Lonza’s painting, Newly Married Couple, includes a trombonist as part of an ensemble performing outdoors for a wedding celebration. The trombone appears to have a double slide (see below image, after Lonza painting; public domain) (Seidl, vol. 2, 325).
Victor Ewald, a civil engineer who had studied cornet and composition at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, composes Quintet No. 1 for Brass for a group of amateur musicians who perform on cornets and saxhorns. Ewald goes on to write 3 more quintets for the same instrumentation (Wallace, Brass Solo 243).
A painting by Otto Piltz (1846-1910) depicting a quintet of string players includes what appears to be a trombone hanging on the wall (see below image; public domain).
1890—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Jules Demersseman, 1er solo.
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Author George Bernard Shaw writes in his music criticism column, “Some time ago I suggested that Mr Manns should give us some medieval trombone and organ music at the Saturday concerts. Consequently I should be praising myself if I were to applaud the selection of Heinrich Schütz’s Lamentatio Davidis for performance on Saturday. Besides, the chief credit on this score must surely be due to Mr George Case, who probably induced the Wind Instrument Society to bring it forward at a concert last month. I guess this because I first heard the work in 1885 at South Kensington, where he played it with Mr Geard and Messrs J. and Antoine Matt, the voice part (taken by Mr Henschel on Saturday) being sung by Mr Stanley Smith. On that occasion they also played Luther’s Eine feste Burg, which I can recommend to Mr Manns if he feels disposed for more trombone music. We all know the trombone in its melodramatic moods; but its noblest qualities never come out so impressively as when it is treated in what I may call a spirit of pure counterpoint” (Shaw, Corno di Bassetto 384).*
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Author George Bernard Shaw writes about trombone in his music criticism column: “The Valkyrie Ride, which came next, excited the audience furiously; but it also made a lady on the orchestra put her fingers into her ears. The lady was quite right. The Valkyrie Ride requires above all things fine trombone-playing—such playing, for instance, as Mr. Manns seldom fails to get at the Crystal Palace from Messrs Hadfield, Geard, and Phasey, who generally contrive to stop short of that brain-splitting bark which detaches itself from the rest of the orchestra, asserting itself rowdily and intrusively in your ear, preventing you from hearing the music, and making you wonder, if you accept the hideous din as inevitable, how Berlioz could ever call such an ignobly noisy instrument ‘Olympian.’ No matter how many fortissimo marks the composer writes, there is no use in forcing the tone of the trombone, unless, indeed, you are to be intentionally hellish, as in Liszt’s Inferno. But if you want to be majestic, as in the Valkyrie Ride and the Francs Juges overture, then it is not to be done by bawling like a mob orator who does not know his business. Why Richter permits forcing, and even encourages it, not only in the Valkyrie Ride but in the first movement of the Tannhäuser overture, can only be explained as the result of his share of original sin. It is not that his players cannot do better: they are always dignified in the Valhalla motif in the Nibeling music. I once heard Herr Müller, Richter’s first trombone, play the ‘oraison’ in Berlioz’ Sinfonie Funebre et Triomphale very finely. But on Monday week the only tolerable brazen sound in the piece came from the other side of the orchestra, where Mr. Geard was playing the bass trumpet part on an alto trombone. During the few bars in which the theme was left to him the lady did not keep her fingers in her ears; and the volume of sound from the orchestra was greater instead of less than when his colleagues were blaring away, because the accompaniment could be heard through his transparent and musical tone, whereas the others drowned everything else with their distracting rattle. I am not squeamish about the quantity of sound that comes from an orchestra: the more thundering its fortissimo, the better I like it. I delight, for example, in Richter’s tremendous handling of the Rienzi overture. But I am fastidious as to the quality of the tone, however voluminous it may be; and, frankly, the Valkyrie Ride might as well be conducted by Buffalo Bill as by Richter, if some regard is not paid to the artistic spirit, if not to the snobbish expression, of Sterndale Bennett’s remark about treating trombone-players as gentlemen. I am aware of the full horror of recommending to Richter a precept by the Mendelssohnian Sterndale Bennett; but I cannot help that: much as I respect Richter, and appreciate the relief he brought us thirteen years ago in the midst of a dire music famine, I am not going to be tromboned out of my senses for him or any conductor alive when the remedy is so easy” (Shaw, Music in London, 17-19).*
H. König, Thurmbläser am Ostermorgen (see below; public domain).
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Antonin Dvorak composes his Requiem, which calls for 4 trombones (Chase 260).*
An anti-jazz cartoon by F. Bildestein, published on the cover of the newspaper The Mascot, depicts a rear-facing or over-the-shoulder trombone (see below image) (public domain image; source: wikimedia commons). Click for larger image.
Explanatory notes from an exhibition of musical instruments includes the following about the trombone family in England: “The family of trombones consists in the present day of the alto in e-flat or f, the tenor in B-flat, and the bass in G or F. The F bass trombone is in constant use in Germany, but unfortunately is little employed in this country” (Day, Descriptive Catalogue 176).
The rebuild of St. Michael and All Angels church is completed. One of the nave windows, completed by Alex Booker, includes a depiction of an angel playing trombone, coupled with another playing cymbals (see facing image; public domain) (Wilson, North East Norfolk and Norwich: Norfolk 1, 409).
According to Paine et al., trombone continues to be used in the German Stadtpfeifer. The authors mention this fact in the context of discussion of a particular Polish vocal tradition: “…the singing of ‘Hajnaly,” or Morning songs, from the towers of Cracow to wake the inhabitants, a custom which reminds one of that soothing musical substitute for bells—a trombone performance of chorals—on South German church towers, not yet obsolete even in Stuttgart” (Paine, Famous Composers 855).
Rimsky-Korsakov, in his Principles of Orchestration, includes the following about trombone: “Trombone. Dark and threatening in the deepest register, brilliant and triumphant in the high compass. The piano is full but somewhat heavy, the forte powerful and sonorous. Valve trombones are more mobile than slide trombones, but the latter are certainly to be preferred as regards nobility and equality of sound, the more so from the fact that these instruments are rarely required to perform quick passages, owing to the special character of their tone” (Rimsky-Korsakov 24).
1891—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Hedwige Chrétien, Grand solo (Andante et Allegro).
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The following trombonists are listed for the Chicago Symphony’s inaugural season: O. Gebhardt, W. Zeller, and J. Nicolini (Otis 415).*
A postcard features an image of two Victorian children playing with a trombone. The trombone appears to have an slide extension handle (see facing image; public domain).
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1892—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Jules Demersseman, *Fantaisie sur le Carnaval de Venice.**
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Some instrument manufacturers begin to offer both small-bore and medium-bore tenors. However, according to Baines, “large bore became a stock model only considerably later” (Baines, Brass 55).*
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Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, in his Mlada, writes what is probably the earliest notated trombone glissando (Wills, Orchestra 173).*
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Arthur Pryor joins the Sousa band (Herbert, Trombone 148).*
Willem Geets paints Puppet Theatre at the Court of Margaret of Austria (Mechelen 1515). It belongs to a series of paintings by Geets, depicting, 500 years after the events, the young Prince Charles as he was raised in Mechelen at the court of his aunt, Margaret of Austria. The picture includes a trombone (possibly an alto trombone) performing in a small wind ensemble accompanying a puppet show (Museum Hof van Busleyden). See below image; public domain.
1892—San Francisco, California
A photograph of John Philip Sousa and the Marine Band includes trombones (see below image; public domain).
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1893—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Jules Demersseman, *Cavatine en sol.**
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Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 6, “Pathétique.”**
Rimsky-Kovsakov writes the following about his trombone concerto (in a chapter later posthumously published as part of his autobiography): “During 1876-77 I composed, so to speak ‘by the way’ variations for oboe…and a concerto for trombone; both of these with the accompaniment of a military (wind) band. These pieces were performed by the oboist Ranishevski and the trombonist Lyeonoff at the Cronstadt concerts of the United Bands of the Naval Department, under my direction. The soloists gained applause, but the pieces themselves went unnoticed, like everything performed at Cronstadt….These compositions of mine were written primarily to provide the concerts with solo pieces of less hackneyed nature than the usual; secondly, that I myself might master the virtuoso style, so unfamiliar to me, with its solo and tutti, its cadences, etc. The finale of the trombone concerto was not bad, taken all in all, and was effectively orchestrated” (Rimsky-Korsakov, My Musical Life 181).
Gabriel Fauré reorchestrates his Requiem, in the second version adding 3 trombones (Chase 262)
A contrabass double-slide trombone by Jérome Thibouville-Lamy is manufactured according to the model of Halari-Antoine (Heyde, Metropolitan).
Nouvelle méthode de trombone a 3 et 4 pistons (clé de sol), a valve trombone method by Jean-Baptiste Schiltz (1807-1868), is published in Paris (see below image; public domain) (National Library of France).
Arthur Pryor performs extensively as trombone soloist with John Philip Sousa Band, playing many of his own virtuosic compositions. Pryor’s virtuosic performances earn him the nickname “Paganini of the trombone” and help establish trombone as a solo instrument in United States (Wallace, Brass Solo 246). One reviewer, speaking of a solo performance with Sousa in Omaha, Nebraska, says, “His execution set the prairies afire; his vibrating pedal notes rattled the windows of the Theater and killed the gold fishes and stunned the canaries all the way out to the packing plant where even the iron gates trembled” (Herbert, Trombone 148).
Arthur Pryor is featured soloist with the John Philip Sousa Band at the World’s Columbian Exposition (Guion, Four American).
Giuseppe Ascalone says the following about the timbre of trombones in his Manualetto: “While on its own the bass tuba is an excellent orchestral instrument on account of its gentle voice, both agile and weighty, its dark sound is unpleasing to the ear when heard in conjunction with the clear tone of the trombones” (Meucci).
Adrien Lagard’s Metodo de trombón de tres y cuatro pistons, Spanish translation (see below; public domain) (National Library of France).
Joseph L. De Good files a patent for a “trombone-gage.” In his words, “I have devised what I have termed a ‘position indicator,’ which is attached to the fixed and sliding tubes having indices thereon by which the end of the sliding tube can be readily adjusted” (De Good) (see below image; public domain).
The Concert Trombone Quartette, advertising in the Musical News, provides endorsements from The Daily Telegraph and from Frederick Bridge, organist of Westminster Abbey. The quartet, comprised of T. Colton, F.W. Davis, E. Atherley, and R.H. Booth, features members of the London Symphony, Royal College, and Royal Italian Opera (see below image; public domain) (Musical News, Dec 8, 1894, p. 494).
A lithograph by A. Douhin for the cover of a piece of music, “Pizzicati par Ernest Gillet,” includes a trombonist among a group of costumed musicians serenading a woman (see detail below; public domain) (Les Images 98).
1894—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Adrien Barthe, Solo de concours en ré.
Gustav Holst, Duo Concertante for Trombone and Organ (also known Duet for Organ and Trombone). First documented performance occurs in 1895 at the Highway Congregational Church in Cheltenham by Adolph von Holst (organ) and J. Boyce (trombone).
c. 1895—New Orleans, Louisiana
Trombonist William Cornish joins trumpeter Buddy Bolden’s band as possibly the earliest known jazz trombonist (Bolden himself often being considered the first jazz musician). Jazz pioneer Kid Ory later describes seeing and hearing Cornish perform, usually on valve trombone, at around the turn of the century (Dietrich 15) (see above photograph of Bolden’s band, with Cornish holding valve trombone; public domain; source: wikimedia commons).
Paul Weschke (1867-1940) is solo trombonist of Royal Orchestra of Berlin. He is known for his remarkable range (see 1935 entry, below); his own composition, Carneval in Venedig, requires considerable virtuosity and ascends to double high b-flat (Lenthe).
A Ringling Brothers circus poster advertises “A superb preliminary musical festival” by Liberati’s Band, billing the ensemble as “America’s grandest military concert band.” Pictured is a large band with 10 trombonists (see upper-right of below image) (public domain).
1895—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Jules Demersseman, 1er solo de concours.
Brass instrument manufacturer Oskar Ullmann makes an alto trombone in E-flat. The instrument is now held in Museum of Musical Instruments, Staatliches Institut für Musikforschung. See below.
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Richard Strauss, *Till Eulenspiegel.**
A Barnum & Bailey Circus poster printed by Stobridge Lithograph advertises Carl Clair’s Grand Military Band and Orchestra, making the claims, “The greatest musical organization in the world” and “The finest body of skilled musicians that ever traveled.” The depiction of the ensemble shows 3 trombones (see detail and full image below; public domain).
A photograph of the John Robichaux Orchestra shows a varied grouping of instrumentalists, including slide trombonist Baptiste DeLisle (see facing image; public domain) (source: wikimedia commons).
Richard Strauss, Also Sprach Zarathustra.
1896—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Hedwige Chrétien, Solo en si mineur.
Gustav Mahler, Symphony No. 3. Contains three of the most extensive orchestral trombone solos in the literature.
A painting by Alice Barber Stephens depicts the Bethlehem Moravian trombone choir at an Easter Dawn service. A bass trombone with extension handle is clearly shown in the front row. The tower of the Central Moravian Church, from which the trombone choir frequently performs, can be seen in the background (see below image; public domain) (Sweitzer 8).
Mathews and Liebling, in their Dictionary of Music, define trombone as “A very powerful instrument of the trumpet species, but much larger and with a sliding-tube” (Mathews).
The Illustrated London News publishes a print by A. Forester called Rival Waits, featuring a trombonist with aggressive technique (see below image; public domain) (Illustrated London News, Dec 19, 1896).
1897—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Paul Vidal, Solo de Concert, No. 2. One of the oldest French recital pieces that still remains available.
Engraving by Karl von Siegl (1842 Lancut-1900 Vienna) after a 1633 ivory carving from Biecz, Poland. See engraving and original 1633 carving, below (public domain).
1898—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Samuel-Alexandre Rousseau, Piece Concertante.
1898—Colorado Springs, Colorado
Trombone is included in a circus band for Sunflower Carnival (Western History Genealogy Department, Denver Public Library).
Richard Strauss, Ein Heldenleben.
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According to Mansfield, “At the funeral of that great English statesman, the Right Honourable William Ewart Gladstone, in Westminster Abbey, May 28, 1898, there were performed (we believe for the first time in England) Beethoven’s three Equali for four trombone, the trombones and drums uniting with the organ at various points during the service. The four trombone players—two altos, a tenor and a bass—were stationed in the chantry of Henry V, above the high altar. Says a writer who was present, ‘The hushed stillness which pervaded the noble fane was broken with indescribable tenderness as the sustained chord of D minor fell upon the ears of the great congregation in tones of weird simplicity and exquisite pathos.’” Mansfield mentions a specific trombone ensemble: “Their use at Mr. Gladstone’s funeral was due to the action of Mr. George Case, the alto of the London Trombone Quartet, by whom they were played on that occasion” (Mansfield).*
George Case, alto trombonist of the London Trombone Quartet
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A trombonist from The King’s Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster), an infantry regiment of the line of the British Army, is shown in military regalia (see below image; public domain).
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A poster advertising a touring “Rag Time Opera,” By the Sad Sea Waves, depicts a trombonist playing with piano. The duo, according to the caption, is “Playing ‘to beat the band!'” (see below image; public domain) (source: Library of Congress).
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A circus poster for Barnum & Bailey’s Greatest Show on Earth features an 8-member clown band, plus conductor, that includes a trombone. The advertisement, with text printed in French, is from the circus’s European tour of 1897 through 1902 (see below image; click to expand) (public domain).
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1898—Christchurch, New Zealand
A photo of the Christchurch Cycling Brass Band published in the New Zealand Wheelman includes 2 trombones (see below image; click for larger version; public domain) (supplement, May 18, 1898).
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A French engraving from Nouveau Larousse Illustre shows many musical instruments, including a serpent, an ophicleide, a valve trombone, and a slide trombone (see below image; public domain).
A catalog of brass instruments for the firm of Julius Heinrich Zimmermann shows a fairly diverse offering trombones, including alto, tenor, and bass trombones in both valve and slide models (see below image; public domain) (Moeck 106).
1899—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Georges Pfeifer, Solo.
Camille Saint-Saëns, in his Portraits et souvenirs, reminisces about his years at the Paris Conservatory: “I loved its antiquity, the utter absence of any modern note, its atmosphere of other days. I loved that absurd court with the wailing notes of sopranos and tenors, the rattling of pianos, the blasts of trumpets and trombones, the arpeggios of clarinets…” (Fisk 142).
Louis Anquetin (1861-1932), a respected anti-Impressionist artist, publishes a lithograph of trombonist Marguerite Dufay. Part of the “Les Maitre de L’Affiches” series, it portrays a woman categorized among comique excentrique entertainers of the popular Parisian music cafes. Marguerite Dufay is said to have performed throughout Paris at its many music halls (see below image; public domain) (Charles Hiatt, Picture Posters: A Short History, p. 113; Ervine Metzl, The Poster: Its History and Its Art, p. 50).
William James Henderson, in his orchestration text, says the following: “The trombone is one of the noblest of all orchestral instruments. When it sounds ignoble, it is either because its part is not well written or because it is badly played. In respect of register there are three principal kinds of trombones—alto, tenor, and bass. The alto has a compass extending from A at the bottom of the bass clef to the E flat in the top space of the treble clef…The alto trombone is in E flat….The tone of the trombone is grave and majestic, but it may be made to rage hoarsely. In all solemn or broadly dignified music trombones play a conspicuous part” (Henderson 34).
In a theme that can be connected to Georges Seurat’s painting of a circus trombonist in Parade de cirque (see 1888, above) and Luciano Berio’s famous Sequenza V for unaccompanied trombone, a clown is depicted playing trombone on the cover of the sheet music for the popular song, “She was Born in Old Virginia,” originally from a music supplement to the New York Journal and Advertiser (see below image; public domain) (New York Public Library Digital Gallery).
William J. Glackens, in an illustration for Arthur Colton’s story, The Portate Ultimatum, includes a trombone among a band in a crowded street in an imaginary South American city (see below image; public domain).
Eugen Reiche, Concerto No. 1. Reiche, a German trombonist who immigrates to Russia, plays with the St. Petersburg Opera and becomes trombone professor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory.
Four firefighters play cards around a small table while four trombones are carefully balanced in front of them (see below image; public domain).
A carnival band dressed as women in folk costumes includes multiple trombones (see below image; public domain).
A photograph of the Trombone Choir of the Moravian Church in Emaus, Pennsylvania is published (see below image; public domain).
Wilhelm Carl August Zimmer depicts a German village band that includes a trombonist in The Orchestra, Biergarten (see below image; public domain; source: wikimedia commons).
Trombone Player, a painting by Carl Siegfried Stoitzner (1866-1943), features a player who has apparently found his way to the cellar during a practice break (see below image; public domain).
A photograph shows the legendary bandmaster-composer John Philip Sousa conducting a band with a trombone soloist (see below image; public domain). The photo is held by the US Library of Congress.
1900—Paris Conservatory morceau de concours
Pierre de la Nux, Solo de Concours
1900—The Philadelphia Orchestra, in its first season, lists the following trombonists
C. E. Gerhard, F. H. Hartmann, and Paul P. Lotz (Kupfurberg 219).
An image by Cederström (probably Ture Nikolaus Cederström, 1843-1924) entitled Concert in the Monastery is reproduced in Elson’s 2nd volume of Famous Composers and their Works. Among the 8 monk-musicians is a trombonist (see below image; click to expand; public domain) (Elson, Famous Composers vol. 2, 15).
Out in the Cold, a cartoon from Punch magazine by Edward Linley Sambourne, depicts the Ex-President Paul Kruger (trombone) and Ex-State Secretary Willem Leyds (clarinet) of the South African Republic (Transvaal) busking outside a house where an elderly woman (Dame Europa) stands on the step. See below image; public domain.