Andrew Stiller wrote:
And of course, in the 20th-21st centuries, "tenor trombone" really means tenor-bass trombone, w. a trigger. I know a lot of first-trombonists prefer the old simplex tenor, because it is lighter in weight and 1st trb. parts almost never need the trigger, but it seems to me that most composers these days assume that even the first trombone can and will play down to low C, not to mention the pedals.
This is source of frustration for our first trombonist, who (with justification) believes that contemporary tenor trombone parts routinely are too low. Perhaps this is because we tend to learn it as a bass clef instrument now, even though traditionally it most certainly is not.
I have never been impressed by the timbre difference betw. T-B trombone and bass trombone,
I think this all is part of the homogification of trombone sound. My preference is a brighter trombone sound easily distingushable from a french horn or euphonium, but (at least a few years ago) all the trombonists seemed to be striving for the same darkness as those other instruments. In that world, large bores and large mouthpieces are the order of the day, and the difference between tenor and bass is completely blurred.
But it was not always thus, and the re-emergence of the alto trombone I hope may signal a re-emergence of differentiated trombone sounds in general as an ideal. Yin/yang.
In my personal case, my bass trombone part calls for sustained, exposed pedal F's at ppp dynamic. While this note is technically equally possible on the tenor/bass instrument the 2nd player is playing, only the bass trombone player is living his life for the chance to play this note. The difference between the bass and the tenor trombone is as much attitude as it is axe.
-- Robert Patterson http://RobertGPatterson.com _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
