At 11:50 PM -0400 6/21/06, Raymond Horton wrote:
Tchaik 1st trombone parts are written for tenor, as are nearly everything after Brahms. The clefs, as time went on, do NOT always indicate choice of instrument, nor do the names on the part, which were sometimes supplied by the publisher (example Bruckner symphonies - 1st parts are labled "alto", but unplayable on alto.)
--
See Ken Shifrin's excellent Oxford PHD thesis on this and more, excerpted at:
http://www.trombone-society.org.uk/resources/articles/shifrin/shifrin01.php
--
Ray, thanks so much for this reference! I found the
Introduction and Preface quite interesting, and will be working my way
through the rest of it. (I've have always had a special interest
in instrumentation and orchestration, and cherish some of Berlioz'
comments in his "Traite"!)
While I understand the rationale for starting with Beethoven, if
one is concentrating on symphonic literature, I do question this
sentence from the Preface:
"Because the alto joined the orchestra
on the backs of the tenor and bass trombone, composers prior to Wagner
did not so much choose between the alto and tenor for the sake of tone
colour, but were stuck with the ATB combination. "
In no sense that I know of did the alto join the orchestra
"on the backs of the tenor and bass trombone." In
fact, when Beethoven introduced the trombone section in his 5th
Symphony, he simply took over the practice that Mozart had followed in
a great deal of his church music, doubling the alto, tenor and bass
choral lines with alto, tenor and bass sackbutts. (I use the
older term deliberately to distinguish the trombone pre-1800 from the
trombone post-1800, just as keyboard specialists speak of the
fortepiano and the pianoforte with the same general meanings.
There was, of course, lots of overlap.) Mozart's sackbutts
blended wonderfully with voices, whereas a trio of modern large-bore
trombones will blow a 100-voice chorus off the stage, especially when
the alto part is attempted on an 88-H!
The "brass band" music of composers just before Bach
called for (judging by range and tessitura as well as clefs) 2
cornetti and alto, tenor and bass sackbutts.
In a graduate seminar, our class was given photocopies of pages
from a European manuscript containing music from around 1500 (Isaac)
to around 1620 (Schütz). I had pages with a Schütz motet,
copied from his publication of the Psalms of David in about 1619, and
on the alto, tenor and bass chorus lines were clearly written
indications "con tromboni" and "senza tromboni."
(The 16th century, of course, was the century during which instruments
were first produced in families of at least 3 sizes covering the alto,
tenor, and bass vocal ranges.)
Monteverdi's use of sackbutts in "L'Orfeo" (1607; used
only in the scenes in the underworld, thus confirming the mindset that
tromboni sounded like hell! ;-)) is in 5 parts, with the clefs
suggesting alto, 3 tenors and bass, which matches the distribution of
a good many 16th century madrigals, masses and motets.
There is also the suggestive name of one of the early 16th
century Italian frotola composers, Bartolomeo Tromboncino (Bart who
plays the little trombone!, c.1470-1535). Sounds like an alto to
me!
John
--
John & Susie Howell
Virginia Tech Department of Music
Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A 24061-0240
Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034
(mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED])
http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html
Virginia Tech Department of Music
Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A 24061-0240
Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034
(mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED])
http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html
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