Andrew Stiller wrote:
Thank you, Ray for straightening this out so accurately. I had thrown
up my hands at any attempt to clear the air on this one, but you have
done so admirably. My one quibble:
Before valves, in Germany a low F trombone was a "bass trombone" and
was similar bore size to today's large bore tenor. It was a rare
instrument, much more common was a Bb "bass" with no valve.
Trombones in those days were almost always were almost always scored
in threes, designated alto, tenor, bass. They were in Eb, Bb, and F
respectively (lowest note of the bass routinely given as C below the
bass staff). These are the exact same sizes in wh. they had been
manufactured since the 16th c.
I cannot imagine what a (valveless) Bb bass trombone would be, nor how
it could play the low notes Eb, D, Db, or C.
Andrew Stiller
Kallisti Music Press
http://www.kallistimusic.com/
Yes, you give the generally accepted knowledge on that subject.
Nevertheless, according to some recent scholarship in the area, from
Howard Weiner, particularly, also Ken Shifrin, that generally accepted
knowledge is more than likely dead wrong. Howard has spent a good
portion of time in Europe researching this subject, studying
instruments, paintings and all that jazz, and has concluded that by the
time of Mozart the bass trombone in F was quite rare, and even the alto
was not all that available. Often times "alto, tenor and bass" referred
to three Bb instruments played simply with different mouthpieces..
I know the F bass was rare, and considered very difficult to play. A Bb
bass was much more the norm. I am not certain just how rare was the alto.
The low notes on the bass trombone part were played as _falset_ notes,
what modern players often call "fake notes." These start at low Gb in
first position, meaning a low Eb in 4th, D in 5th, etc. Quite playable,
especially on smaller bore instruments, esp. on instruments that do not
focus as well as modern ones. Howard has found a few 18th century
charts that show these positions.
I particularly asked Howard on line a couple of years ago about the bass
trb part in Haydn's Creation, which would not be playable on an F bass.
It would be playable on an Eb bass, but I knew that these would be
unlikely. His reply was - almost certainly a Bb instrument with falset
notes.
RBH
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