Musical Performance

In the score the music for the trombone is written in a bass or tenor clef on the stave over and sometimes beneath that of the timpani. The compass is two octaves and a sixth. The sound, produced by means of a shallow cupped mouthpiece which is lip vibrated, is powerful and rich in harmonics.

The trombone is the only naturally chromatic wind instrument in the orchestra. The long cylindrical tube has only two bends or bows, one terminating in the bell and the other in the mouthpiece. The instrument is held up almost horizontally in front of the player. The forward portion of the U-shaped tubing is telescopic; this the player holds with his right hand, sliding it in and out to shorten or lengthen the air column, thereby obtaining a series of different fundamentals and sets of harmonics.

The name is the augmentative of tromba and the trombone is the largest instrument in this family. Earlier it was called the sackbut, sometimes written saggbutt. The etymological derivation of this earlier name is in doubt. One early 18th century dictionary charmingly but inaccurately explains that it is `sacabuche — to fetch the Breath from the bottom of the Belly because it requires strong Breath’ — which of course it does. But the word could come from a Spanish root describing a type of pump, or, most probably, from the French sacqueboute, a lance with a hook used to unseat riders in battle (Old French: saquier, to draw out, and bouter, to push.)

The sackbut was well known in the early 14th century. In appearance it differs little from the modern trombone and the technique of playing has therefore remained unchanged, although quicker slide technique has been developed.

The sackbut was a popular member of the bands of kings and princes and was played at all manner of rituals, ceremonials and feasts. Then it was often played in consort with the cornett — a small curved horn pierced with finger holes whose sound was appreciated for its wonderful resemblance to that of the human voice. The sackbut was written for by Gabrieli (1557-1612) and Monteverdi (1567-1643), but its full potential as a chromatic instrument was not exploited until later. Neither sackbuts nor trombones — as they were soon called — were written for as solo instruments but always in groups of four to eight. ‘A single trombone seems out of place. The instrument needs harmony . . .’ wrote Berlioz, although Mozart included an obbligato in his Requiem. Today the normal complement of the symphony orchestra is two tenor and a bass.

The timbre as well as the role of the sackbut was different in the 5th and 16th centuries. It had thicker walls and a narrower bore; the bell was less flared and the mouthpiece was shallower. The result was a softer voice and, at the risk of over-emphasizing this characteristic of early instruments, it had a more human sound. It was much used to support plainsong in churches, its ability to sound microtones being ideal where subtle church modes were concerned. This role of supporting vocal music continued down the centuries from Monteverdi to Mozart and Dvorak and was not unknown in church choirs in England at the end of the last century. Both Bach and Handel used the trombone to double the vocal line.

It might seem obvious that an instrument of such simple and ideal acoustical design would need no improving, but when the day of the piston valve arrived in the early 19th century, it was inevitable that attempts should be made to apply it to the trombone. These were a failure. The first valves were applied in about 182o, but it was discovered that wrapping a long, narrow cylindrical tube into too many tight loops altered the timbre of the instrument too drastically. In an article of 1889 in Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians, the author, a trombonist, doesn’t mention the valve trombone at all. (He does however compensate by offering the following passage of memorable historical information: ‘A band composed exclusively of Trombones has been formed, and it is stated to have been particularly fine. It was attached to the elder Wombwell’s show of wild beasts.’)

Trombonists did in fact change to the valve system when it was introduced, but soon changed back to the slide. The only alterations that can be said to have been made to the instrument over the centuries are in the configuration of the mouthpiece, from conical to cup-like, and in an improvement in the slide mechanism by the use of different metals less affected by friction. Some models have spring buffers to take the shock when the slide is returned smartly to the closed position. Today trombones are made to three different bore specifications: narrow for the French, medium for the English and wide for Americans and Germans.

Of beautiful constructional and acoustical simplicity, the trombone is the ideal instrument for demonstrating the laws of harmonic progression. The slide has seven different positions, the distance between them diminishing progressively towards the closed position. Each position produces a different set of seven harmonics and thereby a complete range of chromatic notes throughout the compass. Pitch can be refined by lip control and slight adjustments of the slide. Since the slide has to be moved for almost every new note, every note has to be articulated and legato is barely possible. Glissandi are easy, but only over the interval of an augmented fourth. A limited number of shakes or trills are also possible and the fluctuations of pitch sometimes called for are produced by lip control.

The first trombonist in an orchestra will usually play the ordinary B flat or tenor instrument. The second trombone, however, will often play a tenor with two rotary valves, giving him a choice of B flat, E or F. Using a valve changes the slide positions, but with two valves and the first three positions (together with his all-important ‘lip‘) the trombonist can play just about the whole of the repertoire of the instrument.

The bass trombone is nowadays made in the same pitch as the tenor instrument, but with a larger bore as well as the two rotary valves, giving its lower notes that special bass authority. The musician buying a trombone, by the way, can optionally have the third valve in a different key if he likes, for an instrument of different flexibility.

A contrabass trombone, for which Wagner and Mahler wrote, is a very heavy instrument, described by one trombonist as a ‘tank.’ It is essentially a slide tuba, and although it is still manufactured by at least one firm (in the U.S.), it is rarely seen, and in British orchestras its music is usually played on a tuba.

The trombone was somewhat neglected after its period of comparative importance in the i6th and i 7th centuries when it was appreciated as a status symbol, as well as a sympathetic supporter of singing. It was not until the time of Berlioz and Wagner that it retrieved some of what Berlioz described as its ‘epic’ character. Before that there were occasional passages in operas — the statue scene from Mozart’s Don Giovanni for example — and oratorio. As the symphony orchestra developed the trombone was slow to be accepted as a regular member. Celebrated symphonies by Mozart and Haydn do not include it at all. Beethoven used it sparingly, but to spectacular effect, in his Fifth Symphony, for example. Beethoven also wrote three Funeral Equali or short quartets for trombones, and two of these were played at his funeral. Weber included it in his overture to Der Freischutz, blowing something like a small raspberry, and in Schubert’s `Great’ C major symphony three trombones play an important role throughout. Rossini is of particular interest because he wrote bravura passages in his operas for the valve trombone which are all but unplayable on the slide.

From the end of the 19th century all the great symphonists scored for three trombones and it is rare indeed, even in the most extravagant scores, that this number is exceeded; and when it is, as in Mahler’s Eighth Symphony and Richard Strauss’s Alpine Symphony, the additional trombones are played off stage.

Among the best known themes in music is that of Wagner’s Tannhauser overture; this is declared separately by both tenor and bass trombones.

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