Klarinet Archive - Posting 000072.txt from 2011/01

From: "Dan Leeson" <dnleeson@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Trombones in K. 626
Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2011 12:42:31 -0500

It is not a complete answer to your question, but try this:

The repertoire of trombone solo and chamber literature has its beginnings in Austria in the Classical Era where composers such as Leopold Mozart, Georg Christoph Wagenseil, Johann Albrechtsberger and Johann Ernst Eberlin were featuring the instrument, often in partnership with a voice. Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart used the trombones in a number of their sacred works, including two extended duets with voice from Mozart, the best known being in the Tuba Mirum of his Requiem. The inspiration for many of these works was no doubt the virtuosic playing of Thomas Gschladt who worked in the court orchestra at Salzburg, although when his playing faded, so did the general composing output for the instrument. The trombone retained its traditional associations with the opera house and theChurch during the 18th century and was usually employed in the usual alto/tenor/bass trio to support the lower voices of the chorus, though Viennese court orchestra Kapellmeister Johann Joseph Fux rejected an application from a bass trombonist in 1726 and restricted the use of trombones to alto and tenor only, which remained the case almost until the turn of the 19th century in Vienna, after which time a second tenor trombone was added when necessary. The construction of the trombone changed relatively little between the Baroque period and Classical period with the most obvious feature being the slightly more flared bell than was previously the custom.

The first use of the trombone in a symphony was in 1807 in the Symphony in E? by the Swedish composer Joachim Nicolas Eggert, although the composer usually credited with its introduction into the symphony orchestra wasLudwig van Beethoven, who used it in the last movement of his Symphony No. 5 in C minor (1808). Beethoven also used trombones in his Symphony No. 6 in F major ("Pastoral") and Symphony No. 9 ("Choral").

Dan Leeson

----- Original Message -----
From: "Martin Baxter" <martinbaxter1@-----.com>
To: "The Klarinet Mailing List" <klarinet@-----.com>
Sent: Monday, January 10, 2011 9:15 AM
Subject: Re: [kl] Trombones in K. 626

> Dan
> I did say 'or in the opera house'. I know that technically "Magic Flute" isn't an opera, but I think I did cover that one.
> If trombones were "generally available to him" it seems odd that neither his symphonies nor his wind works use them. (Imagine a hyper-grand partita for SIXTEEN wind instruments!!! (with contra bassoon of course). What a lovely dream for 2011!!!
> Martin
>
> On 10 Jan 2011, at 15:45, Dan Leeson wrote:
>
> It is wrong to suggest that trombones were not usually available to him. A
> work written just before the Requiem (and maybe even at the same time as the
> Requiem) uses three trombones. I refer to Magic Flute. However, you are
> correct that he uses trombones, like basset horns, sparingly. And in the
> case of the Requiem, he was almost certainly knowledgeable about the fact
> that the work was intended for performance in the sticks, about 45 miles
> away from Vienna. So the fact that he wrote for them suggests that they
> were (or could be made to be) generally available.
>
> Dan Leeson
>
>> Dan
>> Am I correct that at this time the only times trombones would be readily
>> available would be attached to churches or in the Opera House. Perhaps
>> Mozart was merely taking the opportunity to write for instruments that
>> were not usually available to him.
>> Martin
>>
>
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