• Home
• About
  • Constitution
  • Executive Board
  • Officers
  • Regional Reps
  • Board of Advisors
  • ITA Affiliation
  • Advertising
  • Privacy Notice
  • Copyright
  • Legal Disclaimer
• News
  • News
  • Events Calendar
  • Submit News/Event
• Competitions
  • Competitions
• Forum
  • New since last visit
  • List all Forum areas
  • Register
  • Login
  • Search the Forum
  • Forum FAQ
  • Classified adverts
• Resources
  • Current Articles
  • Archived Articles
  • Tips from the Top
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
  • Audio Library
  • Gallery
  • Links
• Membership
  • Membership Options
  • Check Membership

Printer Friendly Version Mail a Friend

Discuss this Article

Ken Shifrin: The Alto Trombone in the Orchestra: 1800-2000

Chapter 1: From Beethoven to Schumann

1:1 Beethoven

Although Beethoven was not responsible for introducing the trombone section into the concert orchestra, he was the earliest composer of stature whose symphonies contained trombone parts.

Chez Beethoven les trombones remplissent un rôle plutôt décoratif; ils sont destinés à augmenter la quantité sonore, à entourer de tout l'éclat imaginable une composition grandiose ou pittoresque. Ils n'apparaissent sur le champ de bataille instrumental que vers la fin de l'action, en guise de réserve, afin d'appuyer un effort suprème, de frapper le coup définitif.¹

In the Fifth Symphony, Beethoven holds the trombones in reserve until the opening of the Finale which Berlioz described as a 'coup de foudre' (a 'thunderbolt'):²

Tout l'orchestre, aidé des trombones qui n'ont point encore paru, éclat alors dans le mode majeur sur un thème de march triomphale...³

Montagu finds it curious that Beethoven should have waited until this point in the symphony (when it changes from C minor to C major) before bringing in the trombones, since the fully chromatic trombones, unlike the natural horns and trumpets, were the only brass instruments capable at that time of playing the minor third, E flat.⁴ He concludes that 'it was presumably for the sake of their weight and tone colour at the moment of blazing triumph that he wanted the trombone'.⁵ In a letter to Graf Oppersdorf, Beethoven explained his decision to use the trombone section:

Das letzte Stück der Sinfonie ist mit 3 Posaunen und flautino – zwar nicht 3 Pauken, wird aber mehr Lärm als 6 Pauken und zwar bettern Lärm machen.⁶

The alto trombonist must enter 'cold' on a c" at fortissimo after sitting tacet through the first three movements.⁷ Indeed, the alto's tessitura during the entire movement is extreme, with a range of ab to f". Many of the notes are easily 'split' (and often are). By scoring an f" for the first trombone at bars 453-54, Beethoven assured himself an infamous place in history as far as future generations of trombonists would be concerned.⁸ Of the entire standard orchestral repertoire, this would prove to be the first and (so far) the last f" required of the first trombonist – the highest note that would ever be demanded. Curiously, his teacher Albrechtsberger had cautioned writing above c" for the alto trombone.⁹ One notes that Fröhlich¹⁰ in 1811, like Albrechtsberger¹¹, cites eb" as the highest note attainable on the Eb alto trombone. Indeed, Prout in 1898 also gives eb" as the highest possible note on the Eb alto,¹² and Forsyth writes in 1914 that 'the four semi-tones above eb" are for all intents and purposes unplayable'.¹³ This would have meant that Beethoven's f" for the Eb alto trombone, as well as the e" at bars 803-5, were, technically speaking, a practical impossibility.¹⁴ Beethoven's first trombonist may have played this symphony on an F alto, if one existed.¹⁵ As the f" is in unison with the piccolo, oboes and clarinet, one cannot discount the possibility that it was omitted and 'cause[d] many a fine first trombonist to shake his head'.¹⁶ Ironically, Widor held that Beethoven composed for the trombones 'dans leur vrai register',¹⁷ and that in this respect he and Weber were similar.¹⁸ However, as we shall see, Beethoven and Weber in fact wrote for the first trombone in very different registers.

Rhythmically, throughout the Finale of the Fifth Symphony, the trombones generally do not play the up-beats that are otherwise played by the full orchestra. They function mainly as harmonic reinforcement and are limited to simple rhythms. In only one tutti passage - the third bar of the opening theme with a rare up-beat – are they given anything shorter than crotchets to play.

1:1:1 The uncompleted orchestral brass choir

Gevaert states that:

Le grand symphoniste oppose le trio des trombones au deuxième groupe, accru des trompettes, de la même manière que celui-ci est opposé au quatuor, c'est à dire comme un organisme doué d'une mobilité moindre. Il lui assigne en conséquence des rythmes et des formes mélodiques plus simples qu'aux autres instruments à vent, lesquels, à leur tour, reçoivent une figuration moins abondante que les instruments à archet.¹⁹

Beethoven's inclusion of the trombone trio did not, as some might contend, establish the orchestral brass choir, as the trumpets, horns and trombones seldom function as a unit. According to Gevaert, the addition of the trombones to the orchestra:

... a pour résultat de constituer les cuivres éclatants en choeur à cinq voix: aux deux dessus viennent se joindre la haute-contre, la taille et la basse. Par la prépondérance de cet ensemble puissant, le champ d'activité des voix individuelles se trouve forcément rétréci: les nuances délicates s'évanouissent quand de violents contrastes entrent en jeu... Bien que ces instruments appartiennent légitimement à la famille des trompettes, Beethoven (à l'exemple de Gluck) les traite presque toujours comme un groupe spécial contenant en lui-même une harmonie plus ou moins complète.²⁰

Often the trombone parts have more in common with those of the woodwinds than with those of the trumpets and horns. As shown in Ex. 1.1, the passage from bars 7 to 15 in the last movement of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, is interesting, for although the trombones, bassoons and clarinets function together, Beethoven curiously assigns the trombones different note-values from the woodwinds. In bar 7, for example, the first trombone and bass trombone double the first clarinet and contrabassoon respectively, but the trombones play dotted crotchets versus the woodwind's minims. It appears that Beethoven was taking into account the tendency of trombones to lag behind due to the distance of their position at the back of the orchestra.²¹ This would also seem to account for the dotted crotchet rest in bar 8 – clearing the trombones a quaver early so they would not intrude upon the three-quaver pick-ups played by the upper woodwinds, horns and first violins. But in bar 9, which is identical to bar 7, Beethoven this time gives the trombones the same note-values as the clarinet and contra-bassoon; in bar 11 we are back to dotted crotchets against minims. Bar 10 is also perplexing. This is the same material as that of bar 8, but now the bass trombone plays a dotted crotchet E against the alto and tenor's minim tied to a quaver. In bar 12, ironically, Beethoven demands a staccato fourth crotchet from the clarinets and bassoons but not from the trombones, who with their heavy voice would have a tendency to sound longer than the lighter woodwinds. In bar 13, while the bass trombone doubles the contra exactly in minims, the first two trombones double the clarinets and bassoons but with shorter notes. This means they are also playing shorter notes than the third trombone of the section. The same occurs in bar 15. Inevitably, bars 10, 13 and 15 can feel wrong to the trombone section.

While some of these inconsistencies may be attributed to a copyist's error – certainly this could be the case for bar 12, for the staccato marking does not appear in the recapitulation – one wonders whether the scoring of the trombones came as an afterthought to Beethoven, who perhaps sketched their parts in rather hastily.²²

With regard to modern performance practice, today's trombone section will scrupulously distinguish between bars 7, 9 and 11, and it is open to speculation whether this is what Beethoven intended.

As Gevaert points out:

D'habitude les trois trombones marchent réunis; de loin en loin seulement une partie du groupe agit seule (p.e. le troisième pour renforcer une basse importante; l'alto, le ténor, pour faire entendre un chant en grosses notes). Selon l'effet à produire, les accords retentissants du trio sont tantôt serrés, tantôt très larges (au temps de Beethoven on se servait des trois variétés de l'instrument); parfois leurs sons s'étalent longuement, en d'autres moments des coups brefs marquent les accents rythmiques les plus saillants.²³

In bars 112-118 (Ex. 1.2), Beethoven assigns a significant passage to the alto and tenor trombone in unison (doubled by the bassoons) – 'leurs sons s'étalent longuement'. Although Beethoven has not indicated on the part that this passage should be brought out, it needs to be played soloistically. These bars are followed by 'coups brefs' punctuating the rhythm.

1:1:2 The limited solo capabilities of the alto trombone; unthematic trombone parts

Referring to bars 112-118, Guion asserts that this 'moment of prominence, [on] any other instrument... would have been a solo',²⁴ suggesting Beethoven's reluctance to assign a prominent solo to a single trombonist. According to Guion:

such was Beethoven's influence that the trombone, alone among the ordinary instruments of the orchestra, had no soloistic role in symphonic music until the end of the century... leaving it to Mahler and later generations to discover what the trombone could add to symphonic work.²⁵

Although Guion fails to take into account the trombone solos in Berlioz's Symphonie funèbre et triomphale (1840), Halévy's Le Juif Errant (1852), Ambroise Thomas's Hamlet (1868), Saint-Saens' Symphony No. 3²⁶ (1886) and Rimsky-Korsakov's Russian Easter Overture and Scheherazade (1888), most later composers who wrote thematically for the trombones did so in chorale fashion (e.g. Schubert, Schumann, Bruckner, Brahms, Dvořák) or in section unison, as Wagner did in his Overture to Tannhäuser (1845) and Prelude to Act III in Lohengrin (1850).

However, a solo alto trombone in the upper register, especially against the backdrop of a full symphony orchestra, has a tendency to sound thin and weak, and would have sounded even more so on the narrower-bore alto of Beethoven's day. Very likely Beethoven scored the passage in this manner in order to achieve weight and breadth of sound; and in adding the bassoons also provided for the possibility of a future performance, without trombones.

There is one other 'moment of prominence' in the Fifth Symphony for the alto trombone. Most conductors will ask the alto trombonist to bring out the a' at bar 293, as the alto is the only instrument in the orchestra which moves in that bar and the only one to play the minor third of the f# diminished seventh chord.²⁷

Beethoven's Sixth Symphony, also first performed in 1808, is unique in being the only symphony in the standard repertoire that calls for just two trombones.²⁸ 'L'usage de deux trombones (au lieu de trois) [est un] procédé exclusivement propre à Beethoven'.²⁹ Scored for alto and tenor trombone, reminiscent of the works of the Viennese Fux, Gevaert felt that in the capable hands of Beethoven the two trombones created the most intense effects, depicting the great clap of thunder during the storm scene.³⁰

Gevaert felt that in the capable hands of Beethoven the alto and tenor trombone created the most intense effects, depicting the great clap of thunder during the storm scene.³¹

Beethoven reserves the trombones for the climactic moment. At the peak of the storm, in 'Gewitter, Sturm', on the last beat of bar 106, the alto trombonist is once again required to enter fortissimo on c", without preparation, and must sustain the note for five bars. However, Beethoven wisely had the first trumpet double this entrance.

Berlioz describes the effect of this entrance:

Alors les trombones éclatent, le tonnerre des timbales redoubles de violence: ce n'est plus de la pluie, du vent. C'est un cataclysm épouvantable, le déluge universel, la fin du monde.³²

Nonetheless, the trombone's role is, once again, primarily to add harmonic support. As with the Fifth Symphony, Beethoven omits from the trombone parts the quaver anacrusis that is played by all the other instruments throughout the symphony. The absence of the up-beat makes a difficult passage for the alto even more perilous. Without the quaver preparation, the c" and d" in bars 54-55 of the last movement (Ex. 1.3) become especially dangerous, particularly as some conductors prefer to stretch this phrase out.

However, the first trombone is in unison with the clarinets and first trumpet in bar 54. In bar 55 the alto trombone actually plays higher than the first trumpet; the d" is again in unison with the clarinets and doubled at the octave by the second flute and first violins. Though not nearly as high as the Fifth Symphony, the tessitura is very demanding and great stamina is required.

Also scored for two trombones, tenor and bass, is the overture to Beethoven's opera Fidelio, op.72, (1815). This is probably the earliest instance in the standard repertoire in which the tenor trombone replaced the alto on the first part. (Ex. 1.4).

Utilising the trombones in their traditional role of vocal support, Beethoven scored for an ATB trio in his Ninth Symphony (1824).³³ Gevaert writes that:

Par réminiscence de l'exécution traditionnelle du choral luthérien, Beethoven fait aussi intervenir les trombones dans un chant de haute allure religieuse (Seid umschlungen, Millionen) au final de la IXe.³⁴

In the double fugue section of the last movement of the Choral Symphony (see Ex. 1.5), Beethoven writes for the first trombone with discretion and caution, despite the fact that the part is merely supporting the altos of the chorus. In a very deliberate and obvious manner, Beethoven scrupulously avoids taking the alto trombone above c#".

For example, the altos open the fugue on an exposed d"; Beethoven does not entrust this crucial entry to the alto trombone, even though the clarinets and violas are already doubling the voices, but assigns it to the second D trumpet, on which it will be more secure. Only once the section is under way does Beethoven bring in the first trombone on a semitone lower in the second full bar. The first six bars of the second trumpet part, with its intermittent entrances, seem rather peculiar, as it is not serving to emphasise particular words in the alto's text, and many a second trumpet player has looked at his part quizzically. It is only when this part is viewed in conjunction with the alto trombone part that it becomes clear that it was probably intended to steer the first trombone around its first dangerous upper-harmonic entrances.

In bars 6, 8, 9, 10 and 11 the horn and bassoon double the first trombone part. Finally, from bar 12 onwards, the alto trombonist is entrusted with the playing of his part unaided, and the notes here are significantly lower and safer. In bar 22 Beethoven omits the technically somewhat difficult passage from the first trombone, having the clarinet double the voice. In bars 25, 26, 31, 37, 38, 50, 53, 56, 57, 60, 61 and 62 one can see vividly how Beethoven draws the alto trombone's upper register 'ceiling' at c#". Most significantly, Beethoven has the alto trombone descend a major 7th in the last bar to a safe d' rather than move step-wise with the alto voices to the logical d".³⁵

1:1:3 The difficulty in assembling a full trombone section

It is open to speculation why Beethoven should have written rather pedestrian and unthematic trombone parts in his symphonies.³⁶ Guion, who suggests the Viennese trombonists were 'experts',³⁷ states that 'no incompetence on the part of the trombonists available to Beethoven can account for the lack of intrinsic interest in his trombone parts'.³⁸ Unfortunately, we know precious little about Vienna's trombonists at this time. Within the span of forty years between Albrechtsberger's Konzert in 1769 and Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, it appears that no alto trombone concerto was written, perhaps due to a decline in the quality of the Viennese alto trombonists.³⁹ While we can conjecture that there was at least one competent tenor trombonist in Vienna around 1791 to enable Mozart to compose the difficult 'Tuba Mirum' trombone obbligato in his Requiem, we should recall that the Vienna production of Don Giovanni (1787) contained no trombone parts.⁴⁰ Similarly, in the first printed edition of Don Giovanni as well as Haydn's The Seasons, the trombone parts were assigned to an appendix, suggesting that the instruments were not always used.⁴¹

Carse relates the difficulty some orchestras had mustering a complete trombone section:

This short supply of trombone players no doubt accounts for the absence of those instruments in some orchestras, and also for the fact that composers often treated them as ad libitum instruments and omitted the parts in their full scores, adding them only as supplementary parts which were not indispensable. In some early 19th century scores the trombone parts are not embodied in the full score, but appear only in an appendix at the end of the score.⁴²

For example, in the manuscript score of 'The Choral Symphony' belonging to the Royal Philharmonic Society and revised by Beethoven himself, the trombones were also relegated to an appendix.⁴³

Of the three symphonies Beethoven wrote that included trombones, only one crucial note for the trombone is not doubled: the a' played by the alto trombonist in bar 293 of the last movement of the Fifth Symphony. Otherwise, anything of relative prominence for the trombones is covered by other instruments, while the rest is harmonic padding and – with very few exceptions – the parts are not exposed.⁴⁴ Significantly, the trombone parts could be omitted without causing great upset to a performance. This even applies to the extreme tessitura sections for the alto trombone. Rather than viewing these passages as anomalies among otherwise simple parts, we cannot discount the possibility that, since Beethoven used the trombones primarily to reinforce the other lines and to add volume, rather than to 'serve a programmatic function',⁴⁵ he was indifferent to the severe upper register demands he set. Neither can we discount the possibility that Beethoven overestimated the alto trombonist's ability, particularly in the Fifth Symphony. In any case, Beethoven never again wrote as high for the first trombone.

For example, in the 1812 Drei Equali ⁴⁶ written for alto, two tenors and bass trombone in choral fashion - a rather pedestrian composition that would probably attract little attention were it not for the fact that it was written by Beethoven⁴⁷ – the highest note scored for the alto trombone is a single c", which occurs five bars from the end in the last movement; otherwise the first trombone plays mostly in the secure range from d' to a',⁴⁸ as illustrated in the second movement (Ex. 1.6).

Whether the Viennese trombonists were 'experts', as Guion asserts, remains to be seen. The point is that Vienna could assemble a trombone section at this time while other cities could not. Moreover, those orchestras that could gather three trombonists could not, it seems, count on an assured degree of competency. Around 1805 in Berlin, for example, Die Zauberflöte had to be performed without a trombone section for lack of quality players,⁴⁹ and a solo horn played the obligato in 'Tuba Mirum' in the Mozart Requiem in place of the tenor trombone, although there was a full trombone section present.⁵⁰ Thus by writing trombone parts in this manner, Beethoven ensured himself future performances by orchestras that may have lacked three, two, or even one competent trombonist; for the ideal number of trombonists that made up a Beethoven trombone section may have been any number that was available.⁵¹

1:2 Weber

According to Ebenezer Prout, 'it was Weber who first introduced the trombones as regular constituents of the orchestra'.⁵² The overtures and extracts from Weber's operas, in particular Der Freischütz (1821), Euryanthe (1823) and Oberon (1826) are considered standard repertoire in many symphony orchestras today. It is interesting to consider Weber's trombone writing in the light of the contemporaneous publication of Sundelin's Die Instrumentierung. Weber's writing for the trombone, while differing from Beethoven's in a number of aspects, reflected a chiefly cautious and pragmatic approach.

Similarly to Beethoven, Weber's primary use of the trombones was to 'emphasise detached chords'⁵³ and to 'build up and enhance a climax';⁵⁴ by the end of the first quarter of the century, 'that the trombones should add the weight of their tone to any loud chord or tutti was now more or less a convention'.⁵⁵ Nevertheless, Weber's trombone parts are not as mundane as Beethoven's. Weber appears to be the first major composer to score pianissimo chords and chorales for the ATB trio, a style of writing admired by Kastner, ('Solos en forme de chorale pour les trois espèces font un effect admirable'⁵⁶), and recommended by Sundelin – provided these passages were 'nicht zu lange'.⁵⁷ According to Carse:

It was... a distinct advantage that they were no longer considered to be fit only for loud effects. The value of the effect of soft harmony on trombones was appreciated by, and exploited by, practically all composers during the period immediately following the time of Weber, and probably owes that appreciation largely to his example.⁵⁸

Like his operatic predecessors,⁵⁹ Weber used the trombones in sustained chords to portray damnation and the supernatural. Frequently, he would feature the section in this role independently of the voices. In Ex. 1.7 the trombones introduce the 'Choir of the Invisible Ghosts'⁶⁰ with a soft f# minor chord in second-inversion, close-position, in the low-to-middle range. This creates a sense of gloom and produces, according to Jadassohn, 'einen unheimlichen Eindruck hervor',⁶¹ or what Gevaert calls 'caractère satanique'⁶² and which Lobe refers to as 'a most sinister effect (or, as we say, a feeling akin to terror creeps over us)'.⁶³ In Act III, no. 23, of Euryanthe (Ex. 1.8), soft octaves in the trombone accompany the word schweigen ('silence'), but also serve to portend the schreckliche Licht ('the terrible light') and Wahnsinn ('delirium') that follows. Similarly, Weber's use of the soft trombones in octaves in the Freischütz overture (Ex. 1.9) creates a hollow, ominous mood, a foretaste of 'der Hölle Netz hat dich umgarnt' ('Hell's Net has ensnared you'). However, according to Cecil Forsyth it produced 'an abominable circusy effect'.⁶⁴ He further contends (with which the present author disagrees) that:

Piano octaves of two trombones always need caution in treatment. The sound of the instrument is naturally so full of a certain threatening purpose that the slightest variation from the serious, the majestic and the pompous becomes vulgarised almost to the level of a personal insult.⁶⁵

1:2:1 Sundelin: Die Instrumentierung

In many respects Weber's trombone writing is consistent with the advice given by Sundelin in his Die Instrumentierung of 1828. For example, Sundelin stated that 'schnellen Figuren eigenen sich nicht für die Alto Posaune, sondern mehr aus gehaltene, und kurz abgestossenen Akkorde'.⁶⁶ Georges Kastner also felt that notes of long or short duration ('sons prolongés et coupés') were better suited to the alto than technical passages ('figures rapides').⁶⁷ Although Weber's technical demands were rather modest, Widor overstates the case that Weber, like Beethoven, 'n'écrivent jamais que par Rondes, Blanches, [et] Noires'.⁶⁸ The passage from the Finale to Act III of Euryanthe quoted in Ex. 1.10, illustrates the extent of Weber's technical requirements for the trombones, which, although minimal, were more exacting than those demanded by Beethoven. Moreover, Weber did not share Beethoven's apparent aversion to writing quaver anacruse for the trombone; the Euryanthe trombone parts are peppered with the dotted quaver semiquaver rhythms, as illustrated in Exx. 1.11 and 1.12. Beethoven might have approached this passage, which Jadassohn called 'prächtig und glänzend',⁶⁹ more cautiously, thus robbing it of much of the effect (Ex. 1.12a).

Sundelin held that forzandi are well-suited to the alto trombone.⁷⁰ While in general an accent does not require as much force of attack as the sforzando, they are similar in the sense that neither requires 'follow-through', a more difficult, sustained kind of playing. Furthermore, the alto's relative lack of body is less noticeable in this forte-subito-piano type of attack. The difference in the explosiveness of the attack between fz, sfz and > is one of degree and depends largely on context and compositional style. For example, Beethoven's sfz in fortissimo for the trombones in the 'Choral Symphony', where they are doubling the voices, would require far less force of attack than the accents Weber uses in his overtures. Nevertheless, the symphonic player must bear in mind that since Weber's works were written for a pit orchestra, in which seating was arranged to dampen down the sound of the trombone and other so-called noisy instruments,⁷¹ forte and fortissimo indications must be 'mentally marked down' for performance in the concert hall.⁷²

Sundelin advised composers not to score interval leaps of more than a seventh for the alto trombone.⁷³ In general Weber's writing seems in accord with this suggestion. A notable exception appears near the end of the Overture to Oberon (Ex. 1.13), where there is a risk of over- or under-shooting the wide interval of the minor tenth. Sundelin recommended that composers should write for the alto trombone chiefly in the middle register, from c to a'/b' ('bei der Alt-Posaune in den Mitteltönen aufzuhalten... von c der kleinen Oktave bis zum ein-gestrichenen a bis zum höchstens h'⁷⁴), as shown in Fig. 1.1. In the three works discussed, the highest note Weber writes for the alto is c#" which occurs twice in the 'Wedding March' of Euryanthe and is played by the trombonist in the Bühneorchester (stage orchestra). On both occasions the c#" is approached by a major third, not exposed, and in unison with the second clarinet, while doubled at the octave by the first flute and first clarinet. Occasionally one will come across a c" in the first trombone part, but generally Weber stays within the range described by Sundelin. As this is well within the range of today's orchestral tenor trombonist, Weber's first parts are often mistakenly played on that instrument, the assumption being made that these parts were written too low for an alto to have been intended.

Figure 1.1: Sundelin, Die Instrumentierung⁷⁵

Widor states that after Beethoven composed the Fifth Symphony:

Beethoven adoptera l'écriture sur un même ligne, les deux premiers trombones n'excédent pas les limites du Ténor. Et Weber et ses successeurs en useront ainsi.⁷⁶

However, at this time the d" in the alto trombone part of Beethoven's Sixth Symphony and the c#" in the Ninth were not considered within the range of the tenor trombone. Sundelin, for example, gives the highest note on the tenor as g'.⁷⁷

Sundelin maintained that the alto should never be used on its own ('Die Alt-Posaune wird nie allein... angewendet'⁷⁸), but rather always in conjunction with other instruments, especially the other trombones. Moreover, Sundelin felt it was unwise to assign a solo to any of the trombones:

[Es] ist nicht rathsam weil diese Instrumente kein zuverlässiges Mittel haben, woran sie ihren anzugebenden Ton abmessen könnten, und aus diesem Grunde fällt solcher Satz immer unrein aus.⁷⁹

On the other hand, when the trombone plays with other instruments, including other members of the section, the full purity of the sound can be assured:

[Die Posaunen] spielen... noch andere Instrumente mit, so man alsdann vollkommene Reinheit voraussetzen.⁸⁰

Accordingly, on the infrequent occasion when Weber would engage the trombone as a melodic instrument, it was not used on its own, but in conjunction with other winds or tutti orchestra. For example, in the molto vivace of the Freischütz Ouverture (Ex. 1.14), Weber gives the second trombone the same line as the first flute for two bars, the next two doubling first flute and first trombone. When this thematic material reappears in the Finale  to Act II, the stage directions describe a terrifying thunderstorm: 'Der ganze Himmel wird schwarze Nacht. Die Gewitter treffen furchtbar zusammen. Flammen schlagen aus [sic] der Erde'.⁸¹ However, these examples of melodic usage are more the exception than the rule.

1:2:2 The limitations of trombonists as a decisive factor in Weber's trombone writing

It is probably no coincidence that Sundelin's precepts, although intended for use by composers for military band, are reflected in the trombone writing of Weber. To a very large degree, what Sundelin believed to be possible or desirable for the trombone must have had less to do with the instrument's supposed intrinsic limitations than with the abilities of the players with whom he was familiar. Weber's trombonists were in many cases drawn from the ranks of the military band, for by the 1820s the supply of trombone players for the concert orchestras:

seemed to have improved... The players appear to have been drawn... almost entirely from the wind and military bands, which by that time were able to provide a fairly plentiful supply. In this way... the trombones began to find their way into the scores of symphonies and other orchestral works.⁸²

According to Karl-Heinz Weber: 'die Militärmusiker gaben nicht nur eigene Konzerte... sondern sie spielen auch als Aushilfs oder Verstärkungsmusiker in Theater und in den Konzerten'.⁸³ Around 1825, conductor/composer Sir George Smart attended a concert in Kassel and observed that 'this is the first time that I have seen persons in uniform playing in the orchestra'.⁸⁴

Additionally, up to the middle of the nineteenth century the orchestras continued to draw players from the Stadtpfeiffer:

The old corps of town musicians survived long enough to ensure a supply of players in Germany, [and] at the same time trombonists were becoming regular constituents of opera and concert orchestras... In South Germany, Bavaria and Austria the old civic organisations... [the] Stadtmusiker, remained... a valuable source from which orchestras could draw their trombone players.⁸⁵

The music education provided by the guilds was frequently carried out in an atmosphere of moral squalor. At best the tuition was irregular; at worst it was not much better than enforced serfdom. However, before the establishment of music conservatories, these civic musical organisations provided the only training, even for many of those who made up the more important orchestras.

There was no orchestra in Germany, up until the end of the last century, that did not include in its ranks some players who had graduated as Stadtmusiker... even Liszt's orchestra at Weimar in 1850 had to draw on the town band for some of [its] players.⁸⁶

Although there were exceptions, many players were those 'whose skill and qualifications were far below the best standard'.⁸⁷ Indeed, in 1804, a journalist for the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung went as far as to suggest that the trombone was one of those instruments that preferably should not be exposed:

Mehrere Instrumente, z.B.... Posaunen... sind öfters von Spielern besetz, die mit der besten Willen, durch üble Angewohnheit oder aus Mangel an Geschicklichkeit nicht in Stande sind, sich zu mässigen. Diesem übeln Umstande kann nur dadurch einigermässen abgeholfen werden, wenn man diese Subjekte mit ihren Instrumenten so viel als möglich in einem Winkel zu verstecken sucht.⁸⁸

Berlioz paid tribute to Weber as one of those who had:

compris toute l'importance du rôle des trombones... appliqué avec un intelligence parfaite humaine à la peinture des passions humaines, à la reproduction des bruits de la nature, les caractères divers de ce noble instrument... [et] en conséquence, conserve sa puissance, sa dignité, et sa poésie.⁸⁹

To accomplish this with the players he apparently had at his disposal is indeed a testimony to Weber's skill as a composer.

1:3 Schubert

It is indeed unfortunate that Schubert's 'Great C Major' symphony of 1826 had to wait until 1839 for its first performance, as his writing for trombones represented a major milestone in the section's orchestral development. In Symphony No. 9, Schubert not only distanced himself from the cliché of using the section merely to enhance climaxes and provide reinforcement, but he was also apparently the first orchestral composer to demand soft, delicate playing in melodic passages as well as in chorale sections. To be sure, Schubert utilised the section to provide harmonic filler at times, but in the 'Great C Major' he distinguished himself by the significant amount of thematic material that is assigned to the trombones.

According to Lewis Coerne:

No composer before [Schubert] had elicited from the trombone such impressive utterance as is to be found, for instance, in the first movement of the Symphony in C [D.944] where the trombones, pianissimo, intone the melody. The first innovation consisted, therefore, of employing the trombones freely as solo instruments, or again as independent factors in three part harmony, pianissimo, or in unison forte.⁹⁰

The solemn, majestic entrance of the trombones with strings in the introductory Andante of the first movement (Ex. 1.15), which Jadassohn calls 'Eine grossartige Wirkung',⁹¹ is described by Forsyth as a 'wonderful solo passage for the three trombones in unison'.⁹² Gevaert, on the other hand, found Schubert's use of the trombone 'banal' and unnecessarily heavy.⁹³

It is noteworthy that Schubert has marked the passage fortissimo with accents. Perhaps the players still needed notational encouragement to 'play out',⁹⁴ despite the fact that he had intended these parts for the trombonists of the well-known Wiener Musikgesellschaft Orchester.⁹⁵ As a correspondent for the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung reminds us, during the 1800s it was not customary to assign solo passages to the trombone:

Als Soloinstrument war es bis dahin noch gar nicht benutzt worden, etwa mit Ausnahme des Tuba mirum in Mozarts Requiem, wo aber gewöhnlich die Posaunenstimme dem Fagott zugetheilt wurde.⁹⁶

In any case, the dynamic and accents should not be taken too literally by trombonists, lest the strings be completely overwhelmed, for what Schubert seems to have been indicating is that the passage should be played soloistically and with a full sound. As J. Drew states, Schubert 'gives the trombones a most prominent place at the beginning of the slow introduction... in which the strings are subservient and only provide harmonic interest'.⁹⁷

Schubert assigns melodic material for the trombones throughout the first movement. The passage at bar 102 (Ex. 1.16) with violas and lower strings must be played delicately and leggiero against the counter-theme in the violins. At bar 195 (Ex. 1.17), Schubert entrusts the extended theme to the trombones alone; the scoring for unison trombones in pianissimo producing a misterioso effect. As illustrated in Ex. 1.18, the trombone section, in fortissimo (bar 320), leads the orchestra to the first climax in movement one. The fz (see Ex. 1.19) should be thought of as meaning even more weight and stress than the notes with accent marks, but never with a hard attack. A true fff would be overpowering and out of character for a work of this period. As seen in Ex. 1.19, the unison trombones, again unsupported by any other instruments, are assigned the theme of the second half of the movement. The alto trombonist must be very vigilant with the intonation, since the low register requires long shifts of the slide between notes. Also, the first note of the theme, eb, can be of very poor quality (Fröhlich's Posaunenschule, published only fifteen years earlier, gave f as the alto's lowest note⁹⁸). On the very narrow bore alto of Schubert's time the eb, especially at a substantial dynamic, could sound almost comical. Fortunately the note is doubled by the tenor and bass so that the first player can 'ghost' it if necessary.

Bar 145 in the second movement (Ex. 1.20), is a deceptively perilous entry for the alto trombone. The woodwinds and strings play gently together during the trombones' twelve-bar rest. In the last bar, as the strings, playing alone, make a diminuendo to a nearly inaudible piano quaver on an (unwritten) 'hairpin', the alto trombone must enter pianissimo on an a'. Intonation is especially critical for the first trombone – with the added risk of splitting the a' – which the bass trombonist,⁹⁹ playing an f, a tenth below, would be well advised to keep in mind. In bar 321 (Ex. 1.21), Schubert scores another solo-chorale for the trombones. It should be noted that the chorale begins pianissimo and proceeds to diminuendo in the fourth bar, where the horns enter. Although conductors tend to ask the trombones for a very soft entrance, if they start too piano the diminuendo may be minimal, thus spoiling the effect. The accents here are not to be thought of as sharp attacks. Schubert is indicating precise, separate entrances, with a slight lift between notes; otherwise the repeated notes have a tendency to sound like a single, sustained tone.

In the third movement, Schubert requires extensive, gentle and lithe playing from the alto trombone – a style employed, it appears, for the first time in the orchestral context. Apparently there were those, such as Nicholas Bessaraboff, who objected to this type of trombone writing:

Although asked sometimes to display the agility of a youth, the trombone prefers a more dignified mode of expression. The trombone is like a man who has reached an age of discretion and concentrated power: its utterances have weight, and it cannot engage in five-o'clock tea talk. The trombone is primarily a masculine instrument and should not be made to sound like a frivolous dandy.¹⁰⁰

Schubert writes two exquisite obbligato passages for the trombones in the Trio of the third movement (Ex. 1.22). His use of the alto with the woodwinds achieves an exquisite mingling of timbres, when played with a soft, delicate, lilting style. Unfortunately, this is all too frequently performed on the tenor trombone, whose large, dark sound tends to dominate and engulf the woodwinds.

1:3:1 Tessitura, score notation and the erste Abschriftstimme

Dr Glendening demonstrates the inherent risk of error in relying solely on tessitura to determine whether the first trombone part in Schubert's works was intended for alto or tenor trombone, when he asserts that:

the use of the alto trombone is less [than] certain. The registers employed are conservative for the alto trombone and quite reasonable for the tenor trombone.¹⁰¹

For example, regarding the first trombone part of Schubert's Ninth Symphony (D.944) he writes:

The range suggests that the first part may or may not have been for the alto trombone... [but] the number of unison passages in D.944 does favour the use of the tenor trombone for the first part.¹⁰²

Of Schubert's sketch of Symphony No. 7 (D.729) he maintains that 'the ranges appear to be most consistent with two tenors and a bass',¹⁰³ and on this basis considers it a contradiction that in the Kalmus-Belwin score (n.d.) of Symphony No. 8 the first trombone part is labelled alto, 'in spite of the range [being] consistent with that of D.729'.¹⁰⁴

The highest note that Schubert demands of the alto trombone in his symphonic works is a c" which occurs twice during the fourth movement of Symphony No. 9 in identical, unexposed phrases, doubled by the trumpet and second horn. The tessitura, though not quite as 'tame' as Weber's, is rather modest by modern standards and well within the range of today's tenor trombonist.¹⁰⁵ On the other hand, the alto trombone parts of Schubert's masses, which 'contain a good deal of vocal accompaniment in the good, old-fashioned German way'¹⁰⁶ are extremely taxing, demanding an excellent upper register as well as great stamina. According to Del Mar:

the custom... of doubling [the] voice parts in sacred works with trombones throughout... is to be found reflected in Schubert's masses, during which the trombones are playing with the vocal parts for pages on end. In practice this is not only unthinkable on grounds of sheer endurance but musically intolerable, and it is barely credible that the trombonists of Schubert's day played all the notes as they appear on the score.¹⁰⁷

This is especially true for the alto trombone part. In Schubert's first edition of the Mass in Ab Major an e'' is required of the first trombone (Ex. 1.23); the second edition demands 'only' a d#''. Following Glendening's reasoning to its logical conclusion, one would deduce that Schubert scored for an ATB section in his masses, but used a tenor-led section for his symphonic works. However, this is not the case: One must not lose sight of the fact that music scholars at this time, such as Sundelin¹⁰⁸ and Marx,¹⁰⁹ considered g' as the extent of the tenor's upper register.

Causing further confusion is the fact that published editions of Schubert's orchestral works often present the first trombone part in tenor clef, even though it was intended to be played on the alto trombone. According to Finke-Hecklinger:

Schubert notiert die drei Posaunenstimmen, wenn sie auf einem System geschrieben sind, in Tenorschlüssel, wenn auf zwei Systemen, in Altschlüssel für die Alt- und Tenorposaune, im Baßschlüssel für die Baßposaune.¹¹⁰

On the autograph score of his Ninth Symphony, for example, Schubert has put all the trombone parts on one stave in tenor clef. This might have been a matter of convenience – perhaps it avoided having to use ledger lines – or it could have been determined by the number of staves he had on his score paper. Kastner explains:

Dans les partitions nouvelles où quelquefois l'espace est très restreint, et où les trois trombones réunis ne donnent que des accords, ils [les trombones] sont notés l'un au dessus de l'autre sur une même portée. D'autres fois on note ensemble sur une seule portée les trombones alto et ténor sur la clef d'ut, 4me ligne.¹¹¹

Lobe suggests that 'the most practical manner of arranging the score, is to write... the first and second trombones, the third trombone and tuba, each [pair] on one system',¹¹² and Marx confirms this point:

Gesetzt werden die drei oder vier Posaunen nach ihrer Eintheilung auf drei oder vier Systemen in den jeder Art gebührenden Schlüsseln... Fehlt es an Raum, oder ist die Stimmführung einfach genug es zu erlauben, so kann man sich an zwei Systemen genügen lassen und Tenor– und Altposaune mit Tenorschlüssel notiren. Oder man kann sich selbst auf eine einzige Linie... beschränken und für alle drei Arten den F – Schlüssel – oder die höherer Tonlage den Tenorschlüssel anwenden.¹¹³

However, the original hand-copied first trombone part ('erste Abschriftstimme' ) to the Ninth Symphony is written in alto clef because, as Sundelin points out:

Wenn der Raum der Partitur sehr beschränkt ist, so setzt man, aber nur im höchsten Nothfall, die Alt- und die Tenorposaune auf ein Liniensystem, und schreibt die Noten für beide in den Tenorschlüssel. Beim Ausschreiben muß aber immer die Altposaunenstimme alsdann auch in den Altschlüssel transponirt werden, weil dieses Instrument nach keinem andern bläßt.¹¹⁴

Echoing the words of Sundelin, as well as Berlioz¹¹⁵ and Adolph Marx,¹¹⁶ Gevaert writes that the alto trombone part is always written in alto clef ('toujours écrit sur la clef d'ut, 3e ligne'.¹¹⁷) If the composer does not use the corresponding clef for each species of trombone in his score, Gevaert continues, 'quant aux clefs employées dans la notation de ces instruments, une assez grande confusion règne à cet égard...'¹¹⁸ and it is left 'au copiste ou au graveur le soin de transcrire chaque partie separée dans sa clef normale'.¹¹⁹ This important point is demonstrated by Schubert's copyist, whose first handwritten alto and tenor trombone parts of Symphony in C Major are shown in Examples 1.24 and 1.25.

1:4 Mendelssohn

According to Gevaert:

De tous les successeurs de Beethoven dans le genre symphonique, Mendelssohn est resté le plus fidèle aux traditions techniques du Maître.¹²⁰

However, with regard to the treatment of the trombones, the two composers were very different.¹²¹  Whereas Beethoven, as we have seen, confined the section to harmonic support and added weight, Mendelssohn used the trombones thematically and dramatically. Although not all of the first trombone parts to his works demanded exceptional upper-register facility, a number of his compositions, including the Overture in C Major, Symphony in D Minor, the Overture 'Ruy Blas' and 'Lobgesang', feature the alto trombone in prominent passages in the highest tessitura of the instrument.

One of Mendelssohn's earliest orchestral works, the Overture in C Major, op. 101 (Ex. 1.26), was first performed on 2 November 1826. In unison with the first horn and first trumpet, it requires the alto trombonist to play the forte passage, cited in the example, a total of five times, with a fermata on the e" in the final bar of the piece. Perhaps even more difficult, the first trombonist must also play this passage in pianissimo.

Symphony in D Minor, composed to commemorate the Reformation, was Mendelssohn's only symphony to include trombone parts.¹²² According to Gevaert, the solemn sonority of the trombones was demanded 'par le caractère en quelque sorte liturgique de l'oeuvre'.¹²³ Mendelssohn uses the trombones as part of the wind choir at the beginning (Ex. 1.27) and conclusion (Ex. 1.28) of the symphony to establish and confirm the ceremonial mood.

In the well-known Overture 'Ruy Blas' (completed in 1839), Mendelssohn scores a very demanding passage for the alto trombone (Ex. 1.29): Though doubled by the first horn, the alto has the more difficult part, having to approach the eb" from a fourth below. With the flutes, trumpets and strings tacet in this fanfare-chorale, the precarious note is particularly exposed.

In bars 243-246 of the Allegro that follows, the first trombonist has a deceptively difficult run from ab to eb. One must be attentive to the intonation as the first two trombones are in unison while the bass trombone plays an octave lower; moreover the alto trombonist may have tendency to play the e sharp for fear of losing the slide as well as to minimize the 'snap' from seventh position to first-position eb. (See also n. 4, Chapter 2)

1:4:1 Range (Marx)

A few years later, perhaps implicitly criticizing Mendelssohn, Marx would write:

dass die Posaune in ihren hohen Tönen an Karakter und Macht, verliert, daher wir rathen, so weit es nur möglich, die Alt-posaune nicht höher als bis zum zweigestrichnen c (schon diese Ton klingt gezwängt)'.¹²⁴

In the Overture 'Ruy Blas', bar 364 to the end requires great stamina on the part of the alto trombonist, as Mendelssohn requires the first trombonist to play continuously in the upper register for a total of fifty-one successive bars at forte and fortissimo. Sixteen bars from the end the alto ascends higher than the first trumpet¹²⁵ and then proceeds to play nineteen consecutive high c''s before finishing with a fermata on a g'.

In 'Lobgesang' Mendelssohn used all the trombones thematically, featuring them in solo and unison statements throughout the work. The majestic sound of unaccompanied trombones solemnly introduces the theme, thus setting the mood with great effect. According to Sir Charles Groves, Queisser, the famed trombonist of the Gewandhaus Orchester which premiered the work in 1840, is 'still remembered by the story of his introducing a turn into the opening phrase of Mendelssohn's 'Hymn of Praise' at the first rehearsal', to Mendelssohn's immense amusement: 'Se non è vero, e ben trovato'¹²⁶(see Ex. 1.30).

As illustrated in Ex. 1.31, the trombone's pronouncements continue unaccompanied through bar 12. Bar 6 descends uncomfortably low for the small-bore alto trombone to d, a note that Berlioz would describe four years later in his Grand Traité as being of poor quality ('d'un mauvais timbre')¹²⁷ on the alto; however, Mendelssohn masks the sound by doubling the alto with the tenor and bass. A short passage with the kernel of the motiv for the first trombone in bars 7-8 of No. 2 ('Allegro moderato maestoso') in Ex. 1.32, is very likely the first solo statement written for the alto trombone in the standard orchestral repertoire.¹²⁸

Two very high passages for the alto trombone occur while doubling the soprano, as shown in Exx. 1.33 and 1.34. It might be appropriate at this juncture to point out that the alto trombone, while providing a tone colour distinctly brighter and less heavy than the tenor, aids not so much in accuracy as in sustaining notes in this tessitura.

1:4:2 Belcke and Queisser

According to Mendelssohn, although there were few skilled musicians in German orchestras, the bass trombonist¹²⁹ – not the first trombonist – was invariably one of the most proficient players:

... dass [war] eben Elend in Deutschland, dass die Bassposaune und der Pauker und der Contrabass vortrefflich sind, und alle übrigen höchst niedrigträchtig.¹³⁰

Two of the most celebrated bass trombonists of this period were the famed virtuosi Friedrich Belcke (1795-1874) of Berlin – once described as the 'premier trombone du roi du Prusse'¹³¹ – and Carl Traugott Queisser (1800-1846) of Leipzig, whom Schumann described as 'Queisser der Posaunengott',¹³² both of whom rose from the ranks of the Stadtpfeiffer.¹³³ Edward Holmes wrote:

[of] the famous trombonist H. Queisser I have heard nothing so soft, round and deep as the tone of this extraordinary player who has, at the age of twenty seven, attained the most surprising mastery.¹³⁴

Queisser was eulogised by the correspondent of the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung as a virtuoso, unsurpassed by any trombonist in the world ('an Virtuosität in den Passagen übertraf ihn wohl kein Posaunist Deutschlands, d. h. der Welt, da anerkanntermassen die Instrumentalmusik in Deutschland am Höchsten steht'¹³⁵).

Baines maintains that while Belcke was a bass trombonist, Queisser performed solo works on the tenor trombone and played alto trombone in the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchester.¹³⁶ According to Rasmussen:

Both Belcke and Queisser are usually referred to as bass trombone players. Just what kind of instrument they played is difficult to determine, but it seems safe to suggest that they played a variety of instruments during the course of their careers, including a wide-bore Bb tenor trombone, a wide-bore Bb tenor trombone with Quartventil, and perhaps even an old-fashioned bass trombone in F.¹³⁷

Moreover, the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung's obituary of Queisser remembers him as a bass trombonist:

Zu welcher staunenswerthen Meisterschaft er es auf diesem schwierigen Instrumente – der Bassposaune – gebracht, weisst die ganze musikalische Welt.¹³⁸

Given Mendelssohn's opinion of German bass trombone playing, and that Queisser – whose career in the Gewandhaus spanned the years 1827-46 – was a member of the orchestra during Mendelssohn's term as Chief Conductor, as well as the fact that the bass trombonist was customarily paid more than the other members of the section, it seems likely that the Leipzig virtuoso did play bass trombone, at least some of the time, in the Gewandhaus orchestra.

However, for an instrumentalist of his apparent skill, it is not impossible that Queisser played both alto and bass trombone in the orchestra, as we have seen that it was not uncommon at that time for orchestral players to double on an array of brass instruments. Today an alto-bass double would be considered extremely unusual due to the major differences in the use of one's embouchure and air. On the other hand, it is very common for a first trombonist to double on alto and on a 'wide-bore Bb tenor trombone with Quartventil', and perhaps this is the type of bass trombone Queisser used in the orchestra. In any case, the fact that players of the calibre of Belcke and Queisser chose not the alto as the vehicle to demonstrate their virtuosity perhaps suggests a shifting of musical tastes away from the heretofore most prominent species of the section.

1:5 Schumann

A hallmark of Schumann's writing for the trombones is the use of the section in soft solo chorale passages. By far the most significant is the solemn chorale with which Schumann begins the fourth movement of the Third Symphony (Ex. 1.35). Max Alberti writes that:

to the usual four movements an additional movement was inserted between the Andante and the Finale, inspired by the Cologne Cathedral and the festivities on the occasion of the Archbishop von Greissel's elevation to the Cardinalate. It is a slow and solemn movement, hence, contrary to the other movements, the full orchestral apparatus including trombones was used... The fourth movement was originally inscribed 'Im Character der Begleitung einer feierlichen Zeremonie'.¹³⁹

This chorale is one of the most difficult - if not the most difficult - passages written for the alto trombone. It is insightful to appraise Schumann's style of trombone scoring in light of the remarks made by contemporary and contemporaneous writers. For example, Del Mar describes it as 'a cruel entry',¹⁴⁰ as the trombonist must enter 'cold' after three tacet movements. The fact that it is in unison with the first horn does not minimise the difficulty, as the line is very exposed and any slip is immediately apparent to all listeners. Under very nerve-wracking conditions, great lip flexibility and a relaxed embouchure is required to span an interval of an eleventh, up to a sustained eb", within the space of three bars. This is just the opposite of what Widor contended was required: 'l'extrême tension des lèvres'.¹⁴¹ Firm support of the diaphragm is absolutely essential to produce a smooth legato in pianissimo in this range.

Gevaert maintained that legato passages such as these could not be performed adequately on the slide trombone – a style of writing seen only in German music.

Le chant lié ne peut s'exécuter d'une manière satisfiante sur le trombone à coulisse, seul usité en Allemagne... ¹⁴²

The author further reasons that glissandi are inevitable on the trombone:

... lorsque les intonations liés proviennent de positions différentes, à cause des intervalles intermédiares que le glissement de la coulisse produit inévitablement.¹⁴³

Unfortunately, Gevaert is unclear whether 'le chant lié' was in fact performed satisfactorily by German trombonists. He goes on to say that this style of writing for trombones was even uncommon in Germany ('mais ce cas est assez rare'.¹⁴⁴) According to Gevaert:

En général les maîtres allemands ont traité le trombone à coulisse à manière d'une voix chorale, ne lui donnant que de grosses notes ou de courtes phrases d'un vigoureux dessin rythmique, et ne séparant jamais le ténor de ses deux compagnons.¹⁴⁵

One notes that the prevailing opinion of what constituted suitable trombone writing had remained relatively unchanged from Sundelin's day.

Gevaert's explanation that slide trombonists would play a slurred passage simply as sustained notes ('à l'exécution il se convertit en un simple sostenuto'¹⁴⁶) suggests that trombonists at this time, or at least the ones whom Gevaert observed, were not adept at legato-tongue technique or supporting with the diaphragm. Indeed, in order to mask this deficiency, according to Gevaert composers would frequently double legato phrases for the trombone with other low-pitched instruments:

Comme la plupart des traits chantants des trombones sont doublés par d'autres instruments graves, le compositeur n'a pas scrupule de mettre des liaisons illusoires, comptant sur l'effect de la masse pour couvrir les défaillances individuelles.¹⁴⁷

Thus it appears that the assumption made during J. S. Bach's time – that the trombone was an instrument with inherent deficiencies which were virtually impossible to overcome – had prevailed almost into the twentieth century. According to Gevaert, 'cet instrument, on le voit, offrait d'assez maigres resources techniques à la virtuosité individuelle'.¹⁴⁸

Widor, not very helpfully, describes Schumann's writing for trombones as 'tantôt trop haut, tantôt trop bas';¹⁴⁹ presumably he felt this was an example of the former.

Although the first horn plays bars 1-8 of Ex. 1.35 in unison with the alto trombone, the part is not quite as difficult. Not only is the first horn accustomed to seeing even higher notes, it has the advantage of valves for producing a smooth legato. Moreover, the third horn doubles the first horn at times, thus enabling the latter to breathe undetected during the phrase and to re-set his embouchure for the upper register. Robert Sheldon, musical instrument curator at the Library of Congress in Washington DC, adds:

I doubt that the horn-trombone doubling on the theme was a kind of safety factor but rather for an assured sustained effect due to staggered breathing possibilities to be worked out between the players if necessary.¹⁵⁰

Additionally, one should note that when the theme is re-introduced in the 3/2 section, (Ex. 1.35, bars 30-58), the trombones play the chorale unsupported as the alto trombone soars above the horns and trumpets. Widor, who mistakenly believed this passage was intended for a section with two (if not three) tenors, as was the custom in France at that time, wrote that:

Schumann se sert encore de la clef d'Alto pour ses deux premiers Trombones; il les écrit d'ailleurs comme si c'étaient des Trombones-Altos, témoin... de sa IIIe Symphonie... C'est là, certainement, un example d'écriture dangereuse... Soyons sages, n'écrivons pas si haut.¹⁵¹

Kunitz, in pointing out Widor's mistake, compounds the error by asserting that Schumann had intended both the first and the second part to be played on the alto trombone: 'Schumann hat hier tatsächlich Altposaunen verlangt'.¹⁵² According to Del Mar, such confusion arose from Schumann's unorthodox score notation, which placed the first two trombones on a single stave of alto clef:

written without regard to the actual instruments playing the lines... thus producing the anomaly that the instruments... will not be at all two altos... but one.¹⁵³

Although Gevaert described this chorale as: 'cette phrase religieuse, d'allure austère et imposant',¹⁵⁴ he contended that 'evidemment Schumann, à cet endroit, a voulu rendre par les trombones un effet de cors'.¹⁵⁵ However, it seems more likely that Schumann turned to the sound of the trombones to express the feeling of solemnity and enhanced the sound with the addition of the similar-timbred horns to capture the sense of serene majesty. As Robert Sheldon asserts, 'the theme and its treatment is very much in a trombone chorale style'.¹⁵⁶

Gevaert argued that Schumann, like Schubert:

... [a] montré un goût moins pur. Trop souvent un grossier placage de trombones alourdit l'instrumentation de leurs symphonies et rappelle les formules banales de l'orchestre rossinien.¹⁵⁷

Sheldon disagrees, maintaining that:

Schumann is, for my taste, wrongfully and too often over-criticized for poor orchestration and over-doubling. For me the 4th movement opening is an example of beautifully effective doubling, the three trombones, two bassoons, and three of the four horns working together as a fine octet of relatively dark sounding timbres. The only constant doubling throughout those measures in the brass is the melody line. It could have been done instead with the two upper horns (1st and 3rd) which then might have put the 1st trombone somewhere in the middle harmony lines, and... played on an alto... would have risked lightening the effect [as] the approach to horn playing (and this is ditto for the long trumpets in E-flat and F) [was] probably very laid back and carefully applied, never forced, little edge, and rather dark and poopy sounding – especially considering the very funnel-shaped horn mouthpieces of the period, often made of sheet metal with a rolled-over solder-on rim and therefore with no modern back bore... Compared to such horn timbre, trombones have (had) a more defined sound, and that opening just screams out (to me) to have the alto on the lead voice whether or not doubled by the horn. It really is trombone music, emotionally speaking, and Schumann's voicing has the three trombones covering lead, principal bass, and an inner voice with the horns and bassoons just filling it out... Considering the period equipment, Schumann got the best effect as an orchestrator. Robert Russell Bennett could not have done it better for my tastes.¹⁵⁸

Also known as the 'Rhenish Symphony', it was written for the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra which was, according to Carse, a second-echelon orchestra during the mid-1800s.¹⁵⁹ In 1835, Mendelssohn gave this scathing description of the orchestra:

[In Düsseldorf] ist so durchaus gar keine Musik zu hören und zu machen, dass ich mich wieder nach einem bessern Orchester sehne... Wenn Du mich einmal dies Orchester dirigieren hörtest, Dich trächten vier Pferde nicht zum zweiten Male hin.¹⁶⁰

But according to Ferdinand Hiller, only a short time later, by the time Schumann took over as director, the orchestra had improved greatly:

Als ich gegen das Ende des Jahres 1847 als Dirigent nach Düsseldorf gekommen, fand ich die Musik dort auf einer ganz anderen Stufe stehend. Ferdinand Rietz hatte nicht vergeblich dort eine zwölfjahre Wirksamkeit enthaltet. Bei meiner übersiedlung nach Köln, 1850, vermittelte ich die Besetzung der Stelle durch Robert Schumann.¹⁶¹

Orchestral writing for the ATB trio reaches its peak with Schumann's Fourth Symphony, which marks his most creative use of the trombones. Exploiting several facets of their tone colour, Schumann uses the trombones in prominent chorales (Ex. 1.36) and in dramatic unisons and octaves, both solemn (Exx. 1.37, 1.38) and ominous (Ex. 1.39).