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

Chapter 3: Bruckner

Among contemporary authorities there seems to be a consensus that Bruckner intended an alto for the first trombone in his works.

Robin Gregory writes:

The alto trombone practically disappeared from the orchestral scene, though Bruckner specified the instrument in his symphonies for parts which are comfortably within the range of the tenor and are nowadays usually played on that instrument without, perhaps, quite fulfilling the composer's intentions with regard to tone colour.1

Eric Crees, Co-Principal Trombone of the London Symphony Orchestra, comments that:

It is interesting to consider whether Bruckner's conception of tone colour is ever correctly realised today as the first trombone part, designated to an alto instrument, is invariably played on a tenor.2

Karl-Heinz Weber, Principal Trombone of the Gürzenich Orchester (Köln) and Principal Trombone, Bayreuth Orchester, is more emphatic:

Ich kann nicht denken, dass Bruckner bei der Instrumentation seiner Messen bewusst an eine Tenorposaune (für die 1. Posaune) gedacht hat. Ich glaube vielmehr, dass er so geschrieben hat, wie er es für die Posaunen gewohnt war, nämlich vokaliter in den Stimmenlagen Alt, Tenor, Bass.3

And William Runyan:

It must be admitted that the utilization of the alto trombone in the nineteenth century may have been due more to tradition than to any feelings that its timbre was a necessity; yet, having chosen to use it... Bruckner certainly wrote parts that are uniquely suitable.4

Thus speak today's authorities.5 We shall examine their statements in the light of the existing evidence. (For a summary of Bruckner's most significant works that include trombones, and the type of trombone used for the first part, see Table 3.1, p. 118.)

3:1 1845-1855: St Florian

From 1845 to 1855, one of Bruckner's responsibilities as organist of the Stift of St Florian was to provide music for the Catholic church services. According to Nowak, 'die erste Anregung zu eigenem kompositorischen Schaffen erhielt Anton Bruckner von der Kirchenmusik'.6 Derek Watson adds that Bruckner was:

attracted to music of the Baroque era, and his love for it is echoed in the primitive lustre of his brass writing... The rich splendour of his symphonic brass writing is clearly a development of his early predilection for brass instrumentation. Something of the magnificence of antiphonal brass writing associated with St Mark's Cathedral in Venice in the Renaissance era lives on in Bruckner's early music.7

As one might expect, Bruckner's liturgical works often utilised trombones.

Having received virtually no formal instruction, Bruckner would have studied the examples of the old masters8 who, if they wrote for the trombone at all, scored for the ATB trio. According to Howie, Bruckner was also influenced by Schubert and Schumann,9 both of whom wrote for the alto trombone; the latter, we recall, was at this time assigning the alto prominent thematic material in his symphonies. During this period it appears that Bruckner also intended an alto as the first trombone in his compositions.

Bruckner's earliest extant choral works to include trombone parts are the 'Kyrie' movements from his incomplete Masses in G Minor and Eb Major, composed in 1846 and 1848 respectively. There are no surviving handwritten parts: only the autograph scores exist. In the 1846 'Kyrie', orchestrated for SATB chorus, trombones and organ, Bruckner has included a blank stave for the 'tromboni'. In the later work, similarly, the oboe, string, organ and 'cello staves seem to have been completed, whereas by the trombone parts, named 'Alt', 'Tenor' and 'Bass' with their corresponding clef signs, there are three blank staves, possibly suggesting that the trombones were to be used colla voce.

According to P. Benedikt Wagner, the Seitenstetten Stiftsarchivar,10Bruckner composed two Aequale for three trombones around 1847. Written in the style of Beethoven's similarly entitled work,

dieses weniger der Trauer als dem Trost und der Hoffnung Ausdruck gebende Begräbnisstück mit seiner stellenweise weichlichen Sexten-Melodik ist eines jener damals beliebten Stücke, die in St. Florian beim äußeren Stiftstore, wo die Leichen abgesetzt wurden, erklangen, bis der Priester die Einsegnung vornahm.11

The three handwritten parts of the first Aequale specify 'Alto', 'Tenor' and 'Bass' written in their respective clefs. The compass of the alto trombone part extends from a to bb'. In the second Aequale (Ex. 3.1 and 3.2), the first two trombone parts are inscribed as in the former; the bass trombone part has been lost. Bruckner required a very modest range of g to g' for the alto trombone.

Bruckner's first major work for chorus with orchestra was the 1849 Requiem in D minor. Although the original parts apparently no longer exist, the compass and function of the first trombone strongly suggests an alto trombone. The trombones are used in the traditional manner of vocal support; the same can be said of Psalm 114 of 1852 (Ex. 3.3) and the Libera Me in F minor of 1854 (Ex. 3.4, 3.5, 3.6). The first trombone erste Abschriftstimme of the latter work (Ex. 3.4) is written in alto clef, and specifies 'Alt Trombone'. In Bruckner's 1854 Missa Solemnis in Bb12 considered by many his most important early work, the trombone parts double the voices, though less slavishly than in the previous works and rather more in the style of Handel or Mendelssohn. The first trombone part ascends to eb'' and falls within the range in which, according to Gevaert, the alto sounded best: 'les deux octaves comprises entre mib4 and mib2'.13

During the mid-1850s Bruckner was often called upon to write dedicatory works, Gebrauchsmusik, in honour of the Prelates. The choral accompaniment was invariably scored for brass ensemble, the absence of strings suggesting these works were performed outdoors. One such composition, 'Vor Arneths Grab' (1854), was written for Männerchor with three accompanying trombones. According to the Göllerich score of 1928,14 the first trombone functions as support for the first tenor and might have been intended for a tenor trombone. The 1855 'Auf Brüder auf die Saiten zur Hand ' from the Kantate für Prälat Meyer (Ex. 3.7) – scored for chorus, three horns, two clarini trumpets, bassoon and three trombones – is somewhat ambiguous in regard to the species of the first trombone. Although in the autograph score the first trombone is written in alto clef, the copyist Schimatschek15 has transposed the part to bass clef, as seen in Ex. 3.8.  Moreover, in the opening section of the piece, the first trombone supports the first tenor voice of the all-male chorus. It thus seems logical that Bruckner would have intended a tenor trombone for the part, as the evidence suggests. However, in the Schlusschor the men are joined by the women's chorus and the first trombone now supports the altos in a tessitura that on one occasion reaches c#". There are a number of possible explanations for this ambiguity. Perhaps Bruckner had wanted to use four trombones (ATTB) but another player was unavailable, and he judged that of the two sections of the chorus the tenors required the stronger reinforcement; or it may be that the tenor trombonist was to change to an alto for the Schlusschor, although there is no such indication. Despite the fact that the part is written in bass clef and that it would have been highly unusual, it is not inconceivable that an alto trombonist could have played from this clef. However, in light of the close working relationship between Bruckner and his copyist Schimatschek, whom Nowak described as an 'ausgezeichneter und genauer Kopist',16 it seems unlikely that he would have erred with a clef sign17 or conveyed an instrumentation contrary to Bruckner's intention. According to Hawkshaw:

a large number of Schimatschek's copies contain entries in Bruckner's hand. In some sources the collaboration between the two was so close that their handwriting is evenly distributed throughout. In view of this intimate relationship, Schimatschek's copies must be considered among the most important sources for Bruckner's compositions.18

Thus if the trombone part was intended for a tenor, as it indeed seems to be, it is apparently the first time Bruckner used the instrument as his first trombone with a mixed choir. Moreover, the c#" is probably the highest note that had been demanded of a tenor trombone at that date, although one must remain sceptical about the fulfilment of the extreme upper register demands placed on the first trombone when doubling the vocal line, as noted earlier for the works of Bach, Schubert, Mendelssohn and others.19

3:2  1855-1863: Studies with Sechter and Kitzler

In November 1855, around the time Bruckner took up the position of Linz Cathedral organist, he began a period of intense study with Simon Sechter that would last until 1861. During these years Bruckner composed very little 'other than exercises'.20 One possible exception is the rather mysterious work Psalm 146. According to Paul Hawkshaw:

When it was written, for whom and why are all unanswered questions... Stylistically the Psalm's cantata-like structure and compositional references to Mendelssohn-Bartholdy and Bach are consistent with other Bruckner works of the 1840s and 1850s... [Yet] difficult to reconcile with a St Florian date are the enormous dimensions of the work and the breadth of the fugal Finale. Would Bruckner have undertaken the latter without at least some influence from Simon Sechter? Some, if not all, work on the Psalm may well date from the early Linz years, 1856-58.21

Psalm 146 is scored for double chorus with full orchestral accompaniment, including four trombones, which according to Hawkshaw consisted of an alto, tenor and two basses.22 The trombones chiefly double the voices – though not always strictly colla voce; otherwise their role is to fill out the harmonies.  An exceptional use of the trombones occurs in the Recitative iia (Ex. 3.9).

Afferentur Regi (Ex. 3.10), written at the conclusion of Bruckner's studies with Sechter, is scored for chorus and trombones. According to Nowak, Bruckner's first sketch contained no trombone parts:

Es muss dahingestellt bleiben, ob Bruckner sein Afferentur zuerst als a-capella Chor gedacht hatte und die Posaune nachträglich hinzusezte oder ob er die Posaune fehlender Linien wegen nicht an der Entwurf schreib.23

The original trombone parts are designated 'Alto'(Ex. 3.11), 'Tenor', 'Bass', are written in the appropriate clefs, and reinforce the voices, though not strictly colla voce.

In 1862, soon after commencing composition and form studies under Otto Kitzler, Bruckner composed the Festkantate.24 As with the 'Auf Brüder auf die Saiten zur Hand', but far less ambiguously, Bruckner almost certainly intended a tenor trombone for the first part. The unreliable nomenclature used for the trombones in the score is once more demonstrated, for although the first trombone in the autograph is called 'Alt' (but written in bass clef), its function and compass suggest a tenor trombone was intended. The Festkantate was composed for men's chorus, and the first trombone, when it does not function independently, acts primarily to double the first tenor voice. Moreover, its range of d to a' is well within that of the tenor trombone as prescribed by Berlioz, Lobe and Gevaert (among others). The tenor thus seems the most appropriate instrument for the first part. Unfortunately, conclusive evidence eludes us as there are no extant original parts.25  With perhaps one notable exception,26 Festkantate appears to mark the beginning of Bruckner's use of the TTB trio that would remain his standard section throughout his career.

Bruckner's period of study with Otto Kitzler (1862-63) was instrumental to his formation as a professional composer. It was Kitzler, the Linz Theater Kapellmeister and adherent of Wagner, who introduced Bruckner to 'modern scores and more up-to-date ways of writing for the trombone'.27 In Linz, Bruckner also met Ignaz Dorn, the second Kapellmeister, another admirer of Wagner as well as of Berlioz and Liszt.  According to Manfred Wagner, Dorn gave Bruckner a further 'Schaffenschub' in this direction.28  Bruckner's composition lessons culminated in the writing of his three most important student works: the Overture in G Minor, Symphony in F Minor and Psalm 112.

In the autograph score of the G Minor Overture (see Ex. 3.12), for which there are no original parts,29 Bruckner designates the trombone section simply as 'tromboni', in bass clef. There is no indication that an alto trombone was intended. As with most of the symphonies he would later write, Bruckner called for a b' from the first trombone, which occurs in the last bar of the first version.30 The opinions of some experts notwithstanding, by 1863 this would hardly have been an extreme demand. During a period when many tenor trombonists were having to cope with former alto parts, it is inevitable that the erstwhile 'ceiling' on the tenor's upper register would be pushed constantly upwards and re-defined, as notes once thought of as solely within the domain of 'quelques artistes' became increasingly commonplace. Already, more than a decade earlier, Robert Schumann had required a b' from the second trombone in his Fourth Symphony.

In the autograph score of Bruckner's 'student' Symphony in F Minor (Ex. 3.13), the trombone section is once again referred to as 'tromboni' Apparently no parts were ever copied out by hand.31 As with the Overture, Bruckner does not specify an alto trombone. Stylistically, the trombone writing is also very similar32 – Bruckner again calls for an enharmonic b' from the first trombone – and indeed the part is a fairly typical (if somewhat uninspired) example of Bruckner's symphonic trombone writing.

According to the autograph score of Bruckner's final assignment for Kitzler, a setting of Psalm 112 for double chorus and orchestra (Ex. 3.14), the 'tromboni' are assigned to one stave of bass clef with no differentiation of trombone types.33 The first trombone, with a range from eb to an occasional a', is largely independent and rarely doubles the alto voice. When it does double a vocal part – usually in unison with the tenors or in octaves with the sopranos – it is to emphasise the most important part in the chorus.

Two minor compositions, Drei Orchesterstücke (Ex. 3.15) and Marsch in D moll (Ex. 3.16) were also set as exercises for Bruckner by Kitzler.  In the former a single 'trombone' is used as the bass to the wind group of two flutes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns and two trumpets. With a range of E to c' the part is suitable for either a bass trombone or tenor trombone. In the latter, a march for full orchestra, Bruckner wrote for three 'tromboni' which are notated for the most part on one system of bass clef (there are four bars in which they appear on a single system in tenor clef). The first trombone part has a range of a to c''.

Germanenzug, composed in July 1863, marked the beginning of Bruckner's career as a professional composer.34  Written for the first Oberösterreichisches Sängerfest composition contest in Linz,35 which specified that the entries be scored for the male chorus of the Linzer Singakademie Fröhsinn with band accompaniment,36 it uses the trombones in similar fashion to the Festkantate.  The first trombone part, with a range of d to bb', when not functioning independently, usually doubles the first tenor voice. It was probably intended, like that of the Festkantate, for the tenor instrument, despite the misleading score designations of 'Alt', 'Ten' and 'Bass' trombones on separate staves of bass clef, as shown in Example 3.17.  (According to Hawkshaw, a set of parts listed in the St Florian catalogue cannot be located).37 Bruckner describes the instrumentation of the military band for which he had to write:

Der Chor ist (für Germanenzug) Militärsmusik zu instrumentieren. Ich habe bei meinem Chore Sopran Cornet in Es-Sopran Cornet in B (weil hier kein Alt Cornet vorhanden ist), Tenorhorn in Bassschlüssel, 2 Horn in F, 2 Horn in D, 2 Trompetten in B (haben aber die in Es hier in Linz lieber), 3 Posaunen sämtlich im Baßschlüssel, Basstuba.38

3:3 The Three Great Masses

From 1864 to 1868, 'the volcanic eruption of Bruckner's creative energy'39 in the form of his three great Masses in D, E and F minor, coinciding with his Symphony No. 1 (the 'Linzer'), signalled Bruckner's breakthrough into his own stylistic terrain:

The three 'symphonic' masses... became the very sub-soil out of which the three 'mass-symphonies' I, II and III of 1865-78 were to grow.40

Nowak adds that with the D Minor Mass, Bruckner's development as a composer 'gelangte damit an die Schwelle der Meisterschaft'.41 The 1864 D Minor Mass was first performed under the composer's direction the same year in the Linz Cathedral. According to Dr Gunter Brosche, Bruckner used the traditional term 'alto' for the first trombone in the autograph score,42 although it appears that he intended it to be played by a tenor trombone. The original trombone part, copied by Schimatschek,43 is in the bass clef, has a tenor trombone range of B to a', and is designated '1mo Trombone (alto)'. We may recall that sequential numbering of parts was fairly new at this time, and the use of the traditional term in brackets seems to bear this out.44

As with Psalm 112, the function of the trombones in the D Minor Mass (Ex. 3.18, 3.19, 3.20) differs significantly from that of the two St Florian masses, the Requiem and the Missa Solemnis. Except for sections of the 'Kyrie', this 'symphonic' mass, 'revolutionary in the use of a descriptive orchestra',45 contains material for the trombones which is of a weighty, orchestral nature, with rhythms and voicings characteristic of Bruckner's symphonic works (Ex. 3.19). The trombones are also used independently of the voices (see Ex. 3.19, 3.20).

The Mass in E Minor, composed in 1866 and first performed, with Bruckner conducting, at the dedication ceremony of the new votive chapel in Linz in 1869, was scored for full chorus with a wind ensemble accompaniment, consisting of two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets and three trombones. The wind players were drawn from members of the military band of the 14th infantry regiment of Ernst Ludwig, Grossherzog von Hessen und bei Rhein, Nr 14.46  We are reminded by Kastner that already by the mid-1800s the alto appears to have been excluded from military bands:

'Dans la musique militaire, on emploie rarement cet instrument'.47

In 1850 Lobe observed that infantry bands are 'of the fullest arrangement [and] the employment of the instruments of military bands in Austria and Germany are pretty much the same in regard to number, kind and nature'.48 According to research by Egg and Pfaundler, between 1850 and 1852:

erfolgte die grosse Reform der österreichischen Militärmusik durch den Armee-Kapellmeister Andreas Leonhardt... Die Leonhardtsche Reform legte die Stärke und Besetzung der Militärkapellen grundsätzlich für die folgenden Jahrzehnte und eigentlich bis in die Gegenwart fest.49

Included in the military instrumentation were two tenors and a bass trombone, but no alto trombone.50 Austrian military band specialist Dr Eugen Brixel adds that by the time of Bruckner's E Minor Mass, 'traditionally military bands included no alto trombones'.51 With the inclusion of a valved Alt-Flügelhorn in E flat,52 there would be no need for the less practical, less efficient alto trombone.

Bruckner's prior experience writing for a Linzer military band included the Festkantate (1862), Germanenzug (1863) and Marsch in Es Dur (1865)53 (Ex. 3.21), all of which used a tenor on the first trombone part. The last, composed for the Militär-Kapelle der Jäger-Truppe in Linz,54 had a low-brass section consisting of two tenor 'tromboni' of which the range of the first part extends from Bb to g', and 'Basso'.55 Bruckner's description of the make-up of the band's trombone section for Germanenzug (see p. 105) – with three bass-clef trombones – suggests that there was no alto trombonist in the ensemble.  There is no indication that an alto trombone was intended on either the Niederschrift (see Ex. 3.22) or Widmungspartitur (Ex. 3.23) of the 1866 first version of the E Minor Mass. Unfortunately the original handwritten parts to this version appear to be lost. However, two sets of handwritten parts exist for the 1882 version: in one set the first trombone is labelled 'Trombone 1mo (Alto)' and in the other it is called 'Trombone Alt'. According to Hawkshaw, it has not been possible to ascertain which of the two sets were the original hand-copied parts.56 Both first trombone parts were written in bass clef. With few exceptions, the first trombone parts in the 1866 and 1882 versions are the same. Neither the function nor the tessitura has been altered. What few changes there are occur chiefly in the 'Credo': in the second version some of the awkward voice-leading that appears in the original Et Incarnatus has been eliminated, as well as some of the heavier accompanying figures in the Allegro. As far as new material is concerned, Bruckner introduces a B-diminished seventh arpeggio in the first trombone part of the 1882 'Credo' (Ex. 3.24), and the last four bars of the Adagio from the 1866 'Credo' (Ex. 3.25) are developed into a solo chorale in the 1882 version (Ex. 3.26).

As in the D Minor Mass, the trombone writing includes elements of traditional doubling as well as independent usage. On the one hand, the first trombone serves at times to reinforce the alto voices, particularly in the 'Gloria' and 'Agnus Dei'. However, in the 'Kyrie', 'Credo' and 'Sanctus' the treatment is very symphonic in nature – except at those times when it is doubling the tenors. The 'Benedictus' combines both roles. With the exception of a single excursion up to c'' (which is in unison with the alto voices), the tessitura of the first part is otherwise within the limitations of an 1860 tenor trombonist, including those passages in unison with the altos. Indeed, even the b' at the end of its initial entrance in the 'Kyrie' is in aid of the tenor voices.  Similarly, the frequently low tessitura of the first trombone in the 1866 version suggests a part for the tenor rather than the alto (see Ex. 3.27).  Perhaps Bruckner felt that by using a tenor on the first part he could get support for his altos at essential moments and still have the darker sound available for the more orchestral passages.57

It is intriguing that Bruckner intended an alto trombone in the F Minor Mass, but it is readily apparent from the first trombone erste Abschriftstimme that this is so. Composed between 1867 and 1868, the first performance was not given until 1872, in Vienna's St Augustine's Church. It is important to note that although the original first trombone part specifies 'Trombone Alto' (Ex. 3.28) and is written in alto clef, in the autograph score (Ex. 3.29, 3.30), according to Hofrat Brosche, Bruckner 'lediglich "Tromboni" vorschreibt, die in Bass-Schlüssel notiert werden'.58 Redlich contends that the F Minor Mass,

a work of stylistic transition... fall[s] between two stools. Taking the Missa Solemnis type of the Vienna classics as a model... [it] employed a full orchestra, enlivened by the harmonic audacities of Wagnerian Romanticism.59

This is clearly demonstrated in the writing for the first trombone, in which Bruckner attempts to extract two very different timbres from a single instrument. In the Gloria and Credo, in which the trombones generally reinforce the voices, the writing is well-suited to an alto trombone;60 surely the choice of an alto was dictated as much by the Viennese classicism of the Mass as by the upper-register demands, which included d" and c#". Indeed, not since the 1854 Mass in Bb had Bruckner written so high for the first trombone.61  Moreover, the fact that the first performance employed a choir of eighteen with an orchestra that was accordingly small,62 'as were most of the performances during Bruckner's lifetime, [which] were in the smaller setting of the Hofburgkapelle',63 may also have made the alto a preferable choice. On the other hand, the 'audacious' Romantic harmonies of many of the purely instrumental passages, particularly the soli chorales – a foretaste of those which would adorn his symphonies – call out for the tenor.

According to Redlich, the perilous entrance in the 'Credo' (Example 3.31) was not doubled by the horns in the first version; they were only added in the second version (fourth revision) of 1881. He suggests (and the author concurs) that 'when the trombones are of first-rate quality the horns can still remain silent'.64

Throughout his career, Bruckner would continue to write high parts for the first trombone – his works are among the most strenuous in the orchestral repertoire – but never again as high as in the F Minor Mass, for this appears to be the last time Bruckner would call for the alto trombone, Bruckner's offertorium Inveni David65(Ex. 3.32), written during the same time as the F Minor Mass, appears to be scored for a trombone section of two tenors and a bass:  The first trombone, with a highest note of a', supports the first tenor voice throughout.

3:4 The Symphonies

Coinciding more or less with the three great masses was Bruckner's first mature symphony the 'Linzer' of 1866, which calls for a tenor trombone: the first trombone erste Abschriftstimme used in the 1868 Linz première is written in bass clef and labelled 'Trombone 1mo (Alt)' as seen in Ex. 3.33. In 1891, Bruckner reworked the symphony and dedicated the 'Wiener' version to the Vienna Philharmonic.66 The first trombone erste Abschriftstimme (Ex. 3.34) is also unequivocally for a tenor trombone.  It is written in tenor clef and has the appellation 'Trombone 1mo'.67 The content of the original hand-copied 'Wiener' and 'Linzer' first trombone parts is essentially the same.  Paradoxically, according to Brosche, Bruckner uses the word 'Alt' on the later score (Ex. 3.36), whereas on the earlier 'Linzer' he does not68 (Ex. 3.35). This makes it abundantly clear that Bruckner's use of the term cannot be taken at face value.69

One observes that in both versions the first trombonist is required to play a low A, which is the lowest (non-pedal) note attainable on the alto. We are reminded how Berlioz and Kastner cautioned composers to avoid writing for the alto below eb due to the poor quality of the sound,70 and especially of the advice given by Kastner and Marx regarding the problems associated with seventh position on the alto.71 Significantly, Bruckner writes a c'' for the first trombone in 1866, the highest note he had yet demanded from a tenor trombonist in a major non-choral work.72

With regard to modern publications of Bruckner's Symphony No. 1, which label the first part 'Alto Trombone', one notes that on the score of the first printed edition, by Doblinger, which was published in 1892, the term 'alto' does not appear.73

At one time believed to have been composed in 1864, the Symphony in D Minor (the 'Nullte') is now known to have been written in 1869, following the 'Linzer'. According to Nowak, the score of the symphony, which was withdrawn (hence nullified) by the composer, indicated ATB trombones.74 However, Bruckner could hardly have meant that an alto be used, for not only does he require A from the first trombone but F and G# as well (Ex. 3.39), notes which are unplayable on the alto but possible on the tenor. The original hand-copied part states 'Trombone 1mo (Alto)' (Ex. 3.38).

Completed in 1872, the original autograph score of the Second Symphony does not designate ATB trombones but refers simply to 'tromboni'.75 Similarly, the first publication of the score (of the second version76) by Doblinger, in 1892, calls for 'Trombones 1, 2, 3'. According to Doblinger and the Austrian National Library, the original printed first trombone part and the erste Abschrift no longer exist.

Dr Mark Hartman suggests that an alto trombone might have been intended in the Third Symphony because, he states erroneously, Bruckner 'wr[o]te the first trombone part in alto clef'.77 In fact, in the original autograph score the first trombone part is written in bass and tenor clefs. Nor does the first trombone appear in alto clef in Rättig's first printed edition of the score of 1878, or the second publication of 189078 (Ex. 3.39). Most importantly, the first handwritten part, which according to Otto Biba was used by the Vienna Philharmonic in the debut performance of 1877, is designated 'Trombone 1mo' and written in bass clef79 (Ex. 3.40).

As in the 'Nullte', it is logical to assume that the first trombone part of the Fourth Symphony was intended for a tenor trombone, for in bar 297 of the Finale Bruckner requires an Ab in triple forte, a note unplayable on the alto, and shown in Ex. 3.41. The 1874 autograph score refers to the section both as 'alto, tenor, bass' and 'tromboni'. The first printed score by Gutmann in 1889 lists the trombones as '1e, 2e, 3e'. Apparently the erste Abschriften and first printed parts no longer exist.

Bruckner is inconsistent in his use of trombone nomenclature in the 1876 autograph score of the Fifth Symphony, alternating between 'alt, tenor, bass' and 'Tr[ombones]'. Although there are no extant original parts, the original printed part by Doblinger calls for '1. Posaune' in tenor clef.

Throughout his 1881 autograph score of Symphony No. 6 Bruckner refers to the first trombone as 'Alt'. This symphony also marks the first time that the part in a Bruckner first printed edition (Doblinger, 1899) is called 'Alt Posaune'. There is no apparent need for an alto trombone – indeed the part is written in tenor, not alto, clef. As far as range (B to b') and style are concerned, Bruckner's treatment of the first trombone is virtually the same as in his previous symphonies. According to Nowak, the first publication of the Sixth Symphony contained many errors and contradictions, due to the fact that Bruckner died prior to publication and did not therefore participate in any way in the actual publication process:

Leider liessen die nachfolgenden Ausgaben bis zur Neurevision durch J.V. v. Wöss (Vienna 1927) die einander widersprechenden Verhältnisse bestehen, ja vermehrten gelegentlich noch die Fehlerzahl.80

Further evidence that a tenor was intended for the first trombone part is seen in the score used by Franz Schalk (Ex. 3.42) when conducting the Vienna Philharmonic. Schalk, a former pupil, close friend and early champion of Bruckner, amended the first trombone part in places to provide added weight and strength in the middle to low register, which would have been illogical if the part were being played by an alto.  It seems clear that Doblinger used the term 'alto' in the conventional sense of 'high' voice; unfortunately the original handwritten part, which could provide confirmation, no longer exists.

The first printed edition of the score of the Seventh Symphony, produced by Gutmann in 1885, came soon after the completion of the composition in 1883 and its first performance in Leipzig in 1884, which tends to give one increased confidence in its reliability and authenticity. There are no extant original printed or handwritten parts. However, the Gutmann score calls for '3 Posaunen', without indicating separate species, in what was Bruckner's heaviest, most 'Wagnerian' orchestra to date. The autograph score uses the terms 'Alt', 'Tenor' and 'Bass', but surely as 'convention rather than deliberate choice'.81 Although the first trombone part is very taxing, Bruckner does not take it as high as in either the First or the Second Symphony.

Like its immediate predecessor, Symphony No. 8 calls for a large, 'Wagnerian' orchestra in which the breadth and weight of a tenor trombone would be required on the first part. In the autograph score Bruckner once again calls the first and second trombones by the conventional names of 'Alt' and 'Tenor' respectively, while writing for them in the tenor clef on the same stave. According to Dr Clemens Hellsburg,82 the Vienna Philharmonic's Archivar, the first publication of the Symphony by Carl Tobias Haslinger was used by the Orchestra in the first public performance in 1892. Most unusually, in what appears to have been a cost-saving measure, both first and second trombone parts are printed in the same part, with Bruckner's score notation reproduced.

Displaying stylistic links to his last two symphonies as well as the D minor third symphony, and emerging from the same spiritual context, Bruckner uses a similarly large orchestra in his Symphony No. 9 in D Minor to depict the characteristic mix of Weltschmerz, devotion to God and the anxious disquietude brought on by the uncertainty of the hereafter.  The trombones are used predominantly and powerfully to convey Bruckner's dark moods of anguish and weighty despair, rather than the elevated moments of the devout God-seeker.  As with the third, seventh and eighth symphonies, the tenor is better suited than the alto for the role.

Further evidence in favour of of the use of the tenor trombone comes from the fact that Bruckner requires a low A in fortissimo from the first trombone, which would sound extremely poor on the alto.83 (See Ex. 3.43).

Crawford Howie adds:

It seems that right up to the end, Bruckner still wrote his first trombone part for the 'alto trombone' without necessarily expecting that an alto trombone would play it... I have no doubt... the tenor trombone is the instrument for the symphonies.84

Chordal passages in close harmony, a hallmark of Bruckner's trombone writing, recall Adolph Bernard Marx's textbook, Die Lehre von der musikalische Komposition, praktisch theoretisch:85

In enger Lage und im Forte wirken sie mit schmetternder Gewalt; die einzelnen Töne des Akkords dröhnen in einander zu härtestem Klang, und zwar um so heftiger, je höher und enger die Stimmen treten.86 (See bars 121-124 of Ex. 3.44).

Marx continues: In close position, piano, the trombones produce an 'unheimlicher Ausdruck'87 (See bars 125-128 of Ex. 3.44).

To conclude this chapter the following table illustrates Bruckner's use of the trombone section. It can be seen that during Bruckner's early stage as a composer he favoured the ATB trio. Following a transitional period, from 1854 to about 1858, he came to rely almost exclusively on the tenor-led section, the exception being the surprising use of the alto trombone in the Mass in F Minor in 1868.

Table 3.1

Major Works of Bruckner with Trombone Parts
Year of composition
Type of first completion*
Trombone
1846
'Kyrie' from Mass in G minor
Alto?
1847
Aequale I
Alto
Aequale II
Alto
1848
'Kyrie' from Mass in Eb Major
Alto?
1849
Requiem in D
Alto
1852
Psalm 114
Alto
1854
Missa Solemnis
Alto
Libera Me
Alto
'Vor Arneths Grab'
Tenor
1855
'Auf Brüder auf die Saiten zur Hand' from Kantate für Prälat Meyer
Tenor
1856
Afferentur Regi
Alto
1858(?)
Psalm 146
Alto
1862
Festkantate
Tenor
Drei Orchesterstücke
Tenor or Bass**
March in D Minor
Tenor
1863
Overture in G Minor
Tenor
Symphony in F Minor
Tenor
Psalm 112
Tenor
Germanenzug
Tenor
1864
Mass in D Minor
Tenor
1865
March in Eb Major
Tenor
1866
Mass in E Minor
Tenor
Symphony No. 1 ('Linzer')
Tenor
1868
Mass in F Minor
Alto
'Inveni David'
Tenor
1869
Symphony in D Minor ('Nullte')
Tenor
1872
Symphony No. 2
Tenor
1873
Symphony No. 3
Tenor
1874
Symphony No. 4
Tenor
1876
Symphony No. 5
Tenor
1881
Symphony No. 6
Tenor
1883
Symphony No. 7
Tenor
Te Deum
Tenor
1885
Ecce Sacerdos
Tenor
1887
Symphony No. 8
Tenor
1891
Symphony No. 1 ('Wiener')
Tenor
1893
Helgoland
Tenor
1894
Symphony No. 9
Tenor

* refers to year of first version where applicable
** one trombone only

  1. Robin Gregory, The Trombone, London, 1973, pp. 108-9. Return to Article
  2. Eric Crees, 'Trombone Evolution' part 4, Sounding Brass and the Conductor (Autumn 1976), p. 73. Return to Article
  3. 'I cannot believe that Bruckner intended a tenor trombone (for the first trombone part) when orchestrating his masses. I also feel that he composed for the trombones as was customary with him, that is to say vocally, for parts in the ranges of alto, tenor and bass.' Karl-Heinz Weber, personal correspondence with the author, 13.6.95. Return to Article
  4. William E. Runyan, 'The Alto Trombone and Contemporary Concepts of Trombone Timbre', Brass Bulletin 28 (1979), p. 47. Return to Article
  5. Mark Hartman, (The Use of the Alto Trombone in Symphonic and Operatic Orchestral Literature, DMA, Arizona State University, 1985, p. 47) incorrectly cites Anthony Baines in Brass Instruments in support of the claim that Bruckner specified the alto trombone for the Third Symphony. A closer reading reveals that Baines felt that, although Bruckner intended a tenor trombone, he feared that contemporary models had become over-large and thus too dark-timbred (Baines, Brass Instruments, pp. 245, 247). Return to Article
  6. 'Anton Bruckner got his first inspiration for his creative work through sacred music.' Leopold Nowak, 'Preface' in Nowak (ed.), Anton Bruckner's Sämtliche Werke: Messe in D moll, Vienna, 1957. Trans. Christl Schönfeldt. Return to Article
  7. Derek Watson, Bruckner, London, 1975, p. 65. Return to Article
  8. Crawford Howie, tutorial, 17.6.96. Return to Article
  9. Ibid. Return to Article
  10. Personal correspondence with the author, 14.1.95. Return to Article
  11. 'This funereal work, with its gentle melody moving at times in sixths, is an expression less of mourning than of consolation and hope. It was then a most cherished piece, played at the outermost gates of the abbey, where the corpses would be placed until the time the priest carried out the sacraments.' August Göllerich and Max Auer, Anton Bruckner: Ein Lebens- und Schaffens-Bild, Band II, 1 Teil, Regensburg, 1928, p. 63. Trans. A.C. Howie. Return to Article
  12. The parts at St Florian were not available for examination. Return to Article
  13. 'the two octaves between eb and eb'''. Gevaert, Nouveau Traité d'Instrumentation, Paris, 1855, p. 188. Return to Article
  14. Göllerich and Auer, op. cit., 2 Teil, pp. 184-188. Unfortunately, the autograph score was not available for examination, nor do there appear to be any existing original handwritten parts, hence confirmation was not possible. Return to Article
  15. Dr Rudolf Buchmeyer, Archivist and Librarian, Stift St Florian, personal interview, 10.4.96. Return to Article
  16. 'outstanding and exact copyist'. Anton Bruckner, Kleine Kirchenwerke 1835-1882, Revisionsbericht, ed. Leopold Nowak, Vienna, 1984, p. 65. Return to Article
  17. Especially because he was himself a brass player: according to Paul Hawkshaw he played French horn in the Linzer Theater Orchester (op. cit., p. 314). Return to Article
  18. Ibid., p. 315. Return to Article
  19. See Introduction to Part I, n. 6, p. 3; Chapter 1, n. 101, p. 37. Return to Article
  20. Hawkshaw, op. cit., p. 78. Return to Article
  21. Paul Hawkshaw, 'Preface' to Anton Bruckner, Sämtliche Werke: Psalm 146, Band 20/4, ed. Paul Hawkshaw, Vienna, 1996. Return to Article
  22. Paul Hawkshaw, personal correspondence with the author, 18.6.96. Return to Article
  23. 'It must remain to be seen whether Bruckner had originally intended his Afferentur as an a capella choral work and added the trombones later, or whether he left the trombones out from the sketch on account of the lack of staves.' Leopold Nowak (ed.), Anton Bruckner: Gesamtausgabe, Kleine Kirchenwerke 1835-1892, Revisionsbericht, Vienna, 1984, p. 65. Return to Article
  24. Hawkshaw (The Manuscript Sources, p. 79) states that this work was not composed for Kitzler as an exercise. Return to Article
  25. Ibid., pp. 270-71. Return to Article
  26. The F Minor Mass (see p. 110). Return to Article
  27. Crawford Howie, personal correspondence, 21/11/96. According to Hawkshaw, the exercises Bruckner carried out for Kitzler in the Kitzler Studienbuch (163 folios of manuscript) include on 115 r. - 125 v. practice in brass orchestration (The Manuscript Sources, p. 88). Return to Article
  28. 'creative push'. Manfred Wagner, Bruckner, Mainz, 1983, p. 68. Return to Article
  29. Hawkshaw, op. cit., pp. 272-73. Return to Article
  30. Anton Bruckner, Overture in G Minor, ed. Arthur D. Walker, (Eulenberg) London, 1971. Return to Article
  31. Hawkshaw, The Manuscript Sources, pp. 273-5. Nowak writes that 'Kitzler beurteilte die F-Moll Symphonie nicht sonderlich günstig, Bruckner hat sich daher nie wieder mit ihr beschäftigt, ihm war sie stets nur eine weggelegte “Schularbeit”'. ('Kitzler's opinion of the Symphony in F Minor was not particularly favourable, which is perhaps why Bruckner never returned to it; it remained a discarded “scholastic exercise”' (Anton Bruckner, 'Foreword' to Sämtliche Werke Band II, Symphonie D-Moll, 'Nullte', Fassung von 1869, ed. Leopold Nowak, Vienna, 1968. Trans. Richard Rickett). Yet according to Hawkshaw the Symphony was the only one of these three student works which Bruckner tried to have performed (Hawkshaw, The Manuscript Sources, p. 103). Return to Article
  32. Work on the Symphony commenced a month after completion of the Overture (ibid., p. 89). Return to Article
  33. Hawkshaw, personal correspondence, 18.6.96. Return to Article
  34. Leopold Nowak, 'Preface' to Anton Bruckner: Sämtliche Werke, Kantaten und Chorwerken 1854-1893, Teil 1u.2, vorgelegt von Franz Burkhart, Rudolf H. Führer, Leopold Nowak, Vienna, 1987, p. viii. Return to Article
  35. Bruckner was awarded second prize. Grasberger, op. cit., p. 76. Return to Article
  36. Hawkshaw, The Manuscript Sources, p. 53. According to Hertha Gruber of the Linzer Singakadamie, the Musikkapelle des K.K. Husarenregiments Graf Radetzky performed at the Sängerfest the day before Germanenzug was presented and may have provided the accompaniment for Bruckner's composition (Hertha Gruber, personal correspondence, 18.9.96). Return to Article
  37. Hawkshaw, The Manuscript Sources, p. 277.
  38. 'The accompaniment (for Germanenzug) is to be orchestrated for military band. I have with my chorus a soprano cornet in Eb, a soprano cornet in Bb (because there is no alto cornet available here), a baritone cornet in bass clef, 2 horns in F, 2 horns in D, 2 trumpets in Bb (though they prefer the Eb in Linz), all three trombones in bass clef, bass tuba'. Letter of 25 February 1864, in Max Auer (ed.), Anton Bruckner: Gesammelte Briefe, Neue Folge, Regensberg, 1924, p. 54. Return to Article
  39. Hans F. Redlich, 'Foreword', in Bruckner, Mass No 3 in F minor (revision of 1881), ed. Hans Redlich, London, 1967, p. 29. Return to Article
  40. Ibid., p. 25. Return to Article
  41. 'reached the threshold of his artistic maturity'. Nowak, 'Preface' to Messe in D moll. Return to Article
  42. Brosche, personal correspondence with the author, 2.2.96. Return to Article
  43. Nowak, Messe in D Moll. Return to Article
  44. Bartlett, personal correspondence with the author, 21.12.95. Return to Article
  45. Redlich, op. cit., p. 30. Return to Article
  46. Leopold Nowak, 'Foreword' in Nowak (ed.), Anton Bruckner: Sämtliche Werke: Messe in E moll, Fassung von 1866, Vienna, 1957. Return to Article
  47. 'this instrument [is] rarely used in military music'. Kastner, Traité Générale, p. 53. Return to Article
  48. Lobe, op. cit., p. 380. Ed. Kretzmar (German text not available). Return to Article
  49. 'The great reform in Austrian military music by Army Band Director Andreas Leonhardt was adopted... The Leonhardt Reform Plan established the basic strength and instrumentation of the military bands for the following decades and indeed up to the present time.' Erich Egg and Wolfgang Pfaundler, Das Grosse Tiroler Blasmusikbuch, Wien, 1979, p. 57. Return to Article
  50. Ibid., pp. 56-7. Return to Article
  51. Eugen Brixel, personal correspondence with the author, 13.12.94. Return to Article
  52. Egg and Pfaundler, op. cit., p. 57. Montagu takes this to mean an Eb alto horn (tutorial, 12.11.94). Return to Article
  53. Hawkshaw, The Manuscript Sources, p. 53. Return to Article
  54. Renate Grasberger, Werkverzeichnis Anton Bruckner, Tutzing, 1977, p. 129. Return to Article
  55. Bruckner has written two separate parts, most likely for bass trombone and tuba.  According to Grassmeyer (ibid), Bruckner's instrumentation included '3 Posaunen' and no tuba, but the autograph score clearly shows two distinct parts for the 'Basso'. See Ex. 3.21. Return to Article
  56. Hawkshaw, personal correspondence with the author, 29.8.96. In one set the fermata at the end of the trombones' first entry has been omitted. In the other set, in bars 19 and 21 of the Allegro following 'Et Incarnatus', the copyist has written which, according to Nowak (Anton Bruckner: Sämtliche Werke, Messe in E moll, Fassung von 1882, Band 17/2, Wien, 1959), should be:
  57. On both handwritten parts the tie from the sixteenth to the seventeenth bar of the 'Gloria' is missing. Return to Article
  58. According to Brixel, though the Ernst Ludwig Infantry Band may have lacked an alto trombonist, if Bruckner really wished to have this part played by the instrument the Linzer Theater Orchester could surely have provided the player.  (Brixel, personal correspondence with the author, 13.12.94.)  Also, one cannot discount the possibility that a tenor trombonist from the Band could have been capable of doubling on the alto. Return to Article
  59. 'merely inscribed “Trombones” which are written in bass clef'. Brosche, personal correspondence with the author, 30.12.94.  Contrary to Brosche, Hartman erroneously states that 'Bruckner clearly indicated the alto trombone in his Messe in F Moll' (Hartman, op. cit., p. 48). Return to Article
  60. Redlich, op. cit., pp. 35, 29. Return to Article
  61. The exception to this statement is this passage: (bars 278-281) in the Gloria, reinforcing the basses, which is unusually low for an alto. Return to Article
  62. In the Mass in Bb, Bruckner takes the first trombone up to eb''. Return to Article
  63. Leopold Nowak, 'Preface' to Anton Bruckner's Samtliche Werke: Messe in F moll, Vienna, 1990. Return to Article
  64. Crawford Howie, personal correspondence, 13.11.95. Return to Article
  65. Redlich, op. cit., p. 182, n. 5. Return to Article
  66. Although I have seen the autograph score, the original parts were either lost or unavailable. Return to Article
  67. The Vienna Philharmonic was initially rather unenthusiastic about this dedication due to the costs that would be incurred in having the parts copied. Indeed, Bruckner thus having offered to pay for the copying himself, an invoice was made out to the composer for the sum of 59 Gulden and 22 Kreuzer. Learning of this Richter became furious, declaring to the orchestra committee that it was 'unerhört... Es wäre zu viel das Bruckner diess zahlen soll' ('unheard of... It would be too much that Bruckner would have to pay for this') and offered to meet the cost personally (Clemens Hellsberg, Demokratie der Könige: Die Geschichte der Wiener Philharmonic, Mainz, 1992, p. 273). Return to Article
  68. Numerical ordering of parts must have been more commonplace by now, thus making the bracketed, traditional term superfluous. Return to Article
  69. Brosche, personal correspondence with the author, 30.12.94. Return to Article
  70. This appears to hold true possibly from as early as 'Vor Arneths Grab' in 1854, but certainly from the year 1862 (Festkantate onwards). Return to Article
  71. See n. 4 and n. 5, Chapter 2. Return to Article
  72. See n. 4, Chapter 2. Return to Article
  73. Bruckner scored a c'' in his student exercise Marsch in D moll in 1862. See Ex. 3.16. Return to Article
  74. None of the parts from this edition exists according to Doblinger, the Austrian National Library, the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Return to Article
  75. Leopold Nowak (ed.) Symphonie D-moll, 'Nullte', Fassung von 1869, Vienna, 1968, p. 1. Return to Article
  76. Bruckner again requires a c'' from the first trombone. Return to Article
  77. Grasberger, op. cit., p. 274. Return to Article
  78. Hartman, op. cit., p. 47. Return to Article
  79. Moreover, the first trombone part of the 1890 edition, which is labelled '1. Posaune', is written in tenor clef. Return to Article
  80. Biba, personal correspondence with the author, 29.11.95. Return to Article
  81. 'Unfortunately, succeeding editions, up to the New Revision by J.V. von Wöss (Vienna 1927) continued to include the contradictions, and indeed occasionally contributed yet more errors'. Leopold Nowak, 'Foreword' in Anton Bruckner, Sämtliche Werke, VI Symphonie A-Dur, Originalfassung. 2. revidierte Ausgabe, ed. Robert Haas, Vienna, 1952, p. 2. Return to Article
  82. Crawford Howie, personal correspondence with the author, 21.12.94. Return to Article
  83. Hellsburg, personal interview, Vienna, 26.4.96. Return to Article
  84. Played with the slide dangerously fully extended, this is the lowest (non-pedal) note on the Eb alto trombone.  See also n. 4, Chapter 2. Return to Article
  85. Howie, personal correspondence, 14.12.94. Return to Article
  86. See n. 9 in Introduction to Part II. Return to Article
  87. 'In close position and in forte [the trombones] have an effect of penetrating force; the separate notes of the chords resound to produce the hardest sound, and indeed, it becomes vehement as the parts ascend higher and closer together'. Marx, Die Lehre, p. 69. Return to Article
  88. 'mysterious expression'. Ibid., p. 69. Return to Article

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