What is the first thing you think about when you hear the word trombone or see someone playing one? Is it a marching band going down the street in bright red uniforms? Is it a long glissando in an old cartoon when a character does something silly or falls down? I bet it’s not a 15th century brass instrument most commonly found alongside two schawms. One of the things I find so interesting about the trombone is it’s versatility. Today, one can find trombonists playing all kinds of styles and genres ranging from jazz combo to symphony orchestra. Trombone plays a vital part in brass quintet, as well as big band. There are usually at least three of them in any wind ensemble, and even more in a larger symphonic band! New music in the 21st century loves the trombone because of it’s uniqueness in being the only brass to legitimately get a long and very crass glissando. I personally think it’s very annoying when I come across a piece of music written in the last one hundred years and my part is primarily whole notes at a loud dynamic, followed by a bunch of glissandi (that are sometimes physically impossible due to a composer’s lack of knowledge regarding the physics of the trombone). The reason for this being the fact that trombone is also extremely capable, like most all other instruments, of playing a beautiful melody or complimenting a melodic line in other ways than extended technique.
Encyclopedia Britannica describes the trombone as such: “Trombone, French trombone, German Posaune, brass wind musical instrument sounded by lip vibration against a cup mouthpiece. It has an extendable slide that can increase the length of the instrument’s tubing. The slide thus performs the function of the valves on other brass instruments.”
I like this description a lot, but the one thing it leaves out is the sackbut. Saqueboute in French, translates nicely to describe the modern trombone in the words “push-pull”. The first sackbuts appear in the year 1400 in Southern France (Eliason), and by 1420 had become while not universal, an accepted fact of the musical scene. The Sackbut was a development of the trumpet with an extendable slide instead of valves that increased the length of tubing, changing the pitch like the modern trombone. Like the trumpet, it had cylindrical bore flared to a bell, but a larger mouthpiece and cross section resembling a coronet. The bell of the sackbut had a five inch diameter and no finish on the rim, and also crooks that made the pitch of the instrument higher or lower depending on their material and size. These were considered tenor sackbuts, but by the beginning of the 17th century there were different sized instruments for alto, bass, and contrabass.
The early trombone, or sackbut, had a multitude of different functions when it was introduced to the musical world. In the early 16th century, vocal groups were commonly alternating with organs or instrumental groups, but eventually the instruments would accompany and often times double the vocal parts. The trombone has been described as the closest instrument to the human voice, so this feature of doubling is not surprising. This tradition carried on into the mid 19th century, as the trombone became less of a novelty and more respected in the orchestral setting.
By the mid 1800’s, sackbuts had become trombones in a much more modern sense. The bells became much larger and thicker to create the intended larger sound of composers such as Wagner and Berlioz of the time. Wagner used trombones heavily to portray feelings of heroism, might, and barbarism. But also by that time and into the early 20th century with people like Tommy Dorsey and Emory Remington, the trombone started to develop its lyrical singing side, putting aside the loud and pompous ideals that Wagner and earlier composers thought so important, creating a new and much more versatile personality for an instrument with an unfortunate first name.
As a bassist and fellow member of the low end, I wholeheartedly identify with your frustrations over the oftentimes lack of melodic parts for your instrument as well as many of the stereotypical roles that composers and audience members often attempt to fit you in (even though you do address the trombone’s versatility at the beginning of the post). Thankfully in more modern music composers have greatly expanded the range and function of the bass due in large part to the many extended techniques and overtones that basses are able to produce but it’s sad to hear that trombones so regularly are still confined to glissandos and extended whole notes in more modern avenues. I was aware of the instrument referred to as sackbut but never knew that there was an evolutionary period in the 1800’s where it slowly turned into the modern conception of the trombone. I guess I always assumed that the trombone and sackbut had lived simultaneously and just had separate musical functions or contexts. I find the irony in the musical origins between sackbuts and trombones fascinating, especially the line about how sackbuts were initially meant to double and accompany vocal lines in 16th century music while Wagner just loved the pure power of the trombone. The ability of the trombone to occupy both of these spaces is part of the beauty of much instrumental music in general, evoking such vastly different emotions from the same inputs. On a more analytical note, great job breaking down the history and versatility of the sackbut and how that eventually became the trombone! One critique I have that is easily improved is the use of multiple hyperlinks in the same sentence that lead to the same article. This isn’t typical in many online blogs, similar to how you wouldn’t repeatedly cite the same article over and over in the span of a few sentences when paraphrasing its’ contents. In the instances where the citation comes a paragraph or two later then it makes sense, but unless you’re linking directly to different parts of a long article, one hyperlink should be enough.