 Contrabass trombone in F | |
| Brass instrument | |
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| Other names | |
| Classification | |
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 423.22 (Sliding aerophone sounded by lip vibration) |
| Developed | Late 19th century |
| Playing range | |
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| Related instruments | |
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Double slide:
Historical:
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Thecontrabass trombone is thelowest-pitched instrument in thetrombone family ofbrass instruments. While modern instruments arepitched in12-foot (12′) F with a singleslide, the first practical contrabass trombones appeared in the mid-19th century built in 18′ B♭ anoctave below thetenor trombone with a double slide. GermanoperacomposerRichard Wagner notably called for this instrument in hisDer Ring des Nibelungen opera cycle in the 1870s, and contrabass trombone has since appeared occasionally in large orchestral works without becoming a permanent member of the modern orchestra.
Since the late 20th century, the double-slide contrabass has largely been supplanted by the less cumbersome bass-contrabass in F, afourth below the B♭ tenor andbass trombones. In the 21st century the contrabass has enjoyed something of a revival, particularly infilm andvideo gamesoundtracks.
The contrabass trombone first appeared inRenaissance music in the late 16th century.[7] Bass trombones of the time were thequart-posaunepitched in E, or thequint-posaune in D, a fourth or fifth below the "common" tenor trombone in A.[8] German music scholarMichael Praetorius, writingc. 1620, also describes two types ofoctav-posaune (lit. 'octave trombone'), one of which was a largesackbut built in A one octave below the tenor, with a very longslide and an extension handle to reach the lower positions.[9] One such instrument survives, built in18′ B♭.[6] Praetorius called this double-length instrument very rare.[10] Canadian trombonist and early music specialist Maximilien Brisson proposes the other type was a large-borequint-posaune with an extra whole-tonecrook, resulting in an instrument in C capable of playing down to G1, the lowest open string of theG Violone.[11] These large instruments were seldom used and generally unsatisfactory with players, being unwieldy and taxing to play.[12]
The innovation that enabled a practical instrument was thedouble slide, first documented nearly two centuries later in 1816 by German writer and composerGottfried Weber.[13] He proposed that it would lend greater facility to the bass trombone, and described the idea of using two joined outer slides moving on four inner tubes, halving the distances between slide positions. Makers soon applied the double slide to bass trombones in F and E♭ that would normally require a slide handle to reach the longest positions.[14] Newly invented models of contrabass trombone in low 16′ C and 18′ B♭ soon followed, and the first double-slide contrabass trombones were produced by Parisian makerJean Hilaire Asté (known as Halary) in the 1830s.[15]
In France, composerGeorges Bizet called for contrabass trombone in his operaLa Coutes du Roi de Thulé (1869), and in his completion in the same year ofNoé, an unfinished opera by his father-in-law and French composerFromental Halévy.[16] Soon after,Wagner notably employed contrabass trombone in hisDer Ring des Nibelungen, a cycle of four operas commonly known as theRing cycle, writing a fourth trombone part to double on bass and contrabass trombone. For the première in 1876, Wagner commissioned a contrabass in 18′ B♭ from Berlin instrument makerCarl Wilhelm Moritz, who built it with a double slide.[7] The double slide and the pitch one octave lower means this instrument has the same seven positions as the tenor trombone, and arange to the low E1 in the "spear"motif inDas Rheingold:
In Britain in the 1860s, London instrument makerBoosey & Co. built a small number of"Basso Profundo" double-slide contrabass trombones in 16′ C.[17] These were intended for use in British orchestras performing Wagner's operas, and one surviving instrument built in 1898 was named "King Kong" by players.[18] At the turn of the 20th century, American instrument manufacturerC. G. Conn produced a small number of B♭ double-slide contrabass trombones.[19][20]
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Italian composers for much of the 19th century specified thecimbasso as the bass voice of the brass section, a confusing term which over time referred to anupright serpent,ophicleide, or early variants of thetuba. In preparation for theLa Scala première ofAida in 1872, Italian opera composerGiuseppe Verdi expressed his displeasure about "that devilishbombardone" (referring to the tuba) as the bass of the trombone section, preferring a "trombone basso".[21] In 1887 forOtello,Milan instrument makerPelitti [it] produced thetrombone basso Verdi (or sometimes,trombone contrabbasso Verdi), avalved contrabass trombone in low B♭. This instrument blended with the usual Italian trombone section of the time—three tenorvalve trombones in B♭—and became the prototype for the modern cimbasso.[22] Verdi and Italian opera composerGiacomo Puccini both wrote for this instrument in their later operas, although confusingly they often referred to it as simplytrombone basso to distinguish it from the tenor trombones.[23]
In 1921, Ernst Dehmel, a Berlin trombonist,patented a new design of contrabass trombone that added two independentrotary valves to the old bass trombone in F, still found inPrussianmilitary bands of the time. The valves provide a fullychromatic range by supplying missing low register notes between thepedal F1 in first position and thesecond partial C2 in sixth (slide fully extended, without using a handle). The valves also provide alternatives for other notes in long slide positions, thus neither a longer slide with a handle nor a cumbersome double slide are needed. Dehmel's bass-contrabass instrument was the prototype for the modern F contrabass trombone designs that followed.[15] In 1959, German organologist Hans Kunitz took Dehmel's instrument and filed a patent for a design with improved paddles allowing the use of the middle or fourth finger to engage the second valve.[24] These instruments were first built asCimbasso-Bassposaune in the 1960s byGebr. Alexander in Germany, and subsequently by other German and Bohemian makers.
Since the 1990s, the contrabass trombone in F with two valve attachments has all but replaced the double slide B♭ instrument.[15]The contrabass trombone is increasingly called for in large orchestral works by modern composers, and routinely since the late 1990s infilm andvideo gamesoundtracks.[25]
Instruments in F are built with twoindependent ("in-line") valves. These valves are usually tuned two ways. A "traditional" configuration common with European manufacturers has a first valve lowering the instrument aminor third into D, and a second that lowers it afifth into B♭, which when used together lower the instrument amajor sixth into A♭. The "American" style commonly favoured by American manufacturers and players has valves in C and D♭, combining to give A.[15] This results in a contrabass with valves using the same intervals (F/C/D♭/A) as a two-valve bass trombone (B♭/F/G♭/D). Some instrument makers provide sets of tuning slides that allow changing between both configurations.[26]
Thebell diameter is similar to or slightly larger than a bass trombone, at around9+1⁄2 to 11 inches (240 to 280 mm). The bore is typically at least as wide as the 0.562 inches (14.3 mm) version usually used in modern bass trombones, and is commonly around 0.576 to 0.605 inches (14.6 to 15.4 mm) in size. Some models employ a dual-bore slide, and many models are now made usingAxial orHagmann valves. An inexpensive model similar to Thein's "Ben van Dijk" model contrabass is also made in China by Jinbao. It is also resold as a stencil instrument by several suppliers, including Dillon, O'Malley and Schiller.[4]
Double slide contrabass trombones are still made by German makers Thein and Miraphone, in 18′ B♭ (Miraphone also offer one built in 16′ C). The bore is large, varying from 0.587 inches (14.9 mm) up to 0.615 inches (15.6 mm) for the largest Miraphone models. An inexpensive model similar to the Miraphone is also made in China by Jinbao.[5] They are all built with at least one valve that lowers the instrument a fourth (i.e. B♭/F or C/G), and the Miraphone C model has a second independent valve tunable to A or A♭.[27] The second valve can also be fitted with a smaller B♭ tuning slide, and has a reversible linkage to place the instrument in B♭, raising it to C when engaged.[28]
Thedouble slide can be conceived of as two regular trombone slides operating as one, i.e. two outer slide bows braced together, moving on four parallel inner slides. Although it eliminates the need for a long slide with a handle, it doubles the weight, the friction of movement, and the length of the air column that must be strictly cylindrical.[29]
Older double slide instruments from the 19th and early 20th centuries were made in small numbers by several manufacturers, including Conn, Boosey & Co., and French makers Courtois andJérôme Thibouville-Lamy. They had no valves, were built with narrower bores, and some instruments only have six usable slide positions, instead of the seven that would be expected.[30][31][32]
The range of a modern F contrabass trombone with two valves is fully chromatic from at least C1 to F4, with a comfortable working range of approximately E1 to D4.[3] Pedal tones are distinct and resonant, and can be obtained to C1 with the six reachable open slide positions. In theory the range extends as far as F♯0 using both valves, but in practice very low pedal tones become increasingly difficult to produce oncylindrical-bore brass instruments due to their inherentacoustical limitations.[33]
The range of the original B♭ contrabass trombone demanded by Wagner extends to E1.[34] With a valve in F the range extends to C1, although some instruments with a shorter slide cannot always reach the C1 at full extent, and B0 above the B♭0 pedal is unobtainable.[30] These notes are not missing on the modern F contrabass, which can access the lowest useful range of the double slide contrabass.[15]
After Wagner's reinvention of the B♭ contrabass trombone for theRing cycle, it has occasionally been used by other 20th century composers. In Germany, composerRichard Strauss wrote for it in his operaElektra (1908), andArnold Schoenberg scoredGurre-Lieder (1913) for a section of seven trombones including alto and contrabass.[9] French composerVincent D'Indy, inspired by performances of Wagner'sRing cycle, wrote for it in several of his later works, including his last twosymphonies. It has also been called for in works by composersGustav Holst,Havergal Brian,Alban Berg,Anton Webern,Edgard Varèse,György Ligeti, andPierre Boulez. Despite this, the contrabass trombone did not earn a permanent seat in the opera or symphony orchestra.[9]
Since the late 1980s the contrabass trombone has appeared in orchestral works byHarrison Birtwistle,Sofia Gubaidulina,Hans Werner Henze, andManfred Trojahn.[35] It has also enjoyed a revival particularly infilm andvideo gamesoundtracks, due to the influence ofLos Angeles session players Phil Teele,Bill Reichenbach, Bob Sanders and others. The contrabass trombone first appeared in film music inJerry Goldsmith's score forPlanet of the Apes (1968), played by Phil Teele.[25] The popularisation of loud, low-brass heavy orchestral music in films and video games like the remake ofPlanet of the Apes (2001),Call of Duty (2003) andInception (2010) has made the contrabass trombone nearly ubiquitous, and bass trombonists are now routinely required to double on contrabass for soundtrack session work.[25]
Injazz, the contrabass trombone can sometimes be employed to play the fourth (bass) trombone parts in big bands. American jazz composerMaria Schneider has written for it in several of her works, featuring on her 2007Sky Blue and 2017The Thompson Fields albums.[36]
The double-slide contrabass trombone in B♭ is taxing to play, even with modern instruments.[7] It is unwieldy, being about twice as heavy as a tenor or bass trombone, and its cylindrical bore is less efficient than a similar-pitched tuba, requiring more air to produce a good sound.[30] The F contrabass is more agile, since for much of its range it has a shorter air column and, like the bass trombone, has two valves which allow access to more alternate positions. Nonetheless, like the tuba, the instrument is better suited as the contrabass voice of harmonic material in an ensemble, rather than virtuoso or solo passages.[37]
The use of a contrabass trombone in an orchestra is usually as an additional fourth player to the standard section of three trombones. In the past, the lack of good instruments, and players able to play them, meant that contrabass trombone parts were often played on a tuba or bass trombone (as can be heard on many 20th century recordings of Wagner, Verdi and Puccini).[38] Since the start of the 21st century, it is considered unacceptable to use anything but a contrabass trombone to play them, at least in professional settings.[39] Mostopera house orchestras and somesymphony orchestras require the bass trombonist to double on the contrabass trombone.[26]
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