[Trombone-l] alto trombone

[Thomas Cox]

I get the list in Digest mode right now, so others may have already  
told you this by now...but I just thought I'd clarify to the best of  
my knowledge why orchestral and wind band trombone parts are always  
concert-pitch but trumpet, horn, etc. parts always transpose for  
whichever key instrument is intended.

This performance practice comes from orchestral music of the early  
19th century and before--when the horn, trumpet, and trombone first  
became standard instruments in the orchestra.  At this time, the  
valve had not been invented or widely used yet, so horns and trumpets  
either had to put in a different tuning slide or pick up a different  
instrument every time the music changed key, and the pitches they  
played were basically members of the harmonic series of whatever key  
instrument they were playing.  Composers and publishers back then  
decided it would be easier for them to change the key their part was  
written in (so that they would always be playing in the written key  
of C) to match the key of the instrument they were playing.

I can imagine this made it easier especially for horn players when it  
came to using their hand and embouchure to play notes not present in  
the harmonic series...they would just know that every time they saw a  
Q-sharp, they would have to do the same thing with their hand and  
lips (relatively) to make it play (regardless of the different  
concert pitches), rather than thinking (in concert-pitch terms) "Z- 
sharp...that's not in the overtone series of X-flat, so I have to  
do...." and knowing this for the overtone series of all keys.

The trombone never had that problem though...it was a chromatic  
instrument from the start.  No need to change horns or tuning slides  
during the concert, so the same concert pitch was always in the same  
place on the horn, and no need to lip notes up or down to make them  
come out, etc, so no need to change the key of the part.

Additionally, at this time, one of the most common uses of the  
trombone section was to double the alto, tenor, and bass voices in  
the choir in a combined orchestra-choir piece, such as oratorio, and  
I believe voice parts were still written in their respective clefs,  
not the treble-treble-treble an octave down-bass that we usually see  
today, so that may have had some bearing on why the trombone parts  
were often written in alto, tenor, and bass clefs (for 1st, 2nd, and  
3rd).

It is the subject of much historical debate as to exactly where and  
when alto trombones were used and when small tenors were used, but  
suffice it to say that up through the early 19th century, different  
parts of Europe had their own standards and preferences.  But since  
modern-day use of the alto pretty much comes from the orchestral  
tradition, its other music is written in the way in which it has been  
written in the orchestra.

And finally...feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on any of this.   
I'm sure many listers know more than I do.  I just wanted to make  
sure Jason got this info somehow.

Tommy Cox

Thomas B. Cox
Graduate Teaching Assistant
UGA Music Education/Trombone