[Trombone-l] alto or tenor of first trombone

[Howard Weiner]

At 10:50 18.03.2007 -0400, Raymond Horton wrote:
>With what do you disagree, Howard?

Well, for one thing there are a lot of mistakes 
-- too many for this to be considered a reliable secondary source.

Some mistakes might be attributable to an 
automatic spelling correction function: Mozart's 
"Thamos, König in Ägypten," for example, is 
referred to as "Thomas, König in Ägypten" (Chapter 1, footnote 14).

Others are less easily explained as computer 
glitches, for example, in Chapter 5, Table 5.1, 
Joseph Hilmer is listed as trombone professor at 
the Prague Conservatory from 1903 to 1934. Yet, 
in footnote 23 we read: "Ušák, op. cit., p. 160, 
citing Hoffmeister's obituary speech for Hilmer 
in 1930." -- Are we to believe that Hilmer 
continued teaching for four years after his death? Talk about dedication!

Or at the very bottom of Chapter 4: "Archival 
material strongly suggests that in the first 
performances of [Brahms'] Symphony No. 1 and 
Symphony No. 2, the trombonists used valved 
instruments." The source cited in the footnote 
"Haus-Hof-Stadt-Archiv, Wien: Oper/K80/1884/Nr. 
557," however, is problematic: the proper name of 
the archive is "Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv" and 
the document "Oper/K80/1884/Nr. 557" has nothing 
at all to do with the first performances of 
Brahms' 1st and 2nd symphonies, nor with his 3rd 
and 4th symphonies. (I have a photocopy of this document in my possession.)

There is more, but I really don't have the time 
right now. In any event, I reiterate: caveat emptor!

Howard


--
Howard Weiner
h.weiner at online.de
http://www.harpa.com/howard-weiner/

If vegetarians eat only vegetables, what do humanitarians eat?