[Trombone-l] Berlioz, Beethoven

[Dick Sleeman]

To my question about the first trombone parts in Berlioz's "Harold en Italie"
and Beethoven's "Fifth" I got some interesting answers, on- and off-list. 
Thanks!

Howard Weiner wrote a.o.:

> The original first trombone part of Beethoven's 5th is notated in
> alto clef, which however does not mean that it was intended for alto
> trombone. At the time Beethoven wrote the 5th, the alto trombone was
> not known in Vienna and Beethoven himself had probably never seen one.

And John Cather wrote a.o.:

> Considering alto trombones were used in Europe for some 300+ years
> prior to Beethoven, I'm not so sure nobody knew they existed.

Albrechtsberger wrote a concert for alto trombone and orchestra as early as
1769. Beethoven moved to Vienna in 1792 and took lessons with Albrechtsberger,
so it is very likely that he knew about the alto and how to write for it.

Regards,

Dick