[Trombone-l] Jazz Cimbasso

[Howard Weiner]

At 11:29 12.03.2008 -0600, Dennis Clason wrote:
>A cimbasso is (basically) a valve contrabass trombone.  The parts (where
>they exist, which is usually in Verdi and Puccini operas) are usually
>covered by a tubist.

I actually didn't want to get involved  (invalved?) in this 
discussion, but I can't let Dennis' comment go unchallenged.

The "cimbasso [that] is basically a valve contrabass trombone" has 
nothing at all to do with the historical instrument called "cimbasso"!

Here is what I wrote during a similar discussion on the list a mere 
ten years ago:

[self-quote]
The term "cimbasso" has been the source of much confusion. A recent 
article by Renato Meucci, "The Cimbasso and Related Instruments in 
19th-Century Italy" Galpin Society Journal 49 (1996) sheds much light 
into the cimbasso darkness.

The name: The origin of the name is not known. Meucci writes: "There 
can be no doubt that the terms "corno basso" and "cimbasso" were 
synonymous. However the difference rested in a distinction of 
terminology: while _corno basso_ was academic, found only in 
treatises and theoretical works, _cimbasso_ was everyday musicians' 
jargon used in scores and tutors. I wish to advance here the theory 
that the term _cimbasso_ derives from an abbreviated form of _corno 
basso_ (or perhaps _corno in basso_) originally written _c. basso_ or 
_c. in basso_, whence _cimbasso_. This is indirectly confirmed by the 
lack of consistency in spelling, which varies from _cimbasso_ (most 
frequently) to _simbasso_ and _gimbasso_, with abbreviations such as 
_gibas_ found in manuscript scores and documents."

What is or was a "cimbasso"? A manuscript from c. 1832 describes the
_cimbasso_ as "a kind of serpent but of different shape, having a 
similar range and able to play in all keys." The original "cimbasso" 
was thus a wooden instrument (though some were apparently also made 
of metal) in bassoon form, with a cup mouthpiece. Meucchi's article 
shows several contemporary illustrations (with fingering charts) and 
also a photo of one of several surviving museum instruments.

In the course of the 19th century, the "cimbasso" was supplanted by the
ophecleide (both keyed and valved models), this in turn by the 
bombardone and pelittone (perhaps best described as forerunners of 
the tuba). The hitch is that all these instruments were also referred 
to as "cimbasso"!!! Then in 1881, a valved contrabass trombone was 
built at the request of Verdi, who didn't like the sound of the 
"bombardon." He felt that the bombardon didn't blend well with the 
trombones. The new instrument became known as the "trombone 
contrabbasso Verdi." It was for this instrument that Verdi wrote the 
parts in Otello and Falstaff.

For those who want to know more, I highly recommend Meucchi's article.
[edit: Meucchi's article in the Galpin Society Journal is the 
translation of an Italian-language article which includes an appendix 
listing several hundred works, mostly operas, that call for cimbasso.]

The "Alexander cimbasso" is a whole different story. In the 1950s and 60s
there was a fellow here in Germany, Hans Kunitz by name, who 
developed a sort of (slide) contrabass trombone. He gave his 
invention the name "cimbasso" because he was conviced that it was the 
instrument Verdi intended when he designated "cimbasso" in his 
scores. (I am aware of the chronological problems inherent here, but 
most people have unquestioningly accepted Kunitz's assertion. I'm 
just reporting.)

In any case, Kunitz was also active as a writer on instruments, 
publishing a series of books on "Die Instrumentation" (Breitkopf & 
Haertel) still available today. In the volume dealing with the 
trombone he propagated, among other questionable things, his 
"cimbasso" as the true bass of the trombone family. Although it has 
to be obvious to any half-way informed reader that Kunitz was making 
things up as he went along, his writings on the trombone form the 
basis for much of German trombone scholarship even today (MGG, MGG2). 
That's also the reason for the misnamed "Alexander/Thein/Kalison/ 
etc. cimbasso," which is simply a bass/contrabass trombone.
[/self-quote]

Howard



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

Tosca jumped to a conclusion.