[Trombone-l] Brass Band music for Tenor Trombone

[Keith Marr]

> Interesting side note - there were some valve Eb bass trombones which
allowed reading the > bass clef parts as Eb transposing treble (just
change the clef and key). There was also a 
> rather unusual pulley system
Eb bass trombone patent (and perhaps an extant instrument) 
> which also
allowed this.
> 
> J.c.S.
Going slightly off topic I think this is refers to the contrabass trombone in Eb that the Salvation Army holds in its museum in the UK. Last time I looked the museum was closed for lack of funding unfortunately. The SA made their own instruments in St Albans, Hertfordshire, UK for many years.

There is an illustration of the instrument in question on the BTS website:

www.britishtrombonesociety.org/resources/current-articles/-the-improved-trombone-an-essay-in-edwardian-ingenuity.html

Back on topic, Martin's outlining of the reasons for the brass band's use of transposing treble clef are correct. Some of the older scores from the likes of Alexander from the Crystal Palace competitions of the 1850s show music written in various clefs so this convention must have become common practice sometime between then and about 1900. Indeed the standard instrumentation only became established in that same period as earlier scores sometimes included ophicleides and other such items. Some bands I have played in have the occasional old march where the trombone parts are in tenor clef but that is most unusual.

Cheers!

Keith in Bb/F/D

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