Soprano trombone

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Soprano trombone
Jean Baptiste soprano trombone (white bg).png
Soprano trombone in B♭
Brass instrument
Other names
  • Slide trumpet
  • Slide cornet
Classification
Hornbostel–Sachs classification 423.22
(Sliding aerophone sounded by lip vibration)
DevelopedLate 17th century
Playing range
Soprano trombone
The sounding range of the B♭ soprano trombone is the same as the B♭ trumpet. [1]
Related instruments
Musicians
Builders
  • Jinbao
  • Miraphone
  • Thein
  • Helmut Voigt
  • Wessex
Historical:

The soprano trombone (sometimes called a slide trumpet or slide cornet, especially in jazz) is the soprano instrument in the trombone family of brass instruments, pitched in B♭ an octave above the tenor trombone. As the bore, bell and mouthpiece are similar to the B♭ trumpet, it tends to be played by trumpet players rather than trombonists. Compared to tenor, bass, or even uncommon alto, the soprano is a rare trombone. Seldom used in classical music since its first known appearance in 1677, it survived principally in the trombone ensembles of Moravian Church music. During the 20th century some soprano trombones—dubbed slide cornets—were made as novelties or for use by jazz trumpet players including Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie. A small number of contemporary proponents of the instrument include jazz artists Wycliffe Gordon and Christian Scott, and classical trumpeter Torbjörn Hultmark, who advocates for its use as an instrument for young children to learn the trombone.

Contents

History

Whether the soprano trombone was ever widely used in history is still a matter for debate. [3] The earliest surviving instrument was made in 1677, held by the Landesmuseum in Linz. [4] [5] German Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach composed three cantatas (BWV 2, 21 & 38) around 1723 with four trombone parts; the highest was written in soprano clef, for a diskant-posaune (lit. 'descant trombone'). [6]

Trombone Choir of the Moravian Church in Emaus, Pennsylvania, c. 1900. Two in the front row are holding soprano trombones. Emaus-trombone-choir.jpg
Trombone Choir of the Moravian Church in Emaus, Pennsylvania, c. 1900. Two in the front row are holding soprano trombones.

The soprano trombone was used in German-speaking countries to play the treble part in chorales, and this tradition survives in the trombone choirs of Moravian Church music. [6] Outside of this, there is little evidence of the instrument being employed in musical ensembles or written works since the 18th century. This may have been because the Stadtpfeiffer (lit. 'town pipers'), who were trained to play all instruments, found fast and high (soprano) passages easier to play on the cornett. [7]

Soprano trombone is seldom mentioned in the major orchestration treatises of the 19th century. German musicologist Adolf Bernhard Marx (1847) and English music scholar Ebenezer Prout (1897) only mention the soprano to state that it is considered obsolete, and French organist and composer Charles-Marie Widor in his 1904 treatise only mentioned that some manufacturers were still making them, while describing the alto as obsolete. [8]

Slide cornet New Wonder model by C. G. Conn, 1921; built in B adjustable to A with in-slide tuning MIMEd 6586. Slide cornet nominal pitch B-flat-A (wb).jpg
Slide cornet New Wonder model by C. G. Conn, 1921; built in B♭ adjustable to A with in-slide tuning

From 1900 through to the 1930s some soprano trombones—dubbed slide cornets—were made, mainly for jazz, by American manufacturers C. G. Conn, Buescher, and H. N. White. These instruments used tuning in the slide, rather than on the bow of the bell section. [9] Later, Getzen produced an inexpensive slide trumpet in the 1960s. [10] These were used by a few jazz trumpet players like Louis Armstrong, Bobby Hackett and Dizzy Gillespie, but otherwise were not widely adopted. [6] [11] In the 1970s and 80s, Los Angeles instrument makers Robb Stewart, Larry Minick, and Dominic Calicchio were making soprano trombones for local players including Bob and Chuck Findley, Eugene Lebeaux, and players in Moravian trombone choirs. [10]

Construction

The B♭ soprano trombone is built with dimensions similar to the B♭ trumpet. The bore size is between 0.450 and 0.470 inches (11.4 and 11.9 mm), and the bell is 5 to 6 inches (130 to 150 mm) in diameter. It usually takes a trumpet mouthpiece, although some instruments are made with a smaller shank to take a cornet mouthpiece. [2] The slide of a soprano trombone is much shorter than that of a standard tenor trombone, with the slide positions only half the distance apart.

Soprano trombones are made by several trombone manufacturers, often as inexpensive novelty instruments, although high quality professional instruments are made by Kanstul, Miraphone, Thein and others. [2]

Valve attachment

Californian instrument makers Larry Minick and Robb Stewart were making soprano trombones to order in the 1980s, some of which included an F attachment, a valve operated with a left thumb lever or trigger similar to those found on larger trombones. [10] In the early 2010s, trumpeter Torbjörn Hultmark of the Royal College of Music commissioned a soprano trombone with an F valve, built by German maker Thein Brass. [12] Helmut Voigt, another German manufacturer, also makes a soprano with an F valve. [2]

Sizes

Piccolo trombone in B Piccolo trombone by Jinbao.png
Piccolo trombone in B♭

Trombones smaller than the soprano have only been built since the 1950s, when they first appeared as novelty or "show" instruments. [13]

The sopranino trombone in E♭, a fourth higher than the soprano and an octave above the alto, exists only in small numbers custom made for Moravian churches in the United States. [14]

The piccolo trombone in B♭ is an octave above the soprano. It is essentially a piccolo trumpet with a slide instead of valves, and is used with a piccolo trumpet mouthpiece. [14] Bore sizes are 0.460 inches (11.7 mm) or smaller, with bells approximately 4 inches (10 cm) in diameter. The piccolo is offered by Thein, Chinese manufacturer Jinbao, and Wessex. [15] Thein also make a novelty piccolino trombone in F, a fifth higher than the B♭ piccolo, originally made for the German Brass ensemble. [16]

Performance, range and pedagogy

The soprano trombone's similarity to the trumpet—its high pitch, mouthpiece size and narrow embouchure—means it is usually played by trumpeters. The player must combine both trumpet playing and trombone slide techniques to control intonation and note selection accuracy.

Soprano trombone
The (sounding) range of the B♭ soprano trombone. [1]

Soprano trombone parts are usually written in treble clef and, like the trumpet, can be in concert pitch or transposed in B♭. The range of the B♭ soprano trombone is similar to the B♭ trumpet, E3 to C6. [1]

As part of his "Soprano Trombone Project", Torbjörn Hultmark has used the instrument to successfully begin children on brass instruments from as young as the age of four, and is the world's first registered Suzuki teacher in soprano trombone. [17] Hultmark has also worked with the British Music Teachers Board to produce a syllabus of grade examinations for the soprano trombone. [18] Other researchers have reported the soprano trombone can also be used as a pedagogical tool to help trumpet players improve several core aspects of their playing technique. [19]

Repertoire

Steven Bernstein performing in Saalfelden, 2009 Steven Bernstein 2.JPG
Steven Bernstein performing in Saalfelden, 2009

There is very little classical repertoire written specifically for soprano trombone. The earliest pieces are three cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach and two passions by Georg Philipp Telemann (as edited by his grandson) from the early 18th century, and a large body of Moravian Church music for trombone choir from the late 18th and 19th century. [3]

In contemporary music, composers have very occasionally included soprano trombone in orchestral works. British composer Brian Ferneyhough called for two in his large 2006 work Plötzlichkeit; after playing one of the parts in a performance, Hultmark became a proponent of the soprano trombone as a serious instrument. [12] He has written and commissioned new compositions for it, and promotes its use as a first instrument for children. [6]

In jazz, some contemporary artists are employing the soprano trombone in their work. [20] Wycliffe Gordon and Christian Scott both use the instrument in solos and on their albums. [21] [22] New York musician Steven Bernstein has become well known for playing the "slide trumpet" in his band, Sexmob. [23] [24]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brass instrument</span> Class of musical instruments

A brass instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips. Brass instruments are also called labrosones or labrophones, from Latin and Greek elements meaning 'lip' and 'sound'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cornet</span> Brass instrument

The cornet is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B♭. There is also a soprano cornet in E♭ and cornets in A and C. All are unrelated to the Renaissance and early Baroque cornett.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flugelhorn</span> Brass musical instrument

The flugelhorn, also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B♭, though some are in C. It is a type of valved bugle, developed in Germany in the early 19th century from a traditional English valveless bugle. The first version of a valved bugle was sold by Heinrich Stölzel in Berlin in 1828. The valved bugle provided Adolphe Sax with the inspiration for his B♭ soprano (contralto) saxhorns, on which the modern-day flugelhorn is modelled.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trombone</span> Brass instrument played with a slide

The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate. Nearly all trombones use a telescoping slide mechanism to alter the pitch instead of the valves used by other brass instruments. The valve trombone is an exception, using three valves similar to those on a trumpet, and the superbone has valves and a slide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trumpet</span> Brass instrument

The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard B♭ or C trumpet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transposing instrument</span> Musical instrument for which notated pitch differs from sounding pitch

A transposing instrument is a musical instrument for which music notation is not written at concert pitch. For example, playing a written middle C on a transposing instrument produces a pitch other than middle C; that sounding pitch identifies the interval of transposition when describing the instrument. Playing a written C on clarinet or soprano saxophone produces a concert B♭, so these are referred to as B♭ instruments. Providing transposed music for these instruments is a convention of musical notation. The instruments do not transpose the music; rather, their music is written at a transposed pitch. Where chords are indicated for improvisation they are also written in the appropriate transposed form.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bass trumpet</span> Bass member of the trumpet family of brass instruments

The bass trumpet is a type of low trumpet which was first developed during the 1820s in Germany. It is usually pitched in 8' C or 9' B♭ today, but is sometimes built in E♭ and is treated as a transposing instrument sounding either an octave, a sixth or a ninth lower than written, depending on the pitch of the instrument. Having valves and the same tubing length, the bass trumpet is quite similar to the valve trombone, although the bass trumpet has a harder, more metallic tone. Certain modern manufacturers that sell 'valve trombones' and 'bass trumpets' employ the same tubing, valves, and bell in different combinations; in these circumstances, the bass trumpet is nearly similar to the valve trombone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baritone horn</span> Low-pitched brass instrument

The baritone horn, sometimes called baritone, is a low-pitched brass instrument in the saxhorn family. It is a piston-valve brass instrument with a bore that is mostly conical, like the smaller and higher pitched flugelhorn and tenor horn, but it has a narrower bore compared to the similarly pitched euphonium. It uses a wide-rimmed cup mouthpiece like that of its peers, the trombone and euphonium. Like the trombone and the euphonium, the baritone horn can be considered either a transposing or non-transposing instrument.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valve trombone</span> Brass instrument in the trombone family with valves

The valve trombone is a brass instrument in the trombone family that has a set of valves to vary the pitch instead of a slide. Although it has been built in sizes from alto to contrabass, it is the tenor valve trombone pitched in B♭ an octave lower than the trumpet which has seen the most widespread use. The most common models have three piston valves. They are found in jazz and popular music, as well as marching bands in Europe, where they are often built with rotary valves and were widely used in orchestras in the 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tenor saxophone</span> Type of saxophone

The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B♭ (while the alto is pitched in the key of E♭), and written as a transposing instrument in the treble clef, sounding an octave and a major second lower than the written pitch. Modern tenor saxophones which have a high F♯ key have a range from A♭2 to E5 (concert) and are therefore pitched one octave below the soprano saxophone. People who play the tenor saxophone are known as "tenor saxophonists", "tenor sax players", or "saxophonists".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cimbasso</span> Contrabass valved brass instrument

The cimbasso is a low brass instrument that covers the same range as a tuba or contrabass trombone. First appearing in Italy in the early 19th century as an upright serpent, the term cimbasso came to denote several instruments that could play the lowest brass part in 19th century Italian opera orchestras. The modern cimbasso design, first appearing as the trombone basso Verdi in the 1880s, has four to six rotary valves, a forward-facing bell, and a predominantly cylindrical bore. These features lend its sound to the bass of the trombone family rather than the tuba, and its valves allow for more agility than a contrabass trombone. Like the modern contrabass trombone, it is most often pitched in F, although models are occasionally made in E♭ and low C or B♭.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bass trombone</span> Bass instrument in the trombone family

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sopranino saxophone</span> Single-reed woodwind instrument

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marching brass</span> Brass instruments specially designed to be played while moving

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Contrabass trombone</span> Lowest-pitched instrument in the trombone family

The contrabass trombone is the lowest-pitched instrument in the trombone family of brass instruments. While modern instruments are pitched in 12 ft F with a single slide, the first practical contrabass trombones appeared in the mid-19th century built in 18′ B♭ an octave below the tenor trombone with a double slide. German opera composer Richard Wagner notably called for this instrument in his Der Ring des Nibelungen opera cycle in the 1870s, and contrabass trombone has since appeared occasionally in large orchestral works without becoming a permanent member of the modern orchestra.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Herbert, Myers & Wallace 2019, p. 481, Appendix 2: The Ranges of Labrosones.
  2. 1 2 3 4
    • "Soprano trombones". Markneukirchen: Helmut Voigt. Archived from the original on 1 March 2023. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
    • "JBST-1800拉管小号降B调" (in Chinese). Tianjin: Jinbao. Archived from the original on 17 November 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
    • "Model 150 B♭ Soprano Trombone". Anaheim, CA: Kanstul Musical Instruments. Archived from the original on 2 January 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2023. Ceased operations in 2020.
    • "Bb soprano slide trombone". Waldkraiburg: Miraphone eG. Archived from the original on 23 May 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
    • "Soprano Trombone". Bremen: Thein Brass. Archived from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
    • "Soprano Trombone – PB453". Wessex Tubas. Archived from the original on 1 March 2023. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  3. 1 2 Weiner, Howard (2001). "The Soprano Trombone Hoax" (PDF). Historic Brass Society Journal. 13: 138–160. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 November 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  4. ↑ Laubhold, Lars E. (2000). "Sensation or forgery? The 1677 soprano trombone of Cristiann Kofahl" (PDF). Historic Brass Society Journal. 12. Historic Brass Society: 259–65. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 July 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  5. ↑ Winter, Suzanne (19 November 2018). "Ende für das Musikintrumentenmuseum im Schloss Kremsegg: Instrumente wandern ins Landesmuseum Linz" [The end of the musical instrument museum at Kremsegg: instruments transferred to the Landesmuseum in Linz]. Tips Kirchdorf (in German). Tips Zeitungs GmbH & Co KG. Archived from the original on 19 May 2024. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Yeo 2021, p. 137–8, "soprano trombone".
  7. ↑ Herbert 2006, p. 28.
  8. ↑ Guion 2010, p. 52.
  9. ↑ Klaus 2013, p. 39-44.
  10. 1 2 3 Stewart, Robb (1 May 2022). "Slide Flugelhorn? Plus: Piccolo Trombone". Arcadia, CA: Robb Stewart Brass Instruments. Archived from the original on 5 May 2024. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  11. ↑ Petard, Gilles (c. 1923). King Oliver And His Creole Jazz Band (Photograph). Armstrong, Louis (slide trumpet). Getty Images. Archived from the original on 5 May 2024. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  12. 1 2 Salmon, Jane (23 June 2016). "The Soprano Trombone Project". Jane Salmon (blog). Archived from the original on 21 May 2022. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  13. ↑ Guion 2010, p. 3.
  14. 1 2 Yeo 2021, p. 106, Piccolo trombone.
  15. ↑
  16. ↑ "Piccolino Trombone". Bremen: Thein Brass. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  17. ↑ Hultmark, Torbjörn (October 2020). "What is the best age to start playing a brass instrument?". ITG Journal. International Trumpet Guild: 46.
  18. ↑ "Soprano Trombone Syllabus". MTB Exams. Music Teachers' Board. 2020. Archived from the original on 20 May 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  19. ↑ Spencer, Ryan (2021). "Soprano Trombone: Pedagogical Applications of the Slide for Trumpeters". The International Trumpet Guild. Archived from the original on 30 June 2022. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  20. ↑ Sanborn, Chase (16 April 2013). "The Slide Trumpet". Halftime Magazine. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  21. ↑ Gordon, Wycliffe (soprano trombone); Saunders, Jay (Music Director) (16 January 2017) [Recorded 4 March 2015]. Wycliffe Gordon plays SWING THAT MUSIC at CancerBlows 2015 (Excerpt from DVD). Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas, Texas: CancerBlows. Solo beings at 2 min, 57 sec. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2022– via YouTube.
  22. ↑ Harold, C. N. (29 October 2007). "Album Review: Christian Scott: Anthem". All About Jazz. Archived from the original on 27 April 2022. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  23. ↑ Bernstein, Steven. "Biography". Steven Bernstein. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2022. Bernstein formed Sexmob with saxophonist Briggan Krauss, bassist Tony Scherr and drummer Kenny Wollesen. It remains his primary vehicle for exploring the slide trumpet
  24. ↑ Jarenwattananon, Patrick (9 May 2013). "Sexmob: Live From 92Y Tribeca". NPR Music . NPR. Archived from the original on 19 May 2022. Retrieved 20 May 2022.

Bibliography

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