On 9 Feb 2005 at 23:27, John Howell wrote:
> I'm not sure where the Austrian Lutherans came from! That use oftrombones (or sackbutts) goes back at least to Schuetz, one of whose Psalm settings from about 1619 I studied in a graduate seminar, in a manuscript with clear indications "con tromboni" and "senza tromboni."
The trombone is also associated with hell (as in Don Giovanni), an association that goes way back to at least the 16th century in Italy.
Come to think of it, I've seen a brace of sackbutts (in the Cincinnatti Art Museum, I think) with the bells in the shape of serpents' heads, and the placard said that there were metal tongues in the serpents' mouths that rattled when the instruments were played. They were SUPPOSED to sound like hell!
John
-- John & Susie Howell Virginia Tech Department of Music Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A 24061-0240 Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034 (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]) http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
