On Feb 9, 2005, at 8:19 PM, Rudolf van Berkum wrote:
In the case of the trombones' entry in The Magic Flute that Raymond Horton
mentioned, we can appreciate that for the Lutheran members of the audience
in Mozart's day, the sound of the trombone would have additional meaning for
them because of the association with church use, but for most of the
audience it would just provide a shiver up the spine because of the
effectiveness of the timbre of the instrument at that dramatic moment.
1. Lutheran, shmutheran. Opera audiences throughout Europe had been accustomed for nearly 200 years to hearing the trombones associated with the uncanny and the (supernatural) underworld. Mozart used them exactly the same way in Don Giovanni, and would use them thus again in the Requiem.
A point discussed at length in _The Birth of the Orchestra_ is how virtually every early orchestral device began life as an illustrative effect in opera, then gradually became used in the orchestra first for the extramusical associations and then later for its own sake. The use of trombones is a perfect example of this.
2. Hold any instrument in reserve until a certain moment, then bring 'em on--a shiver up the spine is guaranteed. Don't have to be trombones.
Andrew Stiller Kallisti Music Press http://home.netcom.com/~kallisti/
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