Geez ... and the trb. section looked so calm the other night!
Perhaps they were petrified.
Thanks,
Dean
On Jan 20, 2009, at 12:12 PM, Christopher Smith wrote:
Yup, we see it as making us wait 300 years to play with the big
boys, THEN we STILL have to wait until the last freakin' movement
when our chops are nice and stiff from lack of use, THEN he makes
the first trombone enter (first entrance in HISTORY, not just this
symphony!) cold on a high C (almost guaranteed to chip it and
embarrass the entire brotherhood as a result) AND later in the
movement he makes him play a high F (this is test!) just to see if
he was paying attention. To my knowledge, there is no higher note
written in the standard repertoire until late in the 20th century.
Talk about your opening night nerves!
And I don't have any first-hand knowledge of how those trombonists
made out their first night, but after the 6th (he gave them another
chance), Ludwig didn't write trombones into a symphony again until
the 9th, so maybe that is a hint.
Although in the 9th, the voice of God is represented by the men in
the chorus, plus the bass trombone. We trombonists see that as
typical typecasting. 8-)
Christopher
(strictly speaking, there were trombones the year before Beethoven
in Eggert's Symphony in Eflat, but he wasn't as influential, so
Beethoven gets the credit here. Chalk one up for P.R. and
reputation...)
On Jan 20, 2009, at 2:02 PM, [email protected] wrote:
I would look askance at any history class dealing with music of
this time
period that didn't include this fact. Then again, as a former
trombone
player, it is a red-letter event which we all celebrate!
ajr
Ah, thank you sir. That was a fact which escaped my undergrad Music
History class ... or, more likely, I was gone that day, enjoying the
many allurements of the greater Tucson, AZ environs.
Dean
On Jan 19, 2009, at 10:36 PM, <[email protected]> wrote:
Beethoven 5 is usually considered the first appearance in a
symphony of
trombones, contrabassoon, and piccolo. The contrabassoon mostly
doubles
the string bass parts. When my community orchestra played
Beethoven 5
years ago the contra was just left out, and not missed. Another
community
orchestra gave the part to a tuba.
ajr
Speaking of bassoons, I went to a symphony concert this weekend,
wherein was performed Beethoven 5. Included in the
instrumentation
was a Contra Bassoon, which was used only (as best I could see) in
the last movement, doubling the Third Bone part. I don't have a
score to the work, so can anyone tell me if that is a standard
instrumentation, or an edition of which I've not heard before, or
perhaps the conductor just wanted the bass sound reinforced?
Thanks in advance,
Dean
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Canto ergo sum
Dean M. Estabrook
http://deanestabrook.googlepages.com/home
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