G bass trombone (Boosey & Company, ca. 1923) next to a ordinary tenor trombone for comparison / from eBay auction  The trombone is among the oldest instruments still used in European and American music, but several varieties have a much shorter history. The soprano trombone first appeared in the early to middle 18th century and has been used primarily in the Moravian tradition. The G bass trombone apparently dates only from the early 19th century. It was used only in British music (including colonial holdings such as Australia)—and it lasted barely into the last quarter of the 20th ..read more

The Stoughton Musical Society, founded in 1786, is America’s oldest continuously operating musical institution. It was founded under the inspiration of a singing school presented in Stoughton by William Billings, America’s first notable composer. When Lowell Mason drove Billings’ music out of New England churches, the society continued to sing it. Preserving the tradition eventually became a core aspect of its mission. The society incorporated under the laws of Massachusetts in 1908 and changed its name to Old Stoughton Musical Society. The beginnings of musical performance in Stoughton When E ..read more

Beethoven in 1804, / Detail of a portrait by W. J. Mähler Beethoven’s odd numbered symphonies have the reputation of being stormy and dramatic, while the even numbered symphonies seem more gentle and easy-going. For that reason, perhaps, the even numbered ones are less popular. Symphony no. 6, Pastoral, is easily the best known and most performed of the even numbered symphonies. Beethoven worked on his Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth symphonies, among other major works, between 1806 and 1808. The latter two are the first of Beethoven’s symphonies with trombone parts. Many symphonies and chamber wor ..read more

Sousa Band, St. Louis Expo 1893 Before television, movies, radio, or sound recordings, people either had to learn to play musical instruments or attend concerts to experience music. Wind bands provided the majority of concerts. In the golden age of American wind bands, none was as successful and well known as Sousa’s Band. John Philip Sousa gained the experience and reputation needed to start a successful touring band as leader of the U.S. Marine Corps Band, America’s oldest professional musical ensemble. Before Sousa, it functioned as little more than Washington, DC’s town band. In his twel ..read more

Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming: a last rose in the snow in Skandia (photographer’s title and description) / yooperann via Flickr No one knows who wrote either the German text or the tune of “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming.” According to legend, a monk near the Rhineland city of Trier found a rose blooming one Christmas Eve, plucked it, and put it in a vase on an altar devoted to the Virgin Mary. The poem “Es is ein Ros entsprungen” may have been written as early as the 15th century, but the earliest extant version appeared in the late 16th century. At the time, the Protestant Reformation roiled ..read more

Metaphysical Avangardism / Rivandori via Wikimedia Commons  Ordinarily, we know symphonies as symphony number whatever in whatever key. If we know them by a nickname, such as “Bear” or “Jupiter,” the composer seldom supplied it. Hector Berlioz’ Symphonie fantastique broke all kinds of molds. For one thing, it is the first of four of his symphonies, but not a one bears a number, and only two have the word “symphony” in the title at all. How did he become such a bull in a china shop? Early life of Hector Berlioz Hector Berlioz was the eldest child of a prominent physician, born in 1803 in ..read more

Polovtsian Dances, Bolshoi Theatre, November 15, 2020 (screen shot) Plenty of people have composed music as a hobby, but none more successfully than Alexander Borodin, a chemist by profession. As a hobbyist, he did not produce a lot of music, but his works include symphonies, chamber music, and an opera—some of the loveliest music in the repertoire. The opera, Prince Igor, includes the ever-popular “Polovtsian Dances,” which formed the tune of the Broadway hit “Stranger in Paradise.” Its success is remarkable, because he never finished the opera. Borodin’s early life Alexander Borodin, born ..read more

Early printing of Hail Columbia, with a portrait of President John Adams “Hail Columbia” is not a well-known song today, but it has a prominent place in American history. It became a hit immediately after its first performance and remained popular for more than a century. Of all patriotic songs before the Civil War, only “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “America” rivaled “Hail Columbia” in popularity. The former uses the old English drinking song “Anacreon in Heaven” and the latter the English national anthem “God Save the King.” Oscar Sonneck, who examined these and many of the patriotic song ..read more

East Beach at Selsey. The plaque says “This view across the sea to Bognor Regis inspired Eric Coates to compose “By the Sleepy Lagoon” in 1930. It became the BBC signature tune for “Desert Island Discs.” / © Barry Shimmon via Geograph Many top American songs have become hits immediately. A fair number have made little impression at first but became hits later. These include Easter Parade, I’ll Be Seeing You,  and My Funny Valentine.  But how many of those belated hits have been based on music of a British composer working in a completely different genre with words by someone who ha ..read more

Au conservatoire: Classe de trombone, professeur M. [Paul] Delisse / drawing by Paul Renouard in the periodical L’Illusation (1886) André Lafosse published the first edition of his monumental Méthode complète de trombone à coulisse (Complete Method for Slide Trombone) in 1921. He revised it, adding a third volume, in 1946. In 1948, he became professor of trombone at the Paris Conservatory of Music. During his tenure there, he published three more extensive pedagogical works for trombone. By the time Lafosse retired in 1960, the trombone, its technique, and philosophy of brass instructio ..read more