The Trombonist Summer 2008

british trombone society

www.britishtrombonesociety.org

Summer 2008

Peter Moore is a hit at the BBC 12 year-old trombonist stuns audiences at the brass final of BBC Young Musician of the Year Trombonist Peter Moore is the youngest competitor to make it through to the semi-finals of this year’s BBC Young Musician of the Year 2008.

The young star has already competed against the other brass finalists in February, but a press embargo prevents us from revealing the result.

Listening to the brass final was David Childs, a former brass winner himself, and he told The Trombonist, “Peter Moore is an extraordinary talent. He shone through, not by playing fast, high, loud, or wowing the audience with his virtuosic showmanship; in my opinion it was his ability to communicate with the audience musically through a moving performance of Sandström’s Song for Lotta which separated

him from the rest – it was simply breathtaking.”

Peter’s repertoire during the competition rounds has also included virtuosic pieces such as Peaslea’s Arrows of Time,

Rota’s Trombone Concerto and Bozza’s Ballade.

Having taken up the instrument aged 6, Peter is now in Year 7 at Chetham’s School of Music, has been

Principal Trombone of the National Children’s and Wingates Bands, making his debut at Wingates 18 months ago at the Bridgewater Hall with a performance of Grafe’s Trombone Concerto. The Halle Orchestra’s Principal Trombone Andrew Berryman is conductor at Wingates and he enthused: “Pete is an extraordinary talent. Obviously as a boy of twelve he doesn’t have experience on his side, but he is outstandingly attentive and intuitive and has that special ingredient that you can’t buy or learn.”

The brass final will be televised the week commencing May 4th on BBC 4. The concerto final is on the 10th & 11th May in Cardiff and will be broadcast on BBC 2 on Sunday 11th May.

Black Dyke quartet play Portadown crowd

BTS salute Lusher in Leicester

Brett Baker with the Black Dyke quartet at the N. Ireland BTS day

On Saturday 3rd May, the BTS will be celebrating the lyrical trombone playing of Don Lusher in a full day of trombone events in Leicester Grammar School. Jazz trombone celebrities Gordon Campbell, Bill Geldard and Barrie Forgie will judge the final of the Don Lusher competition and Jeremy Price, Head of Jazz at the Birmingham Conservatoire, will coach on improvising.

This will be coupled with concerts and workshops featuring a raft of the finest trombonists in the brass band tradition – Nick Hudson, Chris

Jeans and Brett Baker. Chris Jeans will be coaching junior trombonists and Bob Hughes will be directing the everpopular massed trombone choir. There will also be several trade stands.

The BTS day is 10am-6pm and at 6pm there is a full concert with Ratby band and trombone soloists. Leicester Grammar School is at 8 Peacock Lane, LE1 5PX. The daytime events are free to BTS members or £10 to non-members. Tickets on the door for the evening concert and competition final will be £5 for all.

The Trombonist | Summer 2008 |

NEWS

Vienna quartet brings house down The day was a sell-out, which wasn’t too surprising with an artist line up as impressive as this: Denis Wick, Gordon Campbell, Ian Bousfield and the trombones from the Vienna Philharmonic. The interest before the event was fantastic – in fact my biggest concern was fitting everyone into the hall at the Royal Academy of Music!

The morning kicked off with 60 trombonists of mixed abilities under the baton of Denis Wick. The sound was impressive! Denis hit the perfect balance of firm discipline mixed with good humour and inspirational vigour. His sprinkling of stories and anecdotes were

entertaining and enlightening.

Gordon Campbell began the afternoon session with an hour of smooth, lyrical ballad playing. He played recordings of some of the all-time-greats: Tommy Dorsey, Tyree Glen, Murray McEachern, Joe Howard, Dick Nash, Urbie Green and Charlie Small. With great clarity and consummate ease Gordon demonstrated the various types of vibrato used by these players.

Denis Wick and Ian Bousfield spent an hour in conversation discussing a wide range of topics, including Denis’ inspirations as a young player, how he got into mouthpiece and mute design and the standard of the current

Vienna Trombone Quartet in concert

trombone students. But don’t take my word for how interesting it is – log on to the BTS website listen to the recording yourself.

To round off the afternoon the Vienna trombones gave an outstanding demonstration of orchestral playing illustrated by excerpts from symphonies: Bruckner 8, Brahms 2, Tchaikovsky 6, Mahler 3 and Das Rheingold.

They were not afraid to take their playing to extremes in order to achieve maximum dramatic effect. Their control in pianissimo playing was particularly impressive. Jeremy Wilson, their latest recruit is a hugely talented young player from the USA. He gave an

Vibrato styles - Gordon Campbell

enlightening account of the audition procedure.

For the evening concert in the Duke’s Hall the VPO Trombone Quartet played a programme consisting of an arrangement of the William Tell Overture, French quartets

by Dubois and Defaye, and Brian Lynn’s Four for Four.

The playing was superb. The blend was seamless and each member displayed a level of musical and technical ability that will be long remembered.

Many thanks to all who took part. Thanks also to RAM for the facilities and for support from Chimes Music shop, Prozone Music, Phil Parkers Brass shop and Warwick Music.

Bob Hughes

Ian Bousfield applauds Denis Wick

If it’s Christmas, it must be trombones!

ITF 2008: Utah artists and programme announced

Bourton on Dunsmore (nr Rugby) must be the only village in the country with its own trombone choir. Bourton Trombones held their annual Christmas sing-along in the still-new Bourton Village Hall.

More people than ever packed the hall to enjoy mince pies, mulled wine and hopefully the trombones as well.

This year saw the launch of Bourton Junior ‘Bones, and they joined with the senior group for a special rendition of Away in a Manger for the local children to sing along.

Junior ‘Bones has grown to be eight children from the local area and they meet before the monthly BTC get together. This is good for the students, as when the adults arrive they sit in and play along with the kids, helping to build their confidence and enjoyment.

Many BTS members will remember the spectacular International Trombone Festival 2006 in Birmingham.

This year’s festival takes place in Salt Lake City in late May. The artists include Jim Markey (New York Philharmonic), Ko-ichiro Yamamoto (Seattle Symphony), Larry Zalkind (Utah Symphony), jazz/recording legends Dick Nash, Robin Eubanks and Andy Martin. Representing Britain will be Brett Baker, performing solos with Utah Premiere Brass.

This will be the last event organised by fellow Brit Steven Greenall as he steps down as the ITA’s Executive Director.

Meanwhile, the New Trombone Collective have announced that for Slide Factory in May 2009, Joe Alessi, Michel Becquet, Wycliffe Gordon and Christian Lindberg are booked already.

The repertoire consists of mainly trios and quartets, including Mark Nightingale’s Easy Jazzy Trios, Robin Benton’s Easy Quartets and the kids’ favourite: Mike Kempster’s Animal ‘Bones, with some great “slidey stuff” in the last movement. I’d be most grateful for more suggestions, in the grades 1 to 5 range.

I met Don Lucas recently at the Eastern Trombone

Workshop and he still enthuses over the time the Texas Tech University Trombone joined BTC at the village fete.

We usually meet in the evening on the second Sunday in the month in Bourton on Dunsmore Village Hall and all are welcome.

Derrick Parker Contact: 01926 632864 / membership@ britishtrombonesociety.org

The Trombonist | Summer 2008 |

NEWS

NEWS

News in brief Enterprising trombonists of Texas Tech University have launched a composition competition with prizes up to $1000. You have until 1st September to submit your trombone choir piece “about 2 minutes in length, to be fanfarish in nature and contain Christmas/Holiday Melodies in the theme.” Details at: http:// trombone.net/news/news. asp?ID=1103

Bute Brass (above), a quintet from the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama won the 2008 Intercollegiate Brass Quintet Competition, fending off entries from Guildhall, RCM, RNCM and RSAMD. Picked by judges Paul Patterson and Bramwell Tovey, the set piece was Mean Time by Paul Patterson and the winners’ own-choice piece was Michael Berkeley’s Music from Chaucer.

Potential music college students are invited to experience a day in the life at the RWCMD, on July 1st.

Kevin Price, Head of Brass announced that the day culminates in a brass band spectacular which is free for all open day visitors and features the Cory Band, the RWCMD brass band and James Madison University Brass Band from America.

The following Sunday, 6 July, RWCMD is having its annual “Brass with the Champions” workshop. Young brass players have the opportunity to work closely with Cory Band and compete in a solo competition.

For further information, contact Lorna Jones on 02920 391363 or lorna.jones@rwcmd. ac.uk | Summer 2008 | The Trombonist

Greetings from Japan!

(L-R) Yosuke Matsuda, Hiroyu ki Nakamura, Rob Collinson

I moved out to Osaka last September to start playing with the Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra. I am the only gaijin (foreigner) in the entire brass section but there are about fourteen more in the rest of the orchestra! We are a symphony orchestra and also an opera orchestra and so far we have played through a good amount of the standard rep including a performance of Beethoven’s 9th for Japanese TV which had 10,000 (yes ten thousand!) people in the chorus! Thankfully the rehearsal language is English so at least I understand what is going on in rehearsals. The Japanese language is a nightmare and very few people in Osaka speak English so I’m doing my best to learn the language but six months in I’m still very much lost in translation! The food is very different to what I was used to in the UK – lots of rice and noodles (my chopsticks skills are now second to none) but far too much raw fish for my liking! Since I have been here I have had a television documentary made about me for a local arts program, been to see the sumo, had countless karaoke sessions and visited many of the famous temples and shrines. Certainly life in Japan is very different and sometimes challenging but ultimately extremely enjoyable and a wonderful experience.

Best wishes to all, Rob Collinson BTS Member offer New CD - Houlding his own In his debut solo album former BTS President, Chris Houlding combines some new and refreshing takes on the character of the unaccompanied trombone, together with two established classics with piano. Added to this is a selection of smaller scale diversions which confirm the considerable charm and versatility of our noble instrument.

BTS Member discount price: £11.99 incl. p & p until 15th June 2008 (normally £13.99). Cheques payable: C. Houlding, 40 Bromley Road, Shipley, West Yorks, BD18 4DT Album tracks: Fanfare (Kenny), Sonata (Hindemith), Flourish (Crees), Sinfonia (Pergolesi), Exicto Quod Evenit (Swan), Hommage du Trombone (Honegger), Andantino (Albéniz), Hamlet (Thomas), Lucifer (Wills), Piece for Ray (Sheriff), Elegy for Mippy II (Bernstein), Sonata (Sulek).

Chris Houlding reports from his recent appearance at perhaps the world’s biggest trombone event

Eastern Trombone Workshop 2008 Washington DC 13-15 March 2008 Over recent years the ETW has become the premier trombone event in the USA and although not formally connected with the International Trombone Association it is now considered to be equivalent to the American National Festival.

Amazingly it is absolutely free, presented and sponsored by the United States Army Band “Pershings Own” at their base at Fort Myer which is adjacent to the famous Arlington Military Cemetery and just down the bank of the Potomac River from the Pentagon.

For delegates and visitors an added attraction is the city of Washington, providing a host of famous sites and a fascinating insight into US history. Once inside the military base the spaciousness and standard of musical facilities were certainly up to the job although it had to be said that access to refreshment and sustenance proved to be more of an obstacle.

The three-day festival contained a wide range of concerts, recitals and masterclasses together with the final rounds of National Competitions though other than a massed warm up session no opportunities for delegates to play. Highlights for me were recitals by Paul Pollard, recently appointed Bass Trombone at the Metropolitan Opera and a beautifully presented demonstration by the Pittsburg Symphony Low Brass Section. Pete Sullivan (Pittsburg Principal) lead the continuity alongside other entertaining contributions from colleagues, well known bass trombonist Murray Crewe and tubist Craig Knox.

Their programme showed a unique musical subtlety and included the rarely heard Concerto Grosso by Arcady Dubensky and a ‘spot the excerpt competition’, which was clearly popular with

delegates. Some of the more obscure extracts lasted less than a bar, the winning music student collecting one of the ensemble’s new CDs as a welldeserved prize. Paul Pollard served as bass trombonist with the Hong Kong Philharmonic until his recent move to New York and has used this time to develop and commission new repertoire, which is featured on a series of solo CDs. He displays amazing stamina and shrewd judgement in musical taste. Try to hear him sometime!

Jazz legend, Bill Watrous made two appearances, once as soloist with the US Army Blues Big Band followed by a highly entertaining masterclass. The US Army is justly proud of this jazz ensemble featuring soloists from within its ranks of a truly international standard. Bass Trombonist, Jeff Cortazzo stood out along with the ‘jewel in the band’s crown’ Matt Niess, whose energy, range and inventiveness were utterly awe-inspiring. The band’s trombone section alias ‘The Capitol Bones’, were joined, in a separate event by guestartist, Conrad Herwig and ETW organizer Jerry Amoury.

Pushing the pace yet again, Neiss and Herwig created

between them some really memorable ‘impro’.

As the only ‘Brit’ on the menu, I had been invited to give a solo recital comprising of some new and more familiar unaccompanied pieces for trombone. I was, therefore, both delighted and proud to receive so much positive feedback and interest in the works by British composers, several of which are to be found on my new solo CD. It was also most rewarding and enlightening to chair the jury in all three age groups of the National Solo Competition where the winners showed a high degree of technical and indeed, musical integrity though the overall standard was less consistent.

Among a host of ensemble performances, the colourful display by Viento Sur, a delightful and original quartet from Argentina stood out – watch out for more from them in the future! Trombone Choirs are an integral part of most American Universities and Conservatories with groups from Ithaca, Baylor and Westchester giving very different exhibitions. Other artists included Colin Williams (Atlanta SO Principal) who gave an excellent masterclass, full of succinct technical and

musical tips and Stephen Lange (Co-Principal St Louis) who performed a charming David Concertino with the US Army Orchestra and shared judging duties.

Alongside Concerto favourites by Albrechtsberger and Bourgeois were new works, notably Tarkus by Scott McCallister and Ninth Avenue Concerto by Martin Rokeach both performed with orchestra by David Ridge (Bass Trombone San Francisco Opera) and Brent Phillips (Baylor University) respectively. More new music

by John Cheetham, Joseph Spaniola, Mike Davis and Todd Malicoate was presented by Oklahoma State University Professor, Paul Compton alongside students from his studio while contributions by James Box (Principal Montreal SO) and Chris Dudley (Principal Baltimore SO) completed the line up.

The organisation by ETW Chairman, Jerry Amoury and his assistant Sam Woodhead was fist class, the military precision completed by helpful and light-hearted cheer. Add to this a huge trade exhibition brilliantly presided over by Chris Branagan and you have a winning recipe!

Chris Houlding

The United States Army Blues Jazz Ensemble trombone section taking in the atmosphere at the ETW The Trombonist | Summer 2008 |

NEWS

News of forthcoming concerts and events Onyx Brass celebrate their 15th birthday and the launch of a new CD on the Chandos label, with a concert at St. Bride’s Church, Fleet St. on 6th June. The CD, entitled “Fugues”, features arrangements of Bach and Shostakovich. On the evening they will also announce the launch of a publishing arm, and an International Summer School based at Eton College.

LSO Brass – from the London Symphony Orchestra – continue their series of annual concerts at the Barbican Hall, London on 18th May. The concert features the music by Bach, Shostakovich, Debussy and Elgar. As is perhaps a tradition now, most of the arrangements are from trombonists! Dudley Bright provides Elgar’s Severn Suite and James Maynard has arranged Bach’s Prelude and Fugue BWV541 and three Debussy preludes.

Young brass hopefuls have once again been auditioning for a chance to take part in the LSO Brass Academy 2008. The LSO principal brass players will join the successful young musicians in a concert at the culmination of the week, showcasing solo and ensemble performances on 5th July 2008.

Gordon Campbell will be visiting Plymouth on 15th June to perform solos with a brand new big band. Directed by trombonist Dave Hankin, the DHBB features a number of

new arrangements.

Following many years of impromptu trombone quartet blows in his house, Mark Nightingale has finally announced a proper concert!

A trombone quartet consisting of Mark, Andy Wood, Ian Moffat and Andy Waddicor will be performing in Milton Keynes on Sunday June 15th.

The Teignmouth Jazz Festival this year will be featuring a group called ‘The Sound of J&K’ at 9pm on Friday November 14th. The group consists of Mark Nightingale and Alistair White on trombones, along with Dave Newton (piano), Arnie Somogyi (bass) and Clark Tracey (drums).

The concert was the idea of festival organiser and fellowtrombonist Ian Pennicott.

Jonathan Warburton has given the premiere of a new piece for unaccompanied bass trombone written for him by Mark Nightingale.

The first performance was at the University of Oklahoma on March 30th, and Jonathan will play it in the UK at the RWCMD on April 25th. Tango & Gymnastics celebrates Jonathan’s two passions in life, and is published by Warwick Music.

The RWCMD Brass Ensemble is set to raise money for the organ appeal at Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff on Tues 10th June. So come and support them in a programme for brass ten piece, sackbuts and period strings.

UK enquiries:- www.mrtuba.com mark@mrtuba.com Tel - 01633 871506

BTS call to compose for our instrument

Musical chairs in the orchestras

Why not enter the brand-new BTS Trombone Composers Competition 2008-9? All are welcome to submit compositions for the trombone in a variety of settings and benefit from the comments of a team of expert trombone players and composers, such as Bruce Fraser and Dr Philip Wilby.

Prizes include the publication of your score by Warwick Music, recordings and live performances by top-level

Mark Frost has been announced to take over Paul Milner’s former seat as Principal Bass Trombone at Opera North. “I’m really looking forward to taking up my new appointment.

It will be great to be part of a very well established and experienced section.”

Since leaving Grimethorpe Band a few years ago, Mark has been in London’s West End, playing in Sinatra and Wicked. He has

musicians at BTS events and the Black Dyke Music Festival in 2009.

Composers are invited to write music for the trombone in one of eight categories: unaccompanied, with piano (up to Grade 6, Grade 8 or Diploma standard), with brass band, with rhythm section / big band, junior trombone quartet and senior trombone quartet. The deadline for entries is 1st November 2008.

See the BTS website for details.

Diary Dates Sat 3 May Tue 6 May Sun 11 May 12-16 May Sun 18 May Thu 22 May Wed 28 May Fri 6 June Tue 10 June Thu 12 June Sat 14 June Sun 15 June Sun 15 June Sat 5 July Sat 5 July Sun 6 July Sat 19 July

Leicester BTS day and Don Lusher Competition final East Sussex Onyx Brass London Michael Lind with RCM Stockholm Brass Channel Islands Fine Arts Brass London LSO Brass Berkshire Fine Arts Brass London Guildhall Brass London Onyx Brass Cardiff RWCMD 10-piece brass & sackbuts London RAM Trombone Choir Surrey Fine Arts Brass Devon Gordon Campbell with the Dave Hankin Band Bucks Mark Nightingale trombone quartet London LSO Brass Academy Kent Onyx Brass Cardiff Cory Band workshop Lancashire BTS day featuring Brett Baker & Bones Apart

| Summer 2008 | The Trombonist

10am-8pm, Leicester Grammar School (see BTS website) Mayfield Festival 3pm, Royal Academy of Music, London, free Guernsey, Sark, Alderney, Jersey 7.30pm, Barbican Hall 7.30pm, St Mary’s Church, Shaw-cum-Donnington, Newbury 6pm, Music Hall, Guildhall School of Music & Drama 7.30pm, St. Brides, Fleet St - stbrides.com 7.30pm, Llandaff Cathedral, Cardiff 1.05pm, Royal Academy of Music, free Coverwood Farm Concerts - www.coverwoodconcerts.co.uk 7.30pm, Athenaeum Theatre, Plymouth - davehankin.com 11.30am, Stables Theatre, Wavendon, Milton Keynes 1pm, LSO St Lukes, London St. Nicholas Church, New Romney - jamconcert.org RWCMD, Lorna Jones 02920 391363 Bury - for details check www.britishtrombonesociety.org

recently given premiere performances of Elgar Howarth’s Spooks, an Outrage for Bass Trombone and Brass Ensemble.

Meanwhile, David Whitehouse has moved from the Philharmonia to the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The 2nd trombone seat there has remained vacant since Brian Raby retired in 2006. Check out the full interview on page 18.

Doveridge welcomes Don Lucas Onyx Brass

Mark Nightingale

Don Lucas, professor of trombone at Boston University in America will be guest tutor at this year’s Doveridge Trumpet and Trombone Course in Derbyshire. The junior course is on 6th August and the senior course is on 7th and 8th August 2008 and involves workshops, masterclasses and ensemble training, designed for advanced students and also

younger players. The event is organised by well-known trombone teacher Pete Lacey, who is joined by Steve Waterman as trumpet tutor.

The course costs £70 including lunch on both days, and nearby B&Bs can be found for approximately £20-£30 per night.

For more information contact: Pete Lacey on trombone76@ntlworld.com

News in brief Amongst the three students competing for Trinity College of Music’s most prestigious prize is third year trombone student Hari Eustice (below).

During the final to the Soloists Competition on 13th May, Hari will perform Henri Tomasi’s Trombone Concerto with the TCM Symphony Orchestra.

Speaking to the Trombonist, Hari said, “I’m really excited to have got through to the final and it’s a great confidence booster.”

Bones Apart have announced a new member of the quartet – Jayne Murrill. You might well have already heard her as an extra with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Last Night of the Proms last year, and she also freelances with the LPO, LSO and Philharmonia Orchestra. Jayne joins Becky Smith, Helen Vollam and Lorna McDonald in time to record their new CD and for tours to Sweden, Spain, Finland and France.

The Trombonist | Summer 2008 |

FEATURES

FEATURES

Who were the craftsmen that made trombones in the 15th and 16th centuries? Trevor Herbert’s research gives a fascinating account the early world of brass making, centred in Nuremberg, including details of an angry letter to the Queen concerning a rival maker. This extract is taken from Chapter 3 of The Trombone by Trevor Herbert (Yale University Press 2006)

The makers of early trombones T

he entry on the trombone in the first edition of Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians contains a claim that a trombone was discovered at the excavations of Pompeii in 1738. The author, William H. Stone MD, claimed that his circumstantial evidence for this assertion was considerable and quotes a source (which he claimed he could verify) that ‘the King of Naples … gave this instrument to King George III of England who was present at the digging’. It is perhaps not surprising that there is no trace of this instrument at any of the Royal Households, and that even when Stone was compiling his article, the librarian of Windsor Castle denied ‘all knowledge of it’.1 This is a particularly frustrating business because the story – untrue though it clearly is – was probably based on something interesting.

We know that trumpets existed in the ancient world, that they were sophisticated and that their functions were important.

What we do not know enough about is how sophisticated they were, and quite how intricate were the manufacturing techniques. However, there is no doubt that sophisticated schools of brass instrument making were in operation in Europe by the fifteenth century – the century when the trombone evolved.2 The main centres were located where there was easy access to the principal raw materials, and where there was a tradition of metal craftsmanship. In the late thirteenth century, brass making was particularly developed in the north of Europe. The towns of Aachen, Liège and especially Dinant were associated with the manufacture of a wide range of fine metal implements. By the mid-fifteenth century, brass instrument manufacture was underway in Nuremberg, a city that also had a high reputation for metal crafts. There were other places where brass instruments were made, but it was the Nuremberg makers who produced the largest quantities and | Summer 2008 | The Trombonist

Trevor Herbert

Trevor Herbert is Professor of Music at the Open University. Formerly a professional trombone player, he has edited the The British Brass Band: A Musical and Social History (2000) and co-edited The Cambridge Companion to Brass Instruments (1997).

set the highest standards for the next two centuries. If one is of a mind to speculate as to where the double slide was invented, Nuremberg seems a strong possibility; the evidence is conjectural but compelling. The town was established by the eleventh century, and was an important trading centre on a primary route to eastern and southern Europe. By the fifteenth century a robust system of civic government was in place.

Even the authority of the church did not surpass that of the town council. Because there was no court authority, the civic council ambitiously promoted the town as a centre of trade, craftsmanship and manufacture. It became a thriving commercial centre that enjoyed a high reputation for the quality of its industry, and it was also a civilised and rounded community with a strong intellectual life.

Family business Town musicians can first be identified there in 1219, and from 1363 payments to Stadtpfeifer are listed in the records of the town authorities.3 We do not know the exact date when brass instrument production began there, but by the mid-fifteenth

century the Neuschel family – one of the great dynasties of brass instrument making – had commenced its business in the town. The earliest information we have concerning the manufacture of trombones (though it does not appear until some time later) relates to those that bear the names of members of this family. The first reference is to Hans Neuschel the Elder, who was granted master’s rights as a coppersmith in 1479. It is possible that he was not the first generation of his family to conduct this or an analogous business in the town. In 1482 he was receiving fees for the repair of brass instruments, but by 1487, with an otherwise unknown maker called Hans Keymer, he was a supplier of Ziehstücke, a word almost certainly meaning trombone slides.4 The skills of all brass instrument making were derived from the trumpet maker’s art.

Indeed, it has been pointed out that the proportions and size of component parts of seventeenth-century Nuremberg trumpets and trombones are often so similar that the fittings of some instruments are interchangeable.5 There is no reason to believe that this was not the case in the fifteenth century. While the making of fine, efficient trombone slides may have been a new and specialised craft within the art of trumpet making, a skilled trumpet maker did not need fundamentally new skills to make a trombone or slide trumpet. The bells and bows of such instruments may have been all but identical to those on trumpets. Branches were made by burnishing cold strips of metal over a solid hardmetal rod, then sealing the joint (to the extent that a seal was needed) with one of a variety of solders that were available.

All that was needed for the manufacture of a telescopic slide was for the internal and external slide branches to be fashioned on rods of slightly different diameter. A host of available lubricants could have been used

to achieve a smooth action. Furthermore, the stays that secured the various parts of the slide were held together by clamps rather than by unyielding soldered stays.

This would also have helped to make the slide freely mobile because the position of the stays could have been adjusted slightly to accommodate the best fit of the sides.

We know little about mouthpieces from this period, but given that all evidence suggests that trumpeters played in what was a relatively low tessitura, it is possible that this too was a component that was initially similar or even common to trumpets and trombones. However, as I explain in Chapter 1, the evidence from seventeenth-century sources shows that the mouthpieces of the two instruments had somewhat different profiles by then.

Germany at the centre One writer has suggested, with perhaps a little too much confidence, that, ‘In 1427 Hanns Hranck fashioned the first German trumpet and trombone’,6 but no evidence is presented to support this claim. That the trombone was invented in Nuremberg is little more than speculation, but one factor offers support for such an idea – or at least for the prospect that the instrument originated in Germany – and that is that from the time that we are able to distinguish the trombone from other instruments, most of the players are German. Keith Polk has pointed out that trombone players with German names were active not just in Germany and the Low Countries in the second half of the fifteenth century, but also in Italian courts and civic bands.7 Furthermore, when players of the ‘Sakbussheys and shalmeys’ (sackbuts and shawms) appeared at the English court, they too had German names.

The instruments are first mentioned from 1495, but in documents written in 1501 their players are named as Hans Nagel and Hans Broen. Little is known about Broen, but we know a great deal about Nagel. He had made his way to England from Leipzig via Augsburg, and was one of the most expert, well-travelled and in some respects notorious trombone players of his era. Nagel was one of the first trombone-playing celebrities of Europe, and an example of a new species of brass musician. More about him and his generation of players will be found in Chapter 4.

A princely sum We struggle to understand the general patterns of manufacture and distribution of brass instruments before the late sixteenth century. There are frequent references to instruments being bought, paid for or received, but somewhat fewer that indicate exactly where these instruments came from. For example, Mark Anthony Petala, a Venetian trombonist who entered service in the English court, received a payment of more than £22 in August 1531 (‘paied

ica in Verona possesses a tenor instrument (13.302) which bears no maker’s mark or date. However, it has been suggested that it was probably made in Venice around 1560.10 Trumpets made in other European cities also survive from this period, such as those made by Jacob Steiger of Basel and dated 1578. However, the patterns of distribution are probably not revealed properly by surviving sources, and certainly not by surviving instruments. Many makers of surviving seventeenth-century instruments were well established in the sixteenth century. Furthermore, there are manufacturers who left a trace of their existence, but for whom no instruments survive – as is the case with the London sackbut makers mentioned below.

The Trombone, Yale University Press, March 2006, ISBN: 9780300100952

to m’ke Anthony a venician by the kinges comanndement: £22.10s.0d’). This was an enormous amount – more than a year’s wages. We might surmise that it was for travel to Venice and perhaps the purchase of instruments.8 But while instrument making in Venice was undoubtedly buoyant, it seems certain that Nuremberg maintained a pre-eminent status as a centre for brass instrument making for the whole of the sixteenth century and beyond. Nuremberg makers supplied instruments to courts and cities far and wide. A business letter from Jörg Neuschel, one of the great master brass instrument makers of Nuremberg, to an aristocrat addressed as ‘Durchleuchtister, Hochgenborner Furst Allergnedigster her’, mentions that he has recently supplied the King of Poland, the Elector of the Rhein, Duke Ottheirich of Landenberg and the King of England. However, notwithstanding the obvious importance of the major Nuremberg makers, a note of caution should be sounded. Herbert Heyde has pointed out that where there was regulatory control of instrument manufacture, the mandates often gave rights to supply musical instruments. Thus the maker’s mark on the bell of an instrument could legitimately be inscribed by the manufacturer or by the retailer or dealer. There were undoubtedly many small workshops in Nuremberg producing brass instruments, and we must ask why the surviving instruments carry such a limited range of makers’ names.9 While it is clear that the skills of instrument making were not confined to Germany, of the instruments that survive from before 1600, probably only two were made outside Nuremberg. One of these is a bass made in 1593 in Reims by Pierre Colbert (The Hague, Gemeentemuseum, Ea159-x-1952). The Accademia Filarmon-

Part-timers While established workshops – such as those of Schnitzer and Neuschel – set standards and were probably the main suppliers of trombones to the major courts, it seems probable that instruments (perhaps less prestigious commissions – for town bands, for example) were produced by metal workers who exercised their craft in other, related trades. This was certainly true in other spheres of instrument making – for example, many viol makers were also makers of fine furniture and other wooden implements.11 It also seems that more prestigious instruments might be sent out to craftsmen who were not primarily instrument makers. The Siena civic records show that in July 1470 the town’s chamberlain sent a silver trombone to Francesco di Antonio, because it ‘lacked certain things’. Di Antonio was a goldsmith, and his services were again called on in December 1487, when he was required to provide a new silver trombone and seven silver trumpets.12 Here we find an example of trombones being made not by a master instrument maker, but by a goldsmith. The commission to Di Antonio was for him to re-configure the town’s silver trombone according to a design retained by the chamberlain. He may never have made a trombone before, but it is highly likely that goldsmiths were accustomed to making trumpets, and that the skills of the goldsmith could be turned to the purpose of making trombones if they were provided with appropriate templates. As it happens, the subsequent haggling between the town and the tradesman was not about the quality of the instrument, but rather, as one might expect, about its weight (that is, the precious metal content).

Some evidence concerning trombone and trumpet making in London in the late sixteenth century attests to a similar phenomenon. The case in point concerns Simon Brewer, an immigrant goldsmith who is listed among London aliens (immigrants) in 1582 as having been born in Brabant and being ‘one of the Dutche churche’, and George Langdale, who started receivThe Trombonist | Summer 2008 |

FEATURES ing half-wages as a royal trumpeter in 1577, and progressed to be a fully waged court musician two years later. This Langdale was almost certainly the same man to whom Brewer refers as George Langdall, and who was indentured as a goldsmith in London, obtaining freedom of the goldsmiths company in 1567.13 In 1583 he received a privileged licence for the manufacture of sackbuts, and claimed to be the first English maker of the instruments. His claim had substance, for the licence states that he ‘to his greate paines and charges hath byn the first deviser and maker within this our Realme of England of sackbutts and Trumpetts not hereto fore made’.14 The letters patent grant him a twenty-year privilege for the exclusive manufacture of these instruments. The granting of this very licence prompted Brewer to petition the principal secretary to the Queen, ‘[p]itiullye complaininge’ that he (Brewer) ‘hath nothinge to lyve uppon nor aine othere trade but onlie to make Trumpetts and Sackbutts to mayntayne himselfe his wife and nyne poore children’. He was able to ‘make and amende trompetts and sackbutts…bettr & cheaper than those of the said Langdalls making’.15 Brewer’s petition is of course an objection to an effective monopoly, but from it we can also gather that trombones were being made in London by this time, and that at least some of the makers came from abroad. It also provides an insight into the precarious lives of immigrant families at this time, living like Brewer under the threat that ‘his wife and children shall be enforced to begg and utterlie perish’. But what is also apparent is that the trade of trombone maker was practiced within the related profession of the goldsmith. Indeed, Maurice Byrne has identified a line of goldsmiths who were trumpet makers in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.16 There is no reason to assume that such practices were not widespread.

Another recurrent pattern that one notices in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries is that makers are also players, or they are members of families in which there are both players and makers.

Hans Neuschel the younger (d.1533) was a trombone player to Emperor Maximillian I, and Hans Schnitzer, a member of another great Nuremberg family of the sixteenth century, was also a trombonist. The aforementioned Jacob Steiger was a town trumpeter in Basel, and many more examples could be similarly cited.

Endnotes 1 G Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (1899), Vol. 3, p.176. Howard Weiner has pointed out that this is also mentioned by Heinrich Welcker von Gontershausen in Neu eröffnetes Magazin musikalscher Tonwerkzeuge (Frankfurt am Main, 1855).

2 See Barclay, The Art of the Trumpet-Maker.

3 New Grove 2, s.v. ‘Nuremberg’.

4 W. Waterhouse, The New Langwill Index: A Dictionary of Musical Wind-Instrument Makers and Inventors (London: Tony Bingham, 1993), p. 204 and p. 280.

5 Smithers, Music and History of the Baroque Trumpet, p. 337.

6 New Grove 2, s.v. ‘Nuremberg’ 7 Polk, ‘The trombone, the slide trumpet and the ensemble tradition’, 392.

8 A. Ashbee, & D. Lasocki, assisted by P. Holman & F. Kisby, A Biographical Dictionary of English Court Musicians 1485-1714, vol. 2 (Aldershot: Ashgate, 1998), p. 884.

9 Waterhouse, New Langwill Index, p. xxvii.

10 J. H. van der Meer & R. Weber, Catalogo degli strumenti musicali dell’Accademia Filarmonica di Verona (Verona: Accademia Filarmonica di Verona, 1982), p. 70.

11 M.D., Fleming, Viol-Making in England c.1580-1660 (published on CD-ROM: contact <viols@flemingoxford.co.uk>, 2002), p. 129.

12 D’Accone, Civic Muse, p. 554.

13 Ashbee & Lasocki, Biographical Dictionary, vol. 2, s.v. Langdale.

14 Ashbee & Lasocki, Biographical Dictionary, vol. 2, p. 662.

15 Quoted in M. Byrne, ‘The goldsmith-trumpet-makers of the British Isles’, Galpin Society Journal, 19 (1966), 74.

16 See Byrne, ‘Goldsmith-trumpet-makers’.

The BTS would like to thank Trevor Herbert and Yale University Press for permission to reprint this article.

10 | Summer 2008 | The Trombonist

Valuable lessons learnt from old mouthpieces

M

y wife was very keen on looking round historic houses. I usually found this interesting – a pleasant change from the day-to-day problem solving and chasing suppliers in the business.

We visited a place at East Grinstead, in Sussex which, unfortunately had not much to offer and I must have shown some symptoms of boredom. “I’ve got another idea” she said and we drove to a tiny pair of ancient cottages at nearby West Hoathly.

The main interest was a very special herb garden, but the cottages – built, apparently in the early 15th century and renovated during the reign of Elizabeth I – were more interesting to me. One half of the pair was the dwelling of the curator, the other housed the museum. As we went from room to room, amongst the odd items – a spinning wheel, some ancient oak furniture and faded décor, I spotted a Victorian photograph of a village brass band. I stared it for a while and attracted the attention of a gentleman who tapped me on the shoulder.

“That’s my grandfather in that photo,” said the man, who turned out to be the curator. I was naturally interested and told him a little of my career as a brass player, he then told us that the instruments from the band, last played in 1938, were still in the attic, along with the original receipts and account books. I couldn’t believe my ears! A few moments later and he had assembled various battered cornets, with some trombones and a tuba. I found an old Hawkes “Artist’s Perfected” trombone, similar to my first trombone in the 1940s.

This one had been silent for almost 70 years. The water-key corks had long perished, but the springs were still working, so some paper tissue did the trick. The slide moved grudgingly. I tentatively tried to play it, using the tiny mouthpiece in the instrument, then gave it a thorough workout and surprised the curator by knocking out all sorts of notes!

Then I saw a smallish tuba which I naturally assumed was an Eb. A quick blow revealed it to be a superb Hawkes Bb tuba, made very compactly, with the tubes tightly coiled. But what took me most by surprise was the mouthpiece. It was the old familiar Hawkes shape, with the most perfect curves in the cup and throat. It had a very flat rim; rather an odd shape to the modern eye. The cup wall, just under the rim was much reduced – not much over about 1mm. The response was marvellous,

Old ideas inspired Denis Wick’s new range

despite the flat rim.

I should perhaps add that back in the Victorian era there were at least eight brass instrument manufacturers in London. Various sources suggest that there were 40,000 brass bands in the UK in 1889 and 75,000 in 1895 (compared to probably less than 1000 today!) and many “military” bands.

Boosey, Besson, Hawkes, Lafleur, Potter, Keat, Silvani and Smith, Rudall Carte, in London, Higham in Manchester, with Hall Gisbourne and Peerless in Birmingham all competed, often specialising in different instruments.

The best workers were French With such a massive market, there was tremendous competition amongst the makers. Hawkes were, as I had been told, by far the best, with a preponderance of French workers, led by a certain M. Linotte, the acknowledged master. Besson had a factory in Paris and another in London, with a completely French workforce employing, it was said a total of 276 men. They even had their own brass band! The famous Boosey compensating system, still to be seen today, had been patented by Blaikley in 1874. There are still examples from these makers which show good design and real craftsmanship. The mouthpieces were also often well designed, although trombone mouthpieces related to the very small bore instruments of the time and were tiny by

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the standards of today The curator kindly allowed me to borrow some of the various mouthpieces from the museum. I took them home and compared them with my modern designs.

Those flat rims were unusable, as today’s players need more flexibility and comfort.

The Hawkes outer contours basically followed the internal cup shape, of course.

Then I had an idea. If we could add more weight to the mouthpiece at the bottom of the cup and reduce the wall-thickness at the top, just under the rim, maybe we could have the best of both worlds. Perhaps even a gold-plated rim? Those carefully contrived and well understood inner shapes that we had used for so long must be retained, of course.

The result was even better than I could have expected, so we immediately adopted the idea for the tuba mouthpieces. The trombone versions seemed to give even more obvious benefits. Obviously this design would not replace the existing trombone models, which so many players had been using for the past 40 years. The possibility of adding a booster – my idea from 1993 – was also valuable. Many “pro” players also liked the Heavytops that I also introduced in 1992/3.

So now a new trombone series was born, needing a separate identity.. What should we call them? My old friend Vern Kagarice suggested “Heritage” It fitted perfectly.

Using today’s technology, the wall thickness could be reduced even more, so we had the 1890 concept, brought bang up to date with the heavier bulk at the bottom of the cup.

The results are tremendous. There is an immediate response with almost no air!

Just gently breathing into it produced a perfectly controlled pianissimo. When the air is increased, there is a wonderfully projected fortissimo with a brilliant overtone structure but with much less effort.

We have now had very positive reactions from so many trombonists all over the world, now that we have a complete line of trombones models, Although not yet in full production, the cornet versions have already caused quite a stir at the US NABBA brass band contest, and with some of the top UK players. Who would have thought that the face of mouthpiece design could have been so influenced by these 120 year-old ideas?

Denis Wick The Trombonist | Summer 2008 | 11

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On the eve of the Don Lusher Solo Competition final, Sheila Tracy finds out about life as a trombonist in the big band golden era and passes on some tips for the competitors

Bill Geldard A

fter 63 years as a professional musician, there can be few trombonists more qualified to act as one of the judges for the Don Lusher competition than Bill Geldard. Not for him the advantages that many of today’s young players enjoy with the numerous music colleges available to them. For Bill it was a case of being offered a job in the pit orchestra at the Eden Theatre, Bishop Auckland at the age of 15, for which of course he had to get permission from his parents. With the prospect of a weekly wage of £5, a fortune in those days, no objections were raised and in January 1945 Bill set out on a career that was destined to take him into the upper echelons of the music profession.

For two years, he had been playing first trombone in the local brass band, the only minor in a band of miners, and had been co-opted into the band of the Home Guard where they found a cadet’s uniform to fit

him. On leaving school at 14, he got a job as an office boy in a munitions factory while playing local gigs in the evenings, starting with the Fishburn Miner’s Welfare Dance where he was paid £1 which seemed an unbelievable amount of money for one night, seeing that he was only earning 15 shillings a week in the factory.

Late shows As well as playing in the pit at the Eden Theatre, after the curtain came down Bill would go down to the Town Hall to play for the dances that would sometimes start at midnight, finishing at 4am! But it was all good experience and after 18 months he was given the chance to join Charles Amer’s Band at Butlins, Filey where he remained until he was called up for his National Service, most of which was spent with the RAF Central Band at Uxbridge. Coming to the end of his two year stint, in the summer

of 1949, he was invited to join the newly formed George Evans Orchestra, and when trumpeter Gracie Cole joined the band, romance blossomed and they were married in 1951, a marriage that was to last for 55 years, ending in Gracie’s death in 2006.

The future must have looked bright for Bill when not long after getting together in the George Evans Band, both he and Gracie were invited to join the Squadronaires, Bill taking the place of Don Lusher. With just two trombones in the line-up, he was soon yearning to be back in a full section and when he got an offer to join Ted Heath he jumped at it but because of the popularity of Dickie Valentine, Lita Roza and Denis Lotis, vocal backings in cup mutes with the corks shaved and packed with cotton wool, were the order of the night and for Bill it was a frustrating period. After six months he left and then came the offer to go with Oscar Rabin at the Lyceum, which

meant he was in town and off the road, but not for long.

In 1953 Johnny Dankworth formed his big band and the following year Bill managed to get out of his contract with Oscar Rabin and joined Maurice Pratt, Keith Christie and Eddie Harvey in the Dankworth trombone section. While in the Dankworth orchestra Bill started to get work in the studios and when Jack Parnell took his band to ATV it seemed an ideal time to give up life on the road once again and join what was fast becoming a line-up of the elite, with a guaranteed couple of television shows a week.

In 1961 he rejoined the Ted Heath band but life on the road plus work in the studios began to take its toll and, diagnosed with TB, he spent the next six months in hospital and found it a struggle to get back to playing but a lucky break was just around the corner. Former Stan Kenton trombonist and arranger Bill Russo was in London running a rehearsal band which he joined.

Bill had been arranging and composing for some time but he will tell you that everything he learnt about training a band came from that time and what’s more he also studied arranging with Bill Russo, an acknowledged master of the art.

Today Bill writes for big band, strings and brass band and has had great success in what is termed as library music. Music played everywhere from lifts to supermar-

kets and if you’re lucky, on the big and small screen and Bill got lucky with his Laudin’ the Duke which turned up on the sound track of a Hollywood movie.

It was in the 1970’s that Don Lusher asked him to do an arrangement of Stardust, chosen as the test piece for the Don Lusher Trombone Prize as it epitomises the melodic and instantly recognisable Lusher sound which, according to Bill, some of the contestants, although good players, had difficulty in reproducing, being accustomed to playing ‘straight’. There is a big difference in the styles and anyone who caught Gordon Campbell’s class on vibrato at the BTS day at the RAM in February will have been persuaded it’s an art well worth mastering, whichever musical genre you choose as a career. The other test piece, Harlem Nocturne, is a swing era classic with a very recognisable feel which, Bill felt, some of the contestants failed to capture by playing it too fast. The golden rule has to be to listen to recordings of the swing classics, which is what generations of famous trombone players have done over the years before developing their own particular style.

Not just hitting the low notes Bill played bass trombone in the Ted Heath Band fronted by Don Lusher and also in the Don Lusher Big Band and most of us tend to think of him as a bass trombonist but he

is equally happy playing tenor on the lead chair. The switch to bass trombone came about because there was an obvious lack of good bass trombone players, as he discovered when he was offered a tour and television series with Mantovani and was asked if he played a Bflat/F. He said no, but he would get one and by about 1967 found he was doing half and half. The following year it had started to tip the other way and by ’69 he was playing a lot more bass than tenor and sometimes he would be asked to bring both, proving how essential it is for young musicians today to become proficient in as many different ways as possible.

With studio work more or less non existent, today Bill plays with the John Dankworth Big Band, more than half a century after his first spell, and occasionally in what are basically semi-pro line-ups to which he brings a tremendous amount of class and knowledge of how things should be played. He sees his involvement as giving something back to a profession that has been good to him. It can also spring a few surprises and involve him in playing music from the 1920s, the like of which, he has never before encountered in his professional career. I remember taking Stan Kenton trombonist Milt Bernhart to the Lord Napier in Thornton Heath where Bill has been joining us recently, and his comment was “I haven’t heard music of that vintage in over 60 years!”

A meeting with Billy May of the well known British arrangers, photographed at Broadcasting House early ‘90s.

Back row: (L-R) Ronnie Hazlehurst, Brian Fahey, John Fox, Duncan Lamont, Billy May, John Gregory, Ray Davies , Bill Geldard.

Front row: Neil Richardson, Kenny Baker, John Francis 12 | Spring 2008 | The Trombonist

The Trombonist | Summer 2008 | 13

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FEATURES John Hemmings 1940-2007

A soft spot for Bulgaria A familiar and much loved figure, John Hemmings was generous with his time and promoted the trombone from Suffolk all the way to Eastern Europe. Tony Parsons pays tribute.

F

Introducing Hellas Composer Bruce Fraser writes about his new piece for the BTS National Competition for Young Trombonists

H

ellas – the name for ancient Greece – is the title I chose for this work for solo trombone and piano, which is the test piece for 2008 BTS young trombone player competition. The inspiration comes from my first Greek cruise last summer, during which I experienced a few of the many traditional folk dances, not actually on the cruise but ashore at various points.

My first approach to write this work was through Stewart Drummond, Head of Brass at Uppingham School and a long time trombone playing acquaintance. Stewart asked on behalf of the BTS Executive if I would be prepared to write a work for this new competition. I then began to think of ways to personalise it using musical letters from Stewart’s name and also the BTS. BTS is a bit unusual, but you can use Bb for B, 14 | Summer 2008 | The Trombonist

B for T and Eb for S. Stewart has E, A and D, so, using these notes, I could create the melodies for the opening declamation and the dances themselves.

There are many forms of Greek dances and variation within dance styles, so I basically picked two of the most popular styles – Hasapiko and Syrto and began to create my own versions of these.

Hasapiko is also known as the “butchers dance” and is the one where the dancers link arms around shoulders and drag their feet from side to side in a slow movement. The pace can gradually quicken but not necessarily. It is quite “plodding” with heavy, deliberate steps and moves. The player should be as articulate as possible and very clear with the rhythms. There is certainly opportunity for expression in this section.

Syrto is a fast dance in 3/4 or 7/8 or a mixture of both, depending on the part of Greece you are in. There is a lot of use of syncopation and speeding up. In the dances I saw there was also fire dancing which was quite spectacular, with a selected dancer dancing over fire patterns on the ground.

These are created by using an inflammable liquid sprayed on the ground and lit. The opening section of the Syrto definitely has a Latin feel to it, giving the opportunity to show off flexibility and some athleticism.

Use the slide to obtain good quality slurs.

In the 3/4 section the syncopation is very important and the player can show off good tone quality in the loud passages, without sounding rough.

There are optional sections where the technical demands are perhaps too high and the player can still enjoy the work without having to struggle. At these points the player should use the lower notes.

I hope that this piece is a useful addition to the solo trombone repertoire and I look forward to hearing the performances of the competitors.

Brett Baker has expressed the wish to record it in a future solo album and I hope that these few words give a little insight into the background and thinking behind the piece.

Hellas is available from Lomond Music - lomondmusic.com

ollowing the first massed trombone performance at The Piazza, Covent Garden, in 1986, when it became clear that trombone groups would be forming all over Britain, John Hemmings took on the job of holder of the library. For many years he answered requests for BTS ensemble music, posting parcels to all corners of the country, amassing a very big library and allowing it to occupy shelves and cupboards in his home with good-humoured resignation.

John started trombone aged twelve with the army cadets. Firstly he was given a trumpet which he took home and dismantled, couldn’t put back together, and had it replaced by a trombone on the basis of ‘the fewer parts the better for this kid’.

He fell in love with the sound of big bands when he came home one night, switched on the radio and chanced to hear the Ted Heath Orchestra. The experience formed the start of his musical life and in his teenage years he joined many rehearsal bands including the Bob Barter Band near his home in South London.

John left school on his 16th birthday before taking his final exams. He worked as a packer at Chas. Foote Ltd for twelve years. It was the era of the guitar and he spent the whole day packing them for three-chord virtuosos and budding pop idols.

He also learnt repairs and skinning drums, which he did for all the percussionists from Jimmy Blades down, and for the great British jazz drummers. John formed and conducted his own band while also playing in the Cliff Reeves Band well in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s.

At the age of eighteen he was gigging almost every night, but having had no formal training, he decided he would have proper lessons. He went to Jimmy

“He fell in love with the sound of big bands when he came home one night, switched on the radio and chanced to hear the Ted Heath Orchestra. “

Coombes, 4th trombone in the Heath band, as he was too shy to ask lead trombone, Don Lusher. But this turned out to be a satisfactory choice as Jimmy sorted out his three embouchures and told him he’d have to give up gigging for six months and go back to the basics. This John was prepared to do and it ensured a continuing career as an excellent trombonist.

In 1969 John joined Bill Lewington Ltd and rapidly became a manager. It was just at the time when Bill won the Yamaha franchise and John headed the highly successful marketing of Yamaha student instruments to education authorities.

Going East John moved to Suffolk in 1976 and began teaching in private schools and with Suffolk County Council as a peripatetic brass teacher until his retirement in 2005.

He was co-founder of Suffolk Brass in 1978.

A defining event in John’s life occurred at the International Trombone Festival hosted

by BTS at Eton College in 1989 where he befriended a Bulgarian trombonist who had been able to get permission to visit the West following the recent end to the Cold War. Ilia Nenov was lead trombone of the Bulgarian Radio Big Band and they began a weekly correspondence. In 1990 John and his wife, Diana, visited Sofia for the first time, a three and a half days’ drive.

At least one trip a year followed. John gave a lot of his own big band library to boost the radio band’s repertoire, and the pair regularly sent vital items that were unavailable in Bulgarian shops. Diana, a clarinettist, gave annual recitals with chamber ensembles, and they became so attached to Sofia and their many new friends that they eventually bought a flat in the city.

For many years John drove the instrumental van on foreign tours with the Suffolk County Youth Orchestra. He had a wicked sense of humour, was very popular with the young players for his iconoclastic attitude to authority, and was certainly capable of some outrageous pranks. He made the most of life’s enjoyable moments, and if a glass of something refreshing was to hand, so much the better.

It was on one of the orchestra’s French tours that John had a near-death experience. He had delivered instruments to the Hotelissimo Hotel near Paris, and left a couple of minutes before an Air France Concorde bound for New York ploughed into the building, killing 113 passengers and crew. The young musicians were following by coach and for once luckily having a slow journey, or they would have been in the hotel at the moment of impact.

John was a tremendous lover of music, equally of the people in the musical profession that he admired. The other side of him was abrupt and dismissive of pretension. He probably attended more ITAs around the world than any other British trombonist and he enjoyed the company and friendship of many foreign players, particularly those from the Eastern Bloc for whom his generosity knew no bounds.

It is a great sadness that John began to feel ill only 18 months into his retirement.

He was treated for cancer of the oesophagus and died on 12 March 2007.

Diss-Located Bones continue the Suffolk brass spirit, pictured here a in recital at Halesworth 28/3/08.

(L-R) Tony Parsons, Paul Shepherd, Edmund Fivet, Ian Fryer, Lydia Unwin, Alison Keep, Mike Tatt, Dave Scragg, Kath Stock, Malcolm Reader, Mario di Pietro and Matt Brown The Trombonist | Summer 2008 | 15

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Trombonist’s island discs Choosing only six discs is really hard when you sit down and think about it seriously.

So I’ve had to leave out big favourites of mine because there just isn’t space.

Favourites like: Piazzola, Frank Sinatra, Rosolino, Shearing, Peterson, then composers: Elgar, Strauss, Vaughan-Williams, it’s ridiculous!

1. The Roman Carnival – Berlioz, arranged for Brass Band. G.U.S. Footwear Band (World Champions) This is from a record I use to listen to incessantly when I was a teenager. It was four test pieces for brass bands, including Energy (Simpson), James Cook – Circumnavigator (Vinter). I loved the sounds, the brilliant opening and the phrasing and tone of Trevor Groom playing the slow cor anglais solo on the euphonium. My trombone teacher, Terry Hext (Michael’s father) was also 1st trombone in the band at that time.

2. Easy Winners – Philip Jones Brass Ensemble Again, I used to listen to this all the time when I was a school boy. What a sound, collectively and individually. It took my breath away, the group was so in tune, so together, I was amazed. All the members were superstars so to pick one out is unfair but... Fletch!

John Fletcher, tuba, lifted, pushed, underpinned, was creative, inspired. Oh, I’ll shut

Lindsay Shilling up, to be able to play one phrase like him. I can dream, can’t I? 3. Petrouchka – Stravinsky I can’t remember the conductor or orchestra, but again, I remember listening to this really loudly at school in the music block with my headphones on (we were very modern then) most Wednesday afternoons. Music or sports afternoon, I’ll give you one guess!

My music teacher was obviously desperate to introduce me to other forms of music other than brass bands. She succeeded but I still hadn’t played in an orchestra then other than the school orchestra, which was, on hearing it, no incentive!

4. Ella Fitzgerald – Night in Tunisia This isn’t just one disc, it’s absolutely anything by Ella! In my opinion she is just the most consummate musician, performer, artist etc. Her breathing, phrasing, tuning

and diction are a constant lesson to us all.

I mention her (and Sinatra) when I teach and encourage students to listen to them for all the of these reasons. I saw her on her last visit to this country in the late 80’s and heard her sing “A Night in Tunisia” at the Royal Albert Hall with just a string bass accompaniment. The packed hall and I were totally spellbound.

5. That Boy – The Beatles This is another childhood memory. My sister, who is four years older, bought every 45 single record the pop group released and on the ‘B’ side of one of their hits was this track. I love the close harmony singing and the soft, mellow effect it produced. I think it was an unusual sonority for a pop record and it proved how the Beatles were always trying to push boundaries and look for new sounds.

6. Mahler Symphony No. 3 – Philharmonia/Sinopoli This brings me up to date and redresses the balance for classical orchestral playing after all the brass band/ensemble and popular/ jazz influences on me. The first time I had the opportunity to perform Mahler 3 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra I bought this CD for research. Wouldn’t we all like to make the sound Dudley Bright makes?

Lindsay Shilling

Noel Abel 1948-2008

Tribute to LPO legend The popular bass trombonist passed away in March and is remembered fondly on behalf of the BTS by Dave Chandler

A

ll who knew him will be immensely sad to hear of the death of trombonist Noel Abel. His funeral was well attended, with music by a brass quintet conducted by Les Lake, and a jazz duo of Chris Lawrence and Frank Ricotti – two old friends from National Youth Orchestra days.

Noel burst onto the scene from the Royal College of Music aged 19. By 21 he was in the Royal Opera House Orchestra (the only player to be addressed by Sir George Solti as “My young friend!”) and two years 16 | Summer 2008 | The Trombonist

Noel Abel: wit, sports cars, and a trombone

later he joined the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

He was a lifelong supporter of Chelsea Football Club; an enthusiastic sports car owner – Lotus Elite, Morgan and M.G.B.; and a great sportsman. He was an eagleeyed player of squash and tennis of great skill.

He will be chiefly remembered for his wit and humour. Any group at the bar that included Noel would be submersed in gales of laughter.

A short story: Three trombonists out for a ramble, passing through Ayot-St-Lawrence. Dick said “George Bernard Shaw lived in that house”. Dave said “George Bernard Shaw’s father was a trombonist”. Noel said “Are you sure?”

He will be sorely missed.

Sharon McCallum The well-known trombone repairer and restorer talks to David Carnac at her Kent farm

D

escribed by former Trombonist magazine editor Tony Parsons as “the best friend a brass player in need could have”, her clients list as a “who’s who” within both the British and international trombone world.

Having learnt the basics at Merton Technical College (19761978), Sharon refined and developed her skills and experience at various workshops in Sussex, Sutton (where she met many musicians in trombonist Alec McInnes’ Lord Nelson pub), had a stint at ‘The Valve’, and now her business is completely based at Golford Gate farm near Cranbrook in Kent. However, the cumulative effect of managing the move of house, workshop and farm, (including all the livestock) whilst working full time on our instruments, took its toll and Sharon had her first attack of her Multiple Sclerosis, which at times has seriously impacted on, but thankfully, never totally stopped her ability to work.

I met her at her farm, where, not only does she tend to our trombones, but also her flock of prize winning pedigree Southdown sheep and her lovely rescued Border Collies. Whilst picking up my newly reconditioned trombone, Sharon shared a few experiences about her time in the business which, over 30 years working alongside us trombonists, had inevitably brought one or two comedic moments.

“It’s amazing just what I’ve found inside brass instruments; my collection includes a pair of glasses, still in the case, from a tuba, a used bic razor from a trumpet, plastic soldier from a trombone, none of which the owners had any idea that they were there, and a paper clip that had worked its way into a euphonium’s valve section, causing the valve not to go down fully, the owners had caused a lot of damage trying to remove the valve” One of the best stories was about a foam microphone head stuck in the branch of a Sovereign euphonium: “it had always been difficult to blow so had been sold for a song!”

Home fixes that went wrong Some of her DIY stories also provide a real insight into the madness we trombonists sometimes create. Refusing to name names, one client, after seeing Sharon do similar, had put a cleaning rod into a power drill to clean out the outer slide on a borrowed alto trombone, forgetting that he had seen Sharon do it to a tenor trombone, he promptly drilled straight through the bow causing £250 worth of damage on a instrument he had borrowed for a gig paying £50.

Sharon will also admit to personally delivering the wrong trombone back, albeit in an identical case, to Don Lusher who was desperate to get his trombone back for a very important gig that evening.

Fortunately, ever the gentleman, after the initial shock, he saw the funny side after opening the case to see a greenish, battered Bundy rather than his pristine, immaculate and cherished King 2B. Despite this little blip, he remained a client until just before his death, “the last time I saw him, he came over to my workshop to pick up his trombone after an annual service”“His instrument was just like himalways immaculate!” she added with a fond smile.

And finally, to end the article, I rather predictably asked: What’s the one bit of instrument maintenance advice you’d give to any trombonist? “If you had seen what I have, crawling out of a trombone, you’d know I’d say clean it”, she answered straight away, “but also, don’t pick the slide in the middle when taking it out of the case, over time it will bow.’’

More details about Sharon can be found at www.sharonmccallum.co.uk The Trombonist | Summer 2008 | 17

FEATURES

FEATURES

In January David Whitehouse joined the London Philharmonic Orchestra from the Philharmonia. David Read spoke to him about his training that provided a springboard into these internationally renowned orchestras, just after he got back from the LPO’s tour of Hong Kong, Taipei, Abu Dhabi and Seoul.

David Whitehouse So where did it all begin?

I started when I was 11 at school. It was a very good school musically and they had a lot going on. They had a brass ensemble run by Bryan Allen who was in Fine Arts Brass at the time, two concert bands and three orchestras. I used to sing in a couple of choirs too – always busy with music!

And did you get a lot of support from the teachers?

Yes, absolutely. The music staff there were great. Although when it became apparent that I wanted to go into the profession they actually did their best to put me off! They said it was very hard to make a living and there are no guarantees of regular money and all that. I suppose though it was good that they were making me aware of what it is like, but I ignored it and ploughed on really. I went to music college, gradually got the odd gig over my time there, before getting higher profile work over the years.

This gradually built up until I got the job in the Philharmonia when I was 32. I spent six years there before this latest move to the LPO. And when was the period you really worked the hardest on your playing – was it at college?

My teacher at school took me up to grade 8, which I got when I was about 13, and he felt he’d taken me as far as he could. I think I was very lucky that he admitted that, because he could easily have held on to me and perhaps I wouldn’t have progressed as far. It was suggested I went to London for lessons, and by a complete fluke my mum’s singing teacher put us in touch with her cousin who was in the BBC Symphony Orchestra. To be honest we didn’t have a clue, but Chris Mowat actually turned out to be a fantastic teacher. He did various things like changing my embouchure and working on various bits of technique. And I’d never heard playing like it – he made such a lovely sound and had perfect note production – it was so inspirational.

By the last year of school I’d got into the National Youth Orchestra and played Gurrelieder and Belshazzar’s Feast, which was lucky because the Walton was one of my A-Level set-pieces and I don’t think I’d have known it anywhere near as well had we not done it in the NYO! 18 | Summer 2008 | The Trombonist

And finally can you tell us a little about your tour in the Far East? Was it work, work, work?

Actually it was really nice. Over the two and a half weeks we had a few days off which gave us some time to explore the places. On one of the days off, the LPO played a football match against the Seoul Philharmonic and since I wasn’t on the pitch, I did a “Barmy Army” with some of the other brass members and played songs to cheer them along. We also went to a lovely private beach attached to the hotel in Abu Dhabi. Hong Kong was great for gadget shopping and I also managed to get fitted for some made-to-measure tails when I was there.

And I shall take many happy memories with me from the Philharmonia. Byron, Alistair Mackie, Mark Calder and myself all play golf, so on tours to Baden-Baden and Paris we arranged matches: trombones vs trumpets. The trumpets would disagree here, but they always cheated on handicaps and ended up winning!

David Whitehouse looks forward to summers playing at Glyndebourne.

So I probably did the most practice when working with Chris on changing my embouchure. I suppose most people do the most intense work at college, but I was very fortunate to have a top drawer trombone teacher before college who’d sorted out many of the fundamental technical things in my playing – production, sound, embouchure etc. So at Guildhall my teachers Peter Gane and Eric Crees could focus more on my musical side. But of course there was technique to improve too – there always is!

What sort of freelance playing led up to winning the Philharmonia position?

Even when I was doing the trial I didn’t think in my wildest dreams that I’d get a job there since I didn’t have a lot of orchestral experience. I’d been doing a lot of depping in West End Shows, a bit of quintet stuff, some teaching and my most regular higher-level orchestral experience was with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra who were good to me and booked me quite a lot.

What was it like when you first joined the Philharmonia?

It was quite scary, to be honest. It’s what you spend your whole life aiming and practising

beth with us tonight?”“Yes, that’s fine,” I replied. “Oh, and by the way it’s valve trombone…!”

So I did the gig and they asked if I would like to “pop my head over the fence”, do a few dates with them, and see what it was like.

You know the Philharmonia is ridiculously busy, doing over 70 dates a year outside London, so there is a lot of driving to Leicester, Bedford, Birmingham, Cardiff, Basingstoke, Plymouth, Truro… you name it. Compare that with the LPO’s tiny handful of dates outside London. Also, the Philharmonia would often work in tied blocks of roughly two weeks, so if you want a day off, you find yourself having to take off the whole two weeks. The LPO blocks are more like 3 or 4 days, so it’s more flexible. The LPO of course goes to Glyndebourne in the summer, but it’s possible to make it a bit of a holiday really, and plenty of the orchestra live in that direction anyway. So I’m looking forward to staying down for a week or two each time, taking my family down there and making a thing of it.

for really, so when you stop to think about it it’s “oh crikey, this is the Philharmonia!” But of course, I tried to concentrate on the fact that they wouldn’t have asked me if they didn’t think I was up to it.

In a way it was comforting that it was Byron Fulcher on 1st trombone. If it had been someone who was already at the top of the profession while I was still at college, I think I’d have been petrified. For example if Dudley Bright had still been there, then I’d have been totally awestruck. And Byron of course is an absolutely terrific 1st trombone player, but I had the benefit of being at college with him and whilst I had immense respect for him and his playing, I didn’t put him on a pedestal in the same way.

And what attracted you to move to the LPO? There doesn’t seem much difference on the face of it – both are 2nd trombone jobs.

I didn’t apply for the position originally because that’s how it seemed. The idea started when I went in to play with them last minute last summer. The LPO were at Glyndebourne and Andy Fawbert had unfortunately fallen off his bike. I got the call last minute: “Can you come to play MacThe Trombonist | Summer 2008 | 19

REVIEWS THE NOBLE TROMBONE CHRIS THOMAS TROMBONE, HARVEY DAVIES PIANO, CORY BAND, ROBERT CHILDS DOYEN DOY CD228 The title track, The Noble Trombone, makes for a very sonorous and controlled performance from Chris with some highly polished playing from the Cory Band.

Brian Bowen’s The Noble Trombone ensures that the trombone is indeed a noble sounding instrument, and following in the footsteps of Dudley Bright and the New York Staff Band’s first compact disc, Principles, on which Dudley performed that piece, this continues the traditional concept of a ‘noble tone’!

Milhaud was such a prolific composer that I am surprised that there are not more trombone works by him. The Concertino d’Hiver is reduced by the composer from the original for trombone and string orchestra.

It makes for physical challenges upon the pianist and Harvey Davies does a superb job.

Aagard-Nilsen’s Mosquito is a special piece of contemporary sounds from the soloist coupled with very accurate articulation and muted sounds. Typical glissando effects abound, challenging mute, tongue and hand movements from Chris along with equally deft band accompaniment.

Sonatine by Castérède is well known by trombonists mainly because of its use as an exam work. As past examinees will know, this needs a good control across the range, but also very careful control of intonation with the quick phrases in the first movement linking up with the accompaniment.

The soloist has to maintain very short notes so as not to create too many clashes!

This was very well achieved, but Chris does not lose the timbre that is required to keep a strong line throughout the tricky pitch changes.

Heaton’s Sweet Hour of Prayer shows off the silky sound of both the soloist and band with thoughtful control of the quiet nature required.

Concertino for Trombone by Larsson is really beautifully played on this CD, especially the second movement which is really well-paced. A lesson for any budding Grade 8 student or even levels above that. The articulation is excellent in the last movement with an ending of fire between the trombone and piano!

Angels Guard Thee is such a well-known melody, but the composer Benjamin Godard not so. In 1878 Godard was the cowinner of a musical competition instituted by the municipality of Paris. From that time until his death Godard composed a large number of works, including four operas.

The final track is Steadman-Allen’s Immortal Theme. It is a difficult work, well executed here. It is one of his 200 brass band

works published by The Salvation Army. I have a personal affinity with SA pieces and really think that Steadman-Allen is one of the movements finest composers making a fantastic contribution to the trombone repertoire with this solo.

Chris Thomas, Cory Band and pianist Harvey Davies make this CD an enthusiast’s ‘must have’ for their collection. Great playing coupled with a real mix of composers and good brass repertoire.

David Whitson

order that the book is accessible to players of all ages and abilities, the language used is deliberately simple, though it isn’t patronising and these apparently easy melodies are a real challenge for any player to perform well.

Tone-Ups opens a series which will be graded in difficulty, and for my taste I would like to see a little more discussion of good breathing technique in future installments, as this is so vital to produce the kind of sound Adrian makes!

Christian Jones COMPLETE BRASS MUSIC OF MALCOLM ARNOLD FINE ARTS BRASS, NIMBUS NI 5804

DR DOWNING’S BASS TROMBONE TONE-UPS £10.95 DRDOWNINGMUSIC.COM I have had the pleasure of hearing Adrian Morris performing live on two occasions: first, his superb solo on the opening night of The Valve brass shop in 1999 and then with the Halle a year later playing in Nielsen’s Flute Concerto for the BBC Young Musician’s final. I have often wondered how such an accomplished musician approaches trombone playing and Dr Downing’s Bass Trombone Tone-Ups provides a valuable insight for us all.

The idea of this book is to provide trombonists with famous, slow melodies to practise and perform, instead of simply playing long notes, to acquire a better sound. The unaccompanied tunes have been transcribed into the comfortable bass trombone register and do not stray much outside the stave; Tone-Ups is consequently equally suited to tenor trombonists with an F attachment who want to improve their low register!

The melodies featured range from Deep River, the African-American Spiritual that ends A Child of our Time, to The Swan from The Carnival of the Animals. Such wonderful music is a joy to perform and should make anyone want to practise! Opposite each tune, Adrian has penned a couple of paragraphs to explain the background of the music and offer advice as to how to approach its performance from both a technical and musical point of view. In

This disc – recorded only months before Arnold’s death in 2006 – is a project for which FAB, Nimbus Records and the Malcolm Arnold Society are to be warmly thanked. By compiling the entire output of his chamber music (plus some interesting transcriptions by Simon Lenton), performers and audiences alike can take stock of some of the finest repertoire written for brass.

The music is idiomatic, individual and immediate. Brass Quintet No. 1 doesn’t wear on repeated listening and the dark, troubled Symphony for Brass (written nearly twenty years later) is an achievement to be ranked alongside Arnold’s finest symphonic output. The problematic Quintet No. 2 is worthy of attention for the Lento, although the outer movements are the product of a man recovering from a traumatic breakdown, which the composer described as like “having been through hell”. Despite Richard Sandland’s advocacy in the (excellent) booklet notes, sometimes even great composers can run out of steam.

The performances on this disc, as you might expect, are generally of an exceptional standard. The solo Fantasies are all admirable, but special mention must go to Katy Jones (née Pryce) for the Fantasy for Trombone. The sheer beauty of sound, technical finesse and musical insight makes this prescribed listening. Jones sounds so effortless on the instrument that I briefly considered practicing again.

Mild quibbles are the distant recorded sound of horn and tuba in the quintets and larger ensemble pieces, plus the occasional tendency for the trumpet playing to cross that finest of lines from exciting to, well, razzy.

Knowing the difficulty of the repertoire and the superhuman effort required to counter the paucity of resources available for making quality discs like this, however, it would be churlish not to give FAB five out of five for a brilliant idea, executed in style.

Tom Hammond The Trombonist | Summer 2008 | 21

GIOVANNI BATTISTA GRILLO – COMPLETE INSTRUMENTAL WORKS & SELECTED MOTETS HIS MAJESTYS SAGBUTTS & CORNETTS SFZMUSIC.CO.UK Giovanni Battista Grillo was a composer active in Venice during the early seventeenth century. He succeeded Giovanni Gabrieli to the post of organist at the Scuola Grande di San Rocco. As a composer his work has been overshadowed by that of the more illustrious Gabrieli.

The latest CD from His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts is the complete instrumental works and selected motets of this somewhat neglected composer. HMSC are joined on the CD by solo singers and an organist to offer a variety of contrasting styles.

The double choir eight part instrumental canzonas contrast with the subtle lyricism of the small scale vocal writing in Anima mea and Quam pulchri sunt gressus tui. Further contrast is provided by the concertato style of Sonata prima and Misericordias Domini, as well as the organ solos in Canzon quintadecima and Canzon sestadecima.

This contrast in styles is exemplified in two of my favourite tracks on the CD. The simplicity of Canzon in ecco, where a four part choir is echoed at the cadence points by a second choir, contrasts with the sophistication of Canzon pian e forte which brings to mind Gabrieli’s famous sonata of the same name, although Grillo’s version is much livelier.

As with all of HSMC’s numerous recording projects, the attention to detail and authenticity is exemplary. Of particular interest to trombonists will be the distinguished and sonorous sackbut playing of Adam Woolf, Abigail Newman, Stephen Saunders, Philip Dale and Andrew Harwood White. The playing and singing is excellent in every respect and a special mention should go to the virtuoso cornett playing during the concertato passages.

The attention to detail carries through to the CD booklet. Excellent graphics and photography complement the high standard of playing. I enjoyed this CD immensely and can thoroughly recommend it.

Mike Hext

22 | Summer 2008 | The Trombonist

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HOULDING HIS OWN CHRIS HOULDING AND IAN BUCKLE Chris Houlding’s first solo album is long overdue, and I warmly recommend it to all BTS members as a superb example of British trombone playing at its best. Chris’s years as professor at the Royal Northern and Chethams have made him one of the UK’s most respected and sought after teachers in the UK, and in the past few years his reputation has grown internationally, which makes it even more vital to hear such an authoritative voice as an interpreter.

An additional point of interest – and I don’t know whether Chris planned this or it’s just a coincidence – is a through line connecting teachers and composers at the Guildhall: Denis Wick taught both Chris Houlding and Eric Crees at Guildhall, and three of the composers represented on the CD – Simon Wills (Lucifer), Eric Crees Flourish), and myself (Fanfare), are all currently professors at the Guildhall! For my colleagues and I this is certainly a happy coincidence, because Chris gives masterful interpretations of our pieces, but for me this is also particularly fitting because I have always regarding Chris, perhaps more than any other leading British player, as the natural torch bearer of Denis Wick’s enormous influence on our national style of playing.

Chris’s interpretations of the classics Elegy for Mippy II by Bernstein, the Sulek Sonata ‘Vox Gabrieli’, and Hindemith’s Sonata are essential listening for any aspiring trombonist and here’s your chance to hear Hindemith’s notoriously difficult and thickly scored piano part played with a wonderful lightness of touch and sensitivity by Ian Buckle; the 2nd movement is a particular joy. For me a particular highlight of the CD is the demanding virtuoso solo work Exito Quod Evenit by the Northumbrian composer Peter Swan. This four movement piece pushes conventional playing to the limit without crossing into extended techniques, and succeeds in being both highly expressive and mysteriously dramatic – it deserves to become a staple of the solo repertoire.

John Kenny

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