An evening of the trombone and tuba

The trombone is an instrument with a long history: the earliest surviving depictions are in late 15^th century frescoes. With the passing of the centuries, the basic construction of the instrument has remained almost unchanged. During the late Renaissance and the baroque period the trombone held a special position in music. The gliding tube – the coulisse – made it possible to cover the entire sound range (which was not possible for other brass instruments of the time). In church music trombones doubled as vocal roles and in secular genres they effectively and vividly sounded in ensemble consorts, particularly when combined with other instruments.
The expressive abilities of the trombone drew the attention of composers: already in 1607 in his opera Orfeo Claudio Monteverdi dictated the use of five trombones, creating the gloomy atmosphere of an underground realm. In the 18^th century trombones were used in oratorios by Handel and operas by Gluck and Mozart, and from the time of Beethoven they featured in the symphony orchestra. A new view of the role of the trombone in the orchestra may be observed in the scores of the Romantic composers. In the scores of Hector Berlioz, Richard Wagner and Gustav Mahler the trombones are afforded an incredibly broad range of moods – from the light and festive to soft and lyrical or dark and evil. In the 20^th century the arsenal of technical methods for playing the trombone was enriched through jazz, in which the trombone became one of the main instruments, both as a solo and in big bands.

The tuba is the deepest sounding instrument in the brass section. It is a relatively recent addition to the orchestra; the design of the tuba as we know it today emerged as late as the second quarter of the 19^th century. Wagner was one of the first to use it in his opera Der Fliegende Holländer. In the orchestra the tuba, as a general rule, forms a quartet with a group of three trombones, providing a reliable bass sound for the whole ensemble.
The concert repertoire for the tuba is relatively sparse, although in those rare cases where it appears as a solo instrument its powerful and intense timbre creates a memorable effect.