Contrabass trombone

The contrabass trombone is the lowest-pitched instrument in the trombone family of brass instruments. It produces very deep and rich sounds that add depth to musical pieces. While modern contrabass trombones are usually in the key of 12-foot (12′) F and have a single slide, the first practical versions appeared in the mid-19th century. These early instruments were built in 18′ B♭, an octave lower than the tenor trombone, and featured a double slide.

One famous opera composer, Richard Wagner, included the contrabass trombone in his famous work Der Ring des Nibelungen during the 1870s. Since then, this instrument has been used from time to time in large orchestral music, though it has not become a regular member of modern orchestras.

In more recent times, especially since the late 20th century, the double-slide contrabass trombone has been replaced by a simpler version called the bass-contrabass in F. This new version is a fourth lower than both the B♭ tenor and bass trombones. In the 21st century, the contrabass trombone has become more popular again, especially for film and video game soundtracks. Its deep tones help create exciting and dramatic effects in these types of music.

History

For broader coverage of this topic, see Trombone § History.

The contrabass trombone first appeared in Renaissance music in the late 16th century. Back then, bass trombones came in different sizes, either in E or D, which were a fourth or fifth lower than the common tenor trombone in A. A German music scholar named Michael Praetorius wrote about large trombones called octav-posaune, one type being built in A an octave below the tenor trombone. These big instruments were rarely used because they were hard to play.

A big step came in 1816 when a German writer and composer named Gottfried Weber suggested using a double slide to make playing the bass trombone easier. This idea was used in making contrabass trombones in F and E♭. Soon after, makers created contrabass trombones in very low pitches, and the first double-slide contrabass trombones were made in the 1830s.

First use in orchestral music

In France, composer Georges Bizet used the contrabass trombone in his opera La Coutes du Roi de Thulé in 1869. Soon after, Wagner used it in his Der Ring des Nibelungen, a set of four operas. For the first performance in 1876, Wagner asked for a contrabass trombone in B♭ with a double slide. This instrument could play very low notes.

In Britain during the 1860s, a company named Boosey & Co. made a few contrabass trombones in C for playing Wagner's operas. At the turn of the 20th century, an American company named C. G. Conn also made some B♭ contrabass trombones.

19th-century Italy

See also: Cimbasso

For much of the 19th century, Italian composers used an instrument called the cimbasso as the low voice in the brass section. In 1872, before a performance of Aida, composer Giuseppe Verdi preferred a trombone basso over the usual tuba. In 1887, an instrument maker in Milan created the trombone basso Verdi, a contrabass trombone in B♭ with valves. This instrument became common in Italian orchestras and was used by Verdi and other composers.

Later innovations

In 1921, a Berlin trombonist named Ernst Dehmel created a new design for the contrabass trombone by adding two valves to a bass trombone in F. These valves helped play notes that were hard to reach with just the slide. In 1959, another German expert improved the valves, making the instrument easier to use. These designs led to the modern contrabass trombone in F with valves.

Contemporary use

Since the 1990s, the contrabass trombone in F with valves has mostly replaced the older double-slide B♭ version. It is now often used in big orchestral works, as well as in film and video game soundtracks.

Construction

For broader coverage of this topic, see Trombone § Construction.

See also: Bass trombone § Dependent and independent valves

Instruments in F have two special buttons called valves that change the pitch. In Europe, these buttons usually lower the pitch to certain notes, while in America, they use different notes. Some makers let you switch between these two styles.

The bell of a contrabass trombone is big, about the size of a bass trombone. The tube inside, called the bore, is wide, and some models have a special slide design. Some cheaper models are made in China and sold by different companies.

Double slide instruments

Some contrabass trombones made in Germany have a double slide. This means they have two slides working together, which makes the instrument heavier but also changes how the air flows. Older versions of these instruments from the 1800s and early 1900s were made by several companies and had fewer slide positions.

Range

The modern F contrabass trombone can play notes from about E₁ to D₄. It can also make very low sounds down to C₁ with its slide. In theory, it could go even lower, but it is very hard to play those notes on these kinds of instruments because of how they work.

The older B♭ contrabass trombone, used by composer Richard Wagner, could play down to E₁. With a valve, it could reach C₁, but some of these older instruments couldn’t always play that note well. Today’s F contrabass trombone can play all the low notes that the older ones could.

Repertoire

After Richard Wagner introduced the B♭ contrabass trombone for his Ring cycle, other composers began using it. In Germany, Richard Strauss included it in his opera Elektra in 1908, and Arnold Schoenberg used it in Gurre-Lieder in 1913. French composer Vincent D'Indy was inspired by Wagner's work and used the instrument in several of his later pieces, including his last two symphonies. Many other famous composers like Gustav Holst, Havergal Brian, Alban Berg, Anton Webern, Edgard Varèse, György Ligeti, and Pierre Boulez also called for the contrabass trombone in their works. However, it never became a regular member of the opera or symphony orchestra.

Starting in the late 1980s, the contrabass trombone started appearing more often in modern orchestral music by composers such as Harrison Birtwistle, Sofia Gubaidulina, Hans Werner Henze, and Manfred Trojahn. It has also become popular in film and video game soundtracks, thanks to musicians from Los Angeles like Phil Teele, Bill Reichenbach, and Bob Sanders. The contrabass trombone was first used in film music in Jerry Goldsmith’s score for Planet of the Apes in 1968, played by Phil Teele. With the rise of loud, low-brass sounds in movies and games such as the remake of Planet of the Apes in 2001, Call of Duty in 2003, and Inception in 2010, the contrabass trombone is now commonly used. Jazz bands sometimes use it to play bass trombone parts, and American jazz composer Maria Schneider has featured it in albums like Sky Blue from 2007 and The Thompson Fields from 2017.

Performance

The double-slide contrabass trombone in B♭ can be hard to play because it is heavy and needs a lot of air to sound good. The F contrabass trombone is easier to move around and can reach more notes because it has valves.

Contrabass trombones are usually used in orchestras as an extra player along with the three regular trombones. In the past, these parts were sometimes played using a tuba or bass trombone, but today, professionals use only contrabass trombones for these pieces. Many opera houses and some symphony orchestras ask their bass trombone players to also be able to play the contrabass trombone.