Editing Trombone (section)

=== Origin ===
{{See also|Sackbut}}
[[File:MIMEd 6111. Tenor sackbut in A, Monk model.png|thumb|Renaissance era tenor sackbut (replica by Frank Tomes, London)]]
The sackbut appeared in the 15th century and was used extensively across Europe, declining in most places by the mid to late 17th century. It was used in outdoor events, in concert, and in liturgical settings. Its principal role was as the [[Countertenor|contratenor]] part in a dance band.{{sfn|Herbert|2006|p=59}} It was also used, along with [[shawm]]s, in bands sponsored by towns and courts. Trumpeters and trombonists were employed in German city-states to stand watch [[tower music|in the city towers]] and herald the arrival of important people to the city, an activity that signified wealth and strength in 16th-century German cities. These heralding trombonists were often viewed separately from the more skilled trombonists who played in groups such as the [[alta capella]] wind ensembles and the first orchestral ensembles, which performed in religious settings such as [[St Mark's Basilica]] in [[Venice]] in the early 17th century.<ref name="Green">{{cite journal |last1=Green |first1=Helen |title=Defining the City 'Trumpeter': German Civic Identity and the Employment of Brass Instruments, c. 1500 |journal=Journal of the Royal Musical Association |date=2011|doi=10.1080/02690403.2011.562714 |s2cid=144303968 }}</ref> The 17th-century trombone had slightly smaller dimensions than a modern trombone, with a bell that was more conical and less flared. Modern [[Historically informed performance|period performers]] use the term "sackbut" to distinguish this earlier version of the trombone from the modern instrument.

Composers who wrote for trombone during this period include [[Claudio Monteverdi]], [[Heinrich Schütz]], [[Giovanni Gabrieli]] and his uncle [[Andrea Gabrieli]]. The trombone doubled voice parts in sacred works, but there are also solo pieces written for trombone in the early 17th century.

When the sackbut returned to common use in England in the 18th century, Italian music was so influential that the instrument became known by its Italian name, "trombone".{{sfn|Guion|1988|loc=p. 3: "Many modern musicians prefer to use the word 'sackbut' when referring to the Baroque trombone. All other instruments in constant use since the Baroque have changed more...In response to the number of times people including musicians, have asked if the sackbut is something like a trombone, I have stopped using this misleading word."}} Its name remained constant in Italy ([[:it:trombone|''trombone'']]) and in Germany ([[:de:Posaune|''Posaune'']]).

During the later Baroque period, [[Johann Sebastian Bach]] and [[George Frideric Handel]] used trombones on a few occasions. Bach called for a ''tromba di tirarsi'', which may have been a form of the closely related [[slide trumpet]], to double the [[cantus firmus]] in some liturgical [[cantata]]s.<ref>{{cite thesis |last1=Lewis |first1=Horace Monroe |date=May 1975 |title=The Problem of the ''Tromba Da Tirarsi'' in the Works of J. S. Bach. |type=PhD dissertation |publisher=Louisiana State University |doi=10.31390/gradschool_disstheses.2799 |s2cid=249667805 |url=https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/2799 |access-date=18 June 2020|doi-access=free }}</ref> He also employed a choir of four trombones to double the chorus in three of his cantatas ([[Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein, BWV 2|BWV 2]], [[Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis, BWV 21|BWV 21]] and [[Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir, BWV 38|BWV 38]]),<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Weiner |first1=Harold |title=The Soprano Trombone Hoax |journal=Historical Brass Society Journal |url=https://www.historicbrass.org/edocman/hbj-2001/HBSJ_2001_JL01_008_Weiner.pdf |access-date=18 June 2020 |archive-date=27 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211127232731/https://historicbrass.org/edocman/hbj-2001/HBSJ_2001_JL01_008_Weiner.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> and used three trombones and a cornett in the cantata [[Es ist nichts Gesundes an meinem Leibe, BWV 25|BWV 25]]. Handel used it in ''[[Samson (oratorio)|Samson]]'', in ''[[Israel in Egypt (oratorio)|Israel in Egypt]]'', and in the ''Death March'' from ''[[Saul (Handel)|Saul]]''. All were examples of an [[oratorio]] style popular during the early 18th century. Score notations are rare because only a few professional "Stadtpfeiffer" or [[alta cappella]] musicians were available. Handel, for instance, had to import trombones to England from a Royal court in Hanover, Germany, to perform one of his larger compositions.{{Citation needed|date=August 2016}} Because of the relative scarcity of trombones, their solo parts were generally interchangeable with other instruments.