From a historical to a modern trombone: Researching the historical sound of Ferdinand David’s Concertino for trombone

Abstract

This work researches how Ferdinand David’s Concertino for trombone would have sounded on a historical Romantic trombone at the time it was written, as well as carrying over this way of playing to a modern instrument in order to achieve a more historically informed performance. Not only is this useful for interpreting David, knowing the way a Romantic trombone sounds and plays is very helpful for interpreting all German Romantic music, as this type of trombone was used throughout the whole Romantic period. Achieving this interpretation was done through practicing key passages on the historical instrument and also playing them together with a 19th-century Graf pianoforte to find the right sound and way of playing. After that a comparison was made between the key passages on the historical and modern trombone. Based on this comparison, a version as close as possible to how the historical trombone sounds was practiced on the modern instrument, reaching a more historically informed interpretation.