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The Trombone Section

At the back row of the orchestra, usually three in number, sit the trombone section, but why three and how long have they been there? Tom Service considers their history and purpose.

At the back row of the orchestra, usually three in number, sit the trombone section, but why three and how long have they been there? Tom Service reflects on their history and the ways in which they are employed.
He looks back on over five hundred years of the story of the trombone and offers insight into the meaning of things such as 'Tower Music' and 'Stadtpfeifer'. Tom looks at the role of the trombone in religious music and in music for the theatre, and at its comparitively late arrival within the symphony orchestra, back in the final decades of the 18th Century. And there's a chance to enjoy some of the distinctive qualities that trombones offer to the orchestral music of Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms, Shostakovich and Berg. This week's guest expert is the principal trombonist of the Halle Orchestra, Katy Jones.

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29 minutes

Last on

Fri 1 Dec 2023 16:30
±«Óătv Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Robert Schumann

    Symphony no. 3 in E flat major (Rhenish) IV Movement; Grave

    Conductor: Robin Ticciati. Performer: Scottish Chamber Orchestra.
    • Linn.
    • CKD450.

  • Heinrich SchĂĽtz

    Magnificant

    Performer: Michel Laplénie. Ensemble: Ensemble La Fenice.
    • Decca France.
    • 28947223023.

  • Heinrich SchĂĽtz

    Motet 'Fili mi Absolom'

    Performer: Edda Breit. Performer: Jorg Sondermann. Performer: Stephan MacLeod. Performer: Triton Trombone Quartet.
    • BIS.
    • BISCD644.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Requiem in D minor, Tuba Mirum

    Performer: Marius Rintzler. Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra. Conductor: Rafael FrĂĽhbeck de Burgos.
    • EMI.
    • 387933.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Drei Equali for four trombones - No 3 Poco Adagio

    Performer: London Gabrieli Brass Ensemble.
    • HYPERION.
    • CDA66470.

  • Paulus De Broda

    Der Pfauen Schwantz

    Performer: Piffaro.
    • DORIAN RECORDS.
    • CD90292.

  • Johann Christoph Pezel

    Hora decima musicorum Lipsiensium - Intrada e Sonata a5

    Conductor: Francoise Lasserre. Performer: Ensemble Le Fenice.
    • Pierre Verany.
    • PV797111.

  • Robert Schumann

    Symphony no. 3 in E flat major, (Rhenish) IV Movement; Grave

    Conductor: Robin Ticciati. Performer: Scottish Chamber Orchestra.
    • Linn.
    • CKD450.

  • Paul Hindemith

    Sonata for trombone and piano, IV Movement; Allegro moderato maestoso

    Performer: Christian Lindberg. Performer: Roland Pöntinen.
    • BIS.
    • CD-258.

  • Eric Ewazen

    Trio for tenor trombone, bass trombone and piano - I. Andante Teneramente

    Performer: Dede Decker. Performer: Eric Ewazen. Performer: Yossi Itskovich.
    • TROY.
    • 1599.

  • Michael Haydn

    Concerto in D minor for alto trombone and orchestra, I Movement; Adantino

    Performer: Armin Rodin. Performer: Philippe Entremont. Performer: Vienna Chamber Orchestra.
    • WARNER CLASSICS.
    • 825646179367.

  • Ralph Vaughan Williams

    Job - A masque for dancing, Satan's Dance of Triumph

    Conductor: Mark Elder. Performer: Hallé.
    • HALLE CONCERTS SOCIETY.
    • CDHLL7556-3.

  • Alban Berg

    3 Pieces Op.6 for orchestra, No.1 Praeludium

    Conductor: Andrew Davis. Performer: ±«Óătv Symphony Orchestra.
    • Chandos.
    • CHSA5270.

  • Joachim Nicolas Eggert

    Symphony No 3 in Eâ™­

    Conductor: Gérard Korsten. Performer: Gävle symfoniorkester.
    • NAXOS.
    • 8.572457.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Symphony no. 5 in C minor, I Movement; Allegro con brio

    Conductor: Josef Krips. Performer: London Symphony Orchestra.
    • EVEREST RECORDS.
    • 191018024154.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Symphony no. 5 in C minor, III Movement; Allegro

    Conductor: Josef Krips. Performer: London Symphony Orchestra.
    • EVEREST RECORDS.
    • 191018024154.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Symphony no. 5 in C minor, IV Movement; Allegro

    Conductor: Josef Krips. Performer: London Symphony Orchestra.
    • EVEREST RECORDS.
    • 191018024154.

  • Johannes Brahms

    Symphony no. 4 in E minor, IV Movement; Allegro energico e passionato

    Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle. Performer: Berliner Philharmoniker.
    • EMI.
    • 509992672542-0.

  • Claudio Monteverdi

    Orfeo Act 3 Scene 9 'Chorus of Infernal Spirits'

    Conductor: Emmanuelle Haïm. Performer: Le Concert d’Astrée. Performer: Les Sacquebouttiers.
    • WARNER CLASSICS.
    • 07243545642253.

  • Christoph Willibald Gluck

    Orfeo ed Euridice, Act 2 sc.1; Deh placatevi con me

    Singer: Philippe Jaroussky. Ensemble: I Barocchisti. Conductor: Diego Fasolis.
    • WARNER CLASSICS.
    • 190295707934.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Don Giovanni, Act 2, sc.15; Don Giovanni, a cenar teco

    Conductor: René Jacobs. Performer: Allesandro Guerzoni. Performer: Freiburg Baroque Orchestra. Performer: RIAS Chamber Choir.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
    • FRZ140644160.

  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Symphony no. 6 in B minor (Pathetique), IV Movement; Finale

    Performer: St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Yevgeny Mravinsky.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • 4775911.

  • Dmitry Shostakovich

    Symphony no. 8 in C minor, III Movement; Allegro non troppo

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: André Previn.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • 28948386369.

  • Malcolm Arnold

    Tam O'Shanter

    Conductor: Alexander Gibson. Performer: Royal Scottish National Orchestra.
    • CHANDOS.
    • CHAN10412.

  • Gustav Mahler

    Symphony no. 2 in C minor (Resurrection), V Movement; Im Tempo des Scherzo

    Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle. Performer: City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
    • WARNER CLASSICS.
    • 94634580250.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 26 Nov 2023 17:00
    ±«Óătv Radio 3
  • Fri 1 Dec 2023 16:30
    ±«Óătv Radio 3

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