Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), was a German composer of the Romantic era who used trombones sparingly but strategically.
Brahms’s Tragic Overture in D minor (1880) is scored for a large orchestra including three trombones and tuba, it uses the low brass sparingly but effectively with a chorale-like permutation of the main idea.
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), was a German composer of the Romantic era who used trombones sparingly but strategically.
In Brahms’s Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98 (1885), the three trombones appear exclusively in the fourth movement, where Brahms reserves them for the opening ominous chorale theme (adapted from Bach - derived from a bass line in Cantata BWV 150).
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), was a German composer of the Romantic era who used trombones sparingly but strategically.
Brahms’s Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90, was completed in 1883. Scored for three trombones, they are used only in the outer movements (tacet in the third), adding weight and warmth to the symphony’s climaxes and low sonorities.
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), was a German composer of the Romantic era who used trombones sparingly but strategically.
Brahms completed Symphony No. 2 in 1877. Brahms uses the trombone section with great care in this symphony in both quiet passages and in the dramatic final moments, where the trombones have a magnificent exposed D major chord all to themselves in the final five measures.
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), was a German composer of the Romantic era who used trombones sparingly but strategically.
Brahms completed Symphony No. 1 in 1876. The trombone section is used sparingly in Symphony No. 1 but does have quiet but exposed passages in the last two movements.
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), was a German composer of the Romantic era who used trombones sparingly but strategically.
Brahms completed Ein deutsches requiem (A German Requiem) by 1868. Brahms personalized the text rather than follow the traditional Requiem text. The writing for the trombones in this work is restrained, employed only when it really matters - solidly structural and not at all showy.
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), was a German composer of the Romantic era who used trombones sparingly but strategically.
Academic Festival Overture (1880) is a celebratory collage of German student songs. Trombones are silent for much of this composition but when they do make an appearance late in the work, they add ceremonial authority.
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was a German composer of the Classical and Romantic periods.
Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 ‘Choral’, is one of the three symphonies by Beethoven to include trombones (see also the 5th and 6th symphonies).
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was a German composer of the Classical and Romantic periods.
Beethoven Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 is notable (particularly for trombone players) for being the first symphony to include trombones.
J.S. Bach (1685-1750) was a German composer of the Baroque era.
Bach’s Cantata No. 121 is a rare instance of his use of trombones. Trombones qre used sparingly, limited to the chorale at the end of the cantata. The alto trombone doubles violin II, the tenor trombone doubles the violas and the bass trombone doubles the continuo.
