Review

Rolf Handrow
Berühmte Posaunen-Virtuosen: Friedrich August Belcke, Carl Traugott Queisser, Albert Robert Müller, Joseph Serafin Alschausky & Posaunisten des Gewandhausorchesters Leipzig: [Famous Trombone Virtuosos: Friedrich August Belcke, Carl Traugott Queisser, Albert Robert Müller, Joseph Serafin Alschausky & Trombonists of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra]

Reichenberg, , Germany
Publisher: Crescendo-Brass GbR
Date of Publication: 2014
Language: German

Hardcover book with compact disc. 126 pages. ISBN 978-3-00-045290-I. Printed in German. €22.00

Primary Genre: Study Material - book

Berühmte Posaunen-Virtuosen is a thoughtfully prepared volume by Rolf Handrow, principal bass trombonist with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, which introduces the reader to four virtuoso trombonists of that orchestra who were key figures in the development of trombone repertoire, performance, and pedagogy in Germany during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The volume not only shines light on a neglected area in the history of trombone performance, but also presents new iconographic and documentary information that gives evidence of the trombone as an active solo instrument of this period and provides a detailed narrative for four active and important musicians. This is a valuable work that will serve both scholars and performers of the international trombone community; Handrow’s insights on his subjects are well researched and, on the whole, carefully considered.
 
The text is organized into four chapters, one for each performer. Handrow presents compelling biographies, organized into smaller segments that address the trombonists’ formative years, education, professional orchestral associations, solo performances and career, contributions to pedagogy, contributions to instrument development and design, compositions, and arrangements. Chapter four is, not surprisingly, longer than the other three chapters, because of the greater renown of Joseph Serafin Alschausky, but also because of his closer proximity to the present day and, as a result, the greater quantity of available archival materials.
 
Handrow draws on a significant variety of iconographic and documentary evidence, including photographic reproductions of musical manuscripts, concert posters and advertisements, letters, postcards, photographs, portraits, purchase receipts, concert reviews, archival documents, patent drawings, extant instruments, and phonograph records. The documentary evidence is itself drawn from a variety of sources, including newspaper articles, library and personal archives, and contemporaneous writings. Included with the book is a historical CD recording performed by Alschausky, accompanied by the Blüthner Orchestra. The Anhang [appendix] includes several different appendixes, notably a list of works for trombone published by Leipzig publishers, a list of trombonists active in the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, and a list of trombonists who studied at the Leipziger Musikhochschule [Leipzig Conservatory of Music].
 
Tantalizing for the reader are discussions and press reviews surrounding the premier performance of Ferdinand David’s Concertino pour la trombone basse performed by Carl Traugott Queisser and conducted by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy in 1837.[1] Additional performances of this work by Queisser, Friedrich August Belcke, Robert Müller, and Alschausky also feature prominently in the book. Its initial and enduring popularity in the nineteenth century is relevant when one considers that most, if not all, orchestral auditions in Germany today require its performance. In addition, the many historical concert programs announcing the diverse and creative programming of the four virtuosos will whet the appetite of any arranger and program planner of today. The two distinct patent designs for the combined tenor/alto trombone (!), begging to be reconstructed, are a sign of the interest in and growing importance of the trombone as a solo instrument.
 
Handrow’s work provides a context for the life of the German professional musician and trombonist in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries—a context that holds relevant insights and inspiration for today’s musicians. The great versatility of the nineteenth-century musician is apparent, perhaps nodding in a direction where trombonists of our present and future will find inspiration in an increasingly diversified and less-specialized music market. Expertise on multiple instruments was common to the four subjects. Queisser received instruction on almost all string and wind instruments and spent more time in the Gewandhaus Orchestra performing on viola than trombone, usually reserving the trombone for his work as a soloist. All four men were active as composers and/or arrangers—Belcke, in particular, composed numerous works for a great variety of instruments as well as the trombone. Handrow includes a list of works for each where appropriate—a valuable resource for scholars and interested performers. Although all were also active as pedagogues, Müller was of particular importance for beginning a long tradition that continues today through his founding of the first trombone class at the Leipzig Musikhochschule.[2] In addition, he published pedagogical method and etude books that are still in use. And Alschausky’s abilities as a virtuosic performer, self-promoter, and marketer can certainly serve as a source of inspiration for the performer of today.
 
The accompanying historical CD recording, containing two tracks, features Alschausky as trombone soloist with the Blüthner orchestra. Founded in 1908 and based in Berlin, the orchestra regularly featured young artists and recorded with the Anker record company. The recording was advertised in a 1912–13 publication, suggesting a recording date around the same time. The first work, Italienischer Walzer [Italian Waltz] composed by Alschausky himself, alternates sections of triple and duple meter. Following the orchestral introduction, a simple lyrical melody in the trombone becomes increasingly virtuosic, leading to a dazzling cadenza and a brief, but spectacular, tutti finish. Alschausky’s overt lyricism and impressive technical facility are immediately apparent despite the limitations imposed by the still-fledgling recording techniques of the early twentieth century. The second work, Gute Nacht, du mein herziges Kind [Good night, my sweet child], a lullaby composed by Franz Abt, features a dramatic interpretation of a simple yet soaring melody. Alschausky nimbly alters the tone and timbre of the instrument to suit the expressive aims of the musical passage. The calmer and more lyrical character of this second work provides an appropriate contrast to his showpiece. The two tracks provide invaluable insight into the performance practice of popular orchestral music at this time and document both the pyrotechnics and the lyricism of a virtuoso trombonist.
 
This review would not be complete without a few mild criticisms. It should be noted that diligent editorial assistance from the publisher could have avoided most of the issues discussed below.
 
Occasional sweeping generalizations not supported by evidence serve to create a version of history that Handrow might like to be true, but that cannot be substantiated. For example, he states repeatedly that “the trombone finally stands on equal footing with all of the other more common solo instruments” and posits that the thirty performances that feature the trombone as a soloist documented between 1815 and 1876—less than one performance per year—are enough to identify this period as a “new trombone epoch.”[3] Given the thousands of performances documented for more common solo instruments, and the great number of other major cultural centers of Europe that did not employ trombone soloists, it is difficult to believe that the comparatively small number of trombone performances in Leipzig can be considered enough to put the trombone on an equal footing with the piano or violin, as much as all trombonists, including this reviewer, might like this to be the case. 
 
Moreover, Handrow does not consider events and music prior to 1800. For example, he asserts that “Belcke counts as the first German trombone virtuoso,” that “he was the first who travelled as a soloist—a new thing for a trombonist,” and that a performance by Belcke “marks the beginning of a new era where the trombone takes its place on the concert stage as a solo instrument.”[4] However, there is no consideration of earlier trombone virtuosos or of solo music composed for the instrument. Musical history actually knows a number of ethnic German trombone virtuosos predating Belcke, although seemingly none of them originated from within the borders of present-day Germany.[5] The German Confederation (Deutscher Bund) of Belcke’s time included the areas where these earlier German trombone virtuosos were active, and during their lifetimes there was no national distinction that would have prevented them from being considered German. Furthermore, there are numerous examples of solo settings specifying trombone from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, predating Belcke’s performances.[6] Therefore, we can say for certain that music featuring the trombone as a solo instrument did not begin in the nineteenth century and German trombone virtuosos did not first appear in Leipzig.
 
Occasional digressions sometimes detract from the focus of the work. For example, at the end of chapter three (on Müller), Handrow discusses his views on pedagogical approaches for the present-day trombone instructor—a text with little relevance to Müller. Handrow’s ideas are excellent but incongruous in a chapter focused on Müller. In addition, the appendix includes somewhat unrelated items, e.g., a list of chamber concerts performed in Leipzig from 1966 onward and a list of Bach Cantatas that have specified trombone parts. Here, too, the information is interesting but more suited to a different publication.
 
Nevertheless, in spite of these quibbles, Handrow has given us an interesting and valuable book that I can highly recommend to all trombonists. At present it exists only in German; an English translation would enhance its contribution to the literature about the trombone.

-D. Linda Pearse
Mount Allison University (Canada)


[1] The same work is more commonly known as the Concertino for Trombone, op.4, by Ferdinand David.
[2] Königlichen Konservatorium der Musik zu Leipzig; now called Hochschule für Musik und Theater “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy.”
[3] “Gerade in dieser Zeit erfuhr die Posaune als Soloinstrument in Leipzig einen enormen Aufschwung und besondere Wertschätzung. Allein zwischen 1815 und 1876 sind weit über dreißig Konzerte von Posaunensolisten belegt… Es began die Ära der Posaunenvirtuosen.” (p. 7). “Die Posaune zog endlich gleichberechtigt neben Gesang, Klavier und den Orchesterinstrumenten Flöte, Violine, Cello, Trompette und Horn als Soloinstrument in die Konzertsäle ein.” (p. 8). “Der Grundstein zu dieser ‘Posaunenepoche’ legte allerdings schon Anfang des 19. Jahrhunderts Friedrich August Belcke…. (p. 8).
[4] “[Belcke] gilt eigentlich als der erste deutsche Posaunenvirtuose. Er war auch der Erste, der als Solist reiste—ein Novum für einen Posaunisten.” (p. 8). “Dieses Konzert kann als ein historisches gelten, als Beginn einer neuen Ära: Die Posaune zog als Soloinstrument auf die Konzertpodien” and “Belcke geht in die Geschichte als erster Posaunenvirtuose Deutschlands ein.” (p. 13).
[5] Thomas Gschlatt, Gotthard Anton Stolle, and Johann Friedrich Helwig are all examples of German trombone virtuosos who predate Belcke. I gratefully acknowledge a conversation with Howard Weiner for accurate information on this issue.
[6] Georg Christoph Wagenseil, Johann Georg Albrechstberger, Leopold Mozart, and Giovanni Martino Cesare are just a few examples of composers predating Belcke who wrote works that feature the trombone in a solo setting.