Review

Javier Colomer and Heinrich Thein
The World of the Contrabass Trombone: Die Welt der Contrabassposaune, El Mundo del Trombón Contrabajo

Cocentaina, , Spain
Publisher: javiecolomer.com
Date of Publication: 2012
URL: http://javiecolomer.com
Language: English, Spanish, German

Primary Genre: Study Material - method
Secondary Genre: Study Material - etude

Of the members of the trombone family, it is the contrabass trombone that is enjoying a particular resurgence.  From its use by Wagner in Der Ring des Nibelungen to modern composers writing solo works, this largest of trombones holds a special fascination for trombonists who have seen and heard it played by artists such as Ben van Dijk, Brandt Attema, David Bobroff and a host of Hollywood studio players including Phil Teele and Bill Reichenbach who were among the half-dozen contrabass trombone players on the soundtrack to The Planet of the Apes (2001). To this list of contrabass trombone exponents we can add the Spanish player and teacher, Javier Colomer, who, along with instrument maker Heinrich Thein, has written the first book devoted exclusively to the contrabass trombone.

Privately published by Colomer and written in three languages, Spanish, English, German, The World of the Contrabass Trombone has a home-made feel to the layout that reflects its promotional goals. Included are an extensive biography of Colomer and 22 photos of the author, mostly posed with other well-known trombonists, and 33 photos of Thein trombones scattered through the book. The Spanish and German texts are given in the native languages of the authors, but the English text is balky and should have been edited by a native English speaker.

The strong points of the book are its rudimentary exercises, études and slide position charts for the two most popular tunings of contrabass trombone in F, that being F/D/B-flat/A-flat, and Thein’s new “American” configuration of F/C/D-flat/B-flat. The exercises are certainly helpful for players who are newly approaching the contrabass trombone. But the opening historical section is problematic on several levels. We have come a long way from the long-held assumption that the historical family of trombones was alto in E-flat, tenor in B-flat, and bass in F. The authors seem unaware of recent research that shows the alto in E-flat and the bass in F were not nearly as ubiquitous as once thought. More troubling is the commonly held but faulty assumption that Wagner called for only contrabass trombone to be employed in the fourth trombone parts of his Ring tetralogy. The part, in fact, is for one player to double both tenor-bass trombone in B-flat/F and contrabass trombone. The inclusion of orchestral excerpts from the Vorspiel to Acts 1 and 3 of Die Walküre, including the famous Ride, as examples of contrabass trombone writing is both incorrect (Wagner specifically indicated that they are to be played on bass trombone) and misleading. Similarly, the authors hold the view that many pieces that call for a trombone to play in the valve and pedal register are to be played, ipso facto, on contrabass trombone. However, Janáček in his Sinfonietta and Strauss in his Alpine Symphony and Salome did not call for contrabass trombone to be employed, and to use contra in these works disrupts the composer’s intended sonic palate. Such a practice should be eschewed, not encouraged. Likewise, the assertion that Glinka wrote for contrabass trombone is spurious. Glinka died in 1857, long before the introduction of the modern contrabass trombone in Wagner’s Das Rheingold in 1869. The scant comments about the history and use of the cimbasso represent a missed opportunity to clarify current misconceptions about the instrument and its role in Italian music from the early 19th century.

All in all, The World of the Contrabass Trombone is, despite its flaws, a welcome introduction to playing the contrabass trombone. The reader will need to filter some of the faulty historical premises and navigate the awkward English text – which hopefully will be improved in future editions – but the included exercises heighten anticipation of a promised companion volume of contrabass trombone études by the same authors as we continue to look for resources to help us understand and learn to play this important member of the trombone family.

-Douglas Yeo
Arizona State University