Sonata for the trombone of the second half of the 16th – the beginning of the 19th centuries in the context of historical and national traditions of development of the genre
Authors: Dubka O.S. 
Published: March 2020

The present article is devoted to the general characteristics of the historical process of the formation of the sonata for the trombone (or with the participation of the trombone) in the European music of the Renaissance – Early Classicism era. A particular attention in the research has been paid to the study of the national stylistic, which was the main driving force in the evolution of the trombone at the level of the chamber instrumental and concert genres. It has been noted that since the time of A. Willaert and A. and J. Gabrieli brothers, the trombone and trombone consorts have been the permanent components of the concerts da chiesa, and later – da camera. Due to its construction and melodic-declamatory nature of the sounding, the trombone was in good agreement with both the voices of the choir and other instruments. Gradually, along with collective (concert) varieties of trombone sonatas, solo sonatas with bass began to appear, and they reflected the practice of the Baroque-era concert style. The article reviews a number of trombone sonatas of the Italian, Czech, Austro-German schools, which later became the model for composers of the Newest Time, who fully revealed the possibilities of the trombone semantics and techniques in the sonata genre. The article has noted that the formation of the instrumental sonata in Europe was associated with the practice of concerts in the church, which was for a long time practically the only place where academic music could be performed. The term “sonata” was understood then as the music intended for the instrumental performance, which, however, was closely connected with the vocal one. Therefore, the first samples of sonatas with the participation of the trombone were mixed vocal-instrumental compositions created by the representatives of the Venetian school of the second half of the 16th century – A. Willaert and A. and J. Gabrieli brothers. It has been noted that the key and largely “landmark” composition opening the chronicle of a concert sonata with the participation of trombones was the sonata called “Piano e forte” (1597), where the functions of trombone voices are already beginning to the counterpoint independence, rather than to duplicating the vocal ones. G. Gabrieli is the creator of one of the most large-scale, this time exclusively trombone compositions – “Canzon Quarti Toni” for 12 trombones, cornet and violin – one of the first trombone ensembles based on the genre of canzone as the progenitor of all the baroque instrumental-concert forms. It has been emphasized that among Italian masters of the subsequent period (the early Baroque), the trombone received a great attention from C. Monteverdi, who in his concert opuses used it as the substitute for viola da brazzo (three pieces from the collection called “Vespro della Beata Vergine”). It is noted that in the era of the instrumental versioning, when compositions were performed by virtually any instrumental compound, the trombone was already distinguished as an obligate instrument capable of competing with the cello. Sonata in D minor Op. 5 No. 8 by A. Corelli is considered a model of such a “double” purpose. It has been proved that the Italian schools of the 16th – 17th centuries, which played the leading role in the development of the sonata and concert instrumentalism, mainly the stringed and brass one and the brass one as well, were complemented by the German and Austrian ones. Among the masters of the latter one can distinguish the figure of G. Sch&#252;tz, who created “Fili mi, Absalon” for the trombone quartet and basso-continuo, where trombones are interpreted as instruments of cantilena sounding, which for a long time determines their use in opera and symphonic music, not to mention the sonata genre (introductions and slow parts). Along with the chamber sonata, which was written in the Italian style, German and Austrian masters of the 17th century turn to “tower music” (Tower music), creating their own opuses with almost obligatory participation of one or several trombones. Among such compositions there are the collection by G. Reich called “Quatricinua” of 24 tower sonatas (1696) for the cornet and three trombones, where, modelled on A. Corelli’s string-and-bow sonatas, the plays of a homophonic and polyphonic content are combined. The article notes that the creation of a solo sonata with bass for the trombone was historically associated with the Czech composing school of the second half of the 17th century. The first sample of such composition is the Sonata for the trombone and the thorough-bass (1669), written by a certain monk from the monastery of St. Thomas in Bohemia, where the instrument is shown in a wide range of its expressive possibilities. A significant contribution to the development of a trombone sonata was made by the Czech composer of the late 17th century P. Y. Veyvanovsky, who created a number of sonatas, which, despite the typical for that time performing versioning (trombone or viola da brazzo), were a milestone in the development of the genre in question. The traditions of the trombone sonata-quality genre in its three main expressions – da chiesa, da camera, “tower music” – have been preserved for a certain time in the era of Classicism. This is evidenced, for example, by F. Schneider’s 12 “Tower sonatas” for 2 pipes and 3 trombones (1803–1804). In general, in the classic-romantic era in the evolution of the trombone sonata genre there is a “pause”, which refers to both its collective and solo varieties. The true flourishing of the trombone sonata appeared only in the Newest time (from the end of the 19th century), when the instrumental music of a concert-chamber type declared itself not only as the one demanded by the public, but also as the leading, “title” field of creativity of a number of the leading composers. Among the instruments involved in the framework of the “new chamber-ness” (B. Asafiev) was also the trombone, one of the recognized “soloists” and “ensemblers” of the music from the past eras. The conclusions of the article note that the path travelled by the sonata for the trombone (or with the participation of the trombone) shows, on the one hand, the movement of the instrument to the solo quality and autonomy within the framework of “little-ensemble” chamber-ness (the sonata duet or the solo sonata without any accompaniment), on the other hand, the sustainable preservation of the ensemble origins of this genre (the trombone ensemble, sometimes in combination with other representatives of the brass group).