Misplaced Pages

#870129

38-757: Douglas Yeo (born 1955) is an American bass trombonist who played in the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1985 to 2012, where he held the John Moors Cabot Bass Trombone Chair. He was also on the faculty of the New England Conservatory . In 2012 he retired from the BSO and accepted a position as professor of trombone at the Arizona State University School of Music, a position he held until 2016. From 2019 to 2023, he

76-720: A B♭/F trombone capable of playing below E 2 ; Arnold Schoenberg called for four in Gurre-Lieder (1911). From about the mid-nineteenth century, the bass trombone in G enjoyed a period of extended popularity in Britain and throughout most of the British Empire , and also a limited uptake in France. In British military and brass bands, the G bass trombone became standard, built largely by makers Besson , Boosey & Co., and Hawkes & Son (and later, Boosey & Hawkes ) with no valves and

114-532: A G bass trombone without a valve, avoided writing below D♭ 2 between 1850 and 1950, the D (or C) valve allowed British orchestral players to play European repertoire written with bass trombones in F or E♭ in mind. The G bass trombone remained in use in orchestras until the 1950s, when London orchestral players began importing larger bore American instruments in B♭ particularly by Conn . The G trombone lingered on in some parts of Britain and former British colonies well into

152-573: A G bass trombone. The modern bass trombone evolved largely in the United States, from the German large-bore B♭/F tenor-bass trombones in use by the late 19th century. In the early 20th century, manufacturers attempted to solve the problem of the missing low B 1 on such instruments by adding a second valve. In the 1920s, manufacturers Conn and Holton made B♭/F bass trombones with a Stellventil ( lit.   ' static valve ' ) that could lower

190-944: A bachelor of music degree with honors from Wheaton College in Illinois and a master of arts degree from New York University . His principal teachers were Edward Kleinhammer and Keith Brown. Before joining the Boston Symphony Orchestra/ Boston Pops Orchestra in May 1985, Yeo was a member of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra , (1981–1985), and was on the faculties of the Peabody Conservatory of Music , in Baltimore , and The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.. His background has included

228-469: A dissatisfaction with bass instruments in F or E♭, due to their slow and unwieldy slides. The invention of valves was quickly applied to create valve trombones in the 1830s which replaced the slide altogether; these became popular in military bands and Italian opera . In 1839 Sattler invented the Quartventil ( lit.   ' fourth valve ' ), a valve attachment for a B♭ tenor trombone to lower

266-835: A four-year tenure with the Goldman Band , and performances with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra , the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, the Gerry Mulligan Big Band, and orchestras for numerous Broadway shows. From 1998 to 2008, he was Music Director of the New England Brass Band , which released five compact disc recordings under his direction. In 2006, the New England Brass Band, under Mr. Yeo's direction, won first place in

304-415: A fourth or a fifth below the tenor, and an octav-posaun which referred to a very large, rare, and unwieldy predecessor of the contrabass trombone . Based on Praetorius' descriptions, Canadian trombonist and early music specialist Maximilien Brisson proposes that a quint-posaun with a extra whole-tone crook resulted in an instrument in C, capable of playing down to the lowest G 1 open string of

342-425: A larger bell, and a larger mouthpiece which facilitate playing in the low register. Typical specifications are a bore size of 0.562 inches (14.3 mm) in the slide with a bell from 9 to 10 + 1 ⁄ 2 inches (23 to 27 cm) in diameter. The bass trombone has typically two valves that lower the pitch of the instrument when engaged, to facilitate the register between the B♭ 1 pedal in first position and

380-422: A modern jazz big band section of typically four trombones, the lowest part is usually intended for bass trombone, often serving as the anchor of the trombone section or doubling the double bass and baritone saxophone . George Roberts (affectionately known as "Mr. Bass Trombone") was one of the first players to champion the solo possibilities of the instrument. One of the first major classical solo works for

418-474: A second dependent E valve (later E♭ and D), based on an instrument modified in 1956 for the bass trombonist with Minneapolis Symphony . In the late 1960s custom instruments appeared using a second independent valve that lowered the instrument to G, and to E♭ when engaged together with the first valve. The first commercially available trombone using this configuration was the Olds "S-24G" model in 1973. Although new to

SECTION 10

#1732863213871

456-418: A slide handle for reaching the longer sixth and seventh positions. The sight of the G bass trombone in the front rank of marching bands, with the player extending the long-handled slide, led to its "kidshifter" nickname, as if clearing a path for the band through the crowds. Instruments were made as early as 1869 in France with a Quartventil valve attachment in D, which extends the low register below D♭ 2 ,

494-619: The Historic Brass Society Journal , the International Trombone Association Journal , and the T.U.B.A. Journal . He did extensive research in the Boston Symphony archives, resulting in the publication of four photo/historical articles on BSO brass players from 1881 to the present; he mounted an exhibit at Symphony Hall on the history and hobbies of members of the Boston Symphony from 1881 to

532-554: The G Violone . By the late 17th century, the bass sackbut was mainly in D; German scholar and composer Daniel Speer only saw fit to mention the quint-posaun in his 1687 Grundrichtiger Unterricht treatise. Bass sackbuts were used in Europe during the Renaissance and early Baroque periods. By the 18th century, the F and E♭ bass trombones were used in Germany, Austria and Sweden, and

570-562: The 1830s used pedal B♭ 1 and A 1 in Symphonie fantastique , and G♯ 1 in his Grande Messe des morts ). English composers in the same period were writing for a bass trombone in G, and avoided writing below D♭ 2 , even though instruments were made with a valve attachment in D by around 1900. The 20th century saw further extensions of the bass trombone range, such as the fortissimo pedal D 1 in Berg's Drei Orchesterstücke (1915), and

608-478: The 1980s, particularly in brass bands and period instrument orchestras. British organologist Arnold Myers suggests that the G trombone's small bore of around 12.35 millimetres (0.486 in), or 13.35 millimetres (0.526 in) for the "Betty" D valve models, lends a distinctive and uniquely British character to its sound, and historically informed performances of British works from this period should recreate this sound by employing small-bore tenor trombones and

646-465: The 1990s, particularly from Edwards, S. E. Shires and Vincent Bach. This sparked further innovation in free-blowing valves; Conn patented its own CL2000 valve developed with Swedish trombonist Christian Lindberg , and the Swiss Hagmann valve was adopted by European manufacturers. The modern bass trombone uses the same 9-foot (2.7 m) length of tubing as the tenor trombone, but with a wider bore,

684-409: The E 2 second partial in seventh. The first valve lowers the key of the instrument a fourth to F. The second (when engaged with the first) will lower the instrument to D (or less commonly, E♭). The second valve can be configured in one of two ways, referred to as either "dependent" or "independent" (sometimes also called "in-line"). In a dependent system, the second valve is fitted to the tubing of

722-554: The E♭ bass trombone in France. German instrument maker Christian Friedrich Sattler in 1821 created an instrument he called the Tenorbaßposaune ( lit.   ' tenor-bass trombone ' ), a tenor in B♭ built with the larger bore and mouthpiece from the F bass trombone. It facilitated playing bass trombone parts in the low register, but was missing notes below E 2 . Treatise author Georges Kastner and other contemporary writers described

760-501: The F tubing to E when manually set. The first true double-valve trombone, where the second valve can be operated while playing, was made by Los Angeles manufacturer F. E. Olds in 1937, using a second dependent valve to lower the F attachment a semitone to E. In the 1950s, some American orchestral players had double-valve instruments custom-built, and these designs were eventually adopted by manufacturers. In 1961, American maker Vincent Bach released their double-valve "50B2" model with

798-791: The Honors Section at the North American Brass Band Association National Championship, held in Louisville, Kentucky . He announced his retirement from the BSO, effective on August 27, 2012, at the conclusion of the Tanglewood 75th anniversary season. He moved to Arizona, where he was appointed Professor of Trombone at Arizona State University (Tempe) . In 2014, he was the recipient of the International Trombone Association's highest honor,

SECTION 20

#1732863213871

836-453: The ITA Award, presented to him "in recognition of his distinguished career and in acknowledgement of his impact on the world of trombone performance." He was given the International Trombone Association's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2024, "in recognition of his lifelong commitment to the trombone and a career that has reflected a commitment to excellence and achievement. In addition to playing

874-792: The Symphonic Bass Trombonist (Encore Music Publishers, 2017/2024), and Serpents, Bass Horns and Ophicleides in the Bate Collection ( Oxford University Press , 2019). In 2021, he published two books, Homer Rodeheaver and the Rise of the Gospel Music Industry (University of Illinois Press), co-authored with Kevin Mungons, and An Illustrated Dictionary for the Modern Trombone, Tuba, and Euphonium Player ( Rowman & Littlefield ). Yeo

912-426: The bass trombone, Yeo plays bass trumpet , contrabass trombone , and has become a leading exponent of historical brasses such as the buccin , serpent , ophicleide and bass sackbut . Yeo has been extensively involved in teaching. In addition to his major positions at New England Conservatory of Music, Arizona State University, Wheaton College, and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, he has eight times been on

950-465: The bass trombone, this idea was anticipated in Germany in the 1920s by Ernst Dehmel's design for a contrabass trombone in F with two independent valves. The early 1980s saw the emergence of the axial flow valve , known as the "Thayer" valve after its American inventor, Orla Thayer. Trombonists frequently cite its more free-blowing, open-feeling playing characteristics and sound. It was gradually adopted on high-end trombone models from US manufacturers by

988-439: The established orchestral repertoire infrequently strays below B♭ 1 or above G 4 , and is typically written in the lower registers, there are some exceptions. French composers in the 19th century and early 20th century wrote third trombone parts for tenor trombone, writing as high as A 4 ( Bizet L'Arlésienne , Franck Symphony in D minor ), and omitting notes below E 2 except for occasional pedal notes ( Berlioz in

1026-760: The faculty of the annual Hamamatsu International Wind Instrument Academy and Festival ( Hamamatsu , Japan), and has been guest artist and teacher at the International Trombone and Tuba Festival (Beijing, China), the Dutch Bass Trombone Open ( Amsterdam , The Netherlands), and the Nagoya Trombone Festival ( Nagoya , Japan). A prolific writer, Yeo has written more than forty articles on the trombone and orchestral playing for various publications, including International Musician , The Instrumentalist , The Brass Herald , Christianity Today ,

1064-424: The first valve, and can only be engaged in combination with the first. In an independent system, the second valve is fitted to the main tubing next to the first valve, and can be used independently. The second independent valve typically lowers the instrument to G♭, and D when engaged in tandem with the first valve. Less commonly the second valve is tuned to G (combining to give E♭), or has a tuning slide that can tune

1102-502: The high B 4 in Kodály 's 1927 Háry János suite. Contemporary orchestral and solo classical pieces, as well as modern jazz arrangements, often further exploit the wide tonal range of the bass trombone. Since the Romantic period , the trombone section of an orchestra , wind ensemble , or British-style brass band usually consists of two tenor trombones and at least one bass trombone. In

1140-454: The instrument a fourth into F. Intended to bridge the range gap of the tenor trombone between E 2 and B♭ 1 , it was quickly adopted for bass trombone parts, particularly in Germany. These instruments in B♭/F gradually replaced the larger bass trombones in F and E♭ over the course of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Late Romantic German composers specifying Tenorbaßposaune in scores intended

1178-405: The lowest (non-pedal) note in seventh position. British orchestras began to employ them from the early twentieth century. In 1932, Boosey & Hawkes introduced a "Betty" model, named after Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra bass trombonist William Betty, with a D valve and a second longer tuning slide for C (to obtain the low A♭ 1 above the first pedal G 1 ). While British composers, writing for

Douglas Yeo - Misplaced Pages Continue

1216-401: The pitch to E♭. Today, single-valve bass trombones have a tuning slide on the valve section that is long enough to enable access to the low B 1 by lowering the pitch from F to E. The range of the modern bass trombone with two valves is fully chromatic from the lowest pedal B♭ 0 with both valves engaged (or even A 0 with valve slides extended), up to at least B♭ 4 . Although much of

1254-634: The present during the 1993–94 season. In 2000, he wrote a trombone teaching curriculum for the University of Reading 's (United Kingdom) Music Teaching in Private Practice Initiative of their Department of Arts and Humanities in Education. He is the co-author, along with Edward Kleinhammer, of Mastering the Trombone (Ensemble Publications. 1997), and is author of The One Hundred: Essential Works for

1292-501: The tenor, which was then pitched in A. They had a smaller bore and less flared bell than modern instruments, and a longer slide with an attached handle to allow slide positions otherwise beyond the reach of a fully outstretched arm. These bass sackbuts were sometimes called terz-posaun , quart-posaun , and quint-posaun (Old German, lit.   ' third ' or ' fourth ' or ' fifth trombone ' , referring to intervals below A), though sometimes quartposaune

1330-446: The valve to either G or G♭ as desired. Before the appearance of double valve models in the mid-20th century, bass trombones in B♭ had one valve in F. On such an instrument with a standard slide, the low B 1 note immediately above the pedal range is unobtainable. To solve this, bass trombones from the 19th and early 20th century were sometimes made with a valve attachment in E rather than F, or with an alternative tuning slide to lower

1368-532: Was the plaintiff in a 1994 court case, Yeo vs. Lexington , that tested important issues in scholastic media law. In 1997 Yeo won on appeal to the First Circuit Court of Appeals but subsequently lost at the First Circuit Court of Appeals (en banc) and carried the case to the US Supreme Court which declined to hear it. Bass trombone The earliest bass trombones were pitched in D, E, F or G below

1406-592: Was trombone professor at Wheaton College (Illinois) , and he was professor of trombone at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign from 2022-2024. Born in Monterey, California in 1955, Yeo first learned to play the trombone as a child living in Valley Stream, New York and continued while living in the Oak Ridge section of Jefferson Township, New Jersey , graduating in 1973 from Jefferson Township High School . Yeo holds

1444-457: Was used generically to refer to any size of bass trombone. The earliest known surviving specimen is an instrument in G built in France in 1593. Other late 16th and early 17th-century specimens of basses survive by Nuremberg makers Anton Schnitzer, Isaac Ehe, and Hans and Sebastian Heinlein. These instruments match descriptions and illustrations by Praetorius from his 1614–20 Syntagma Musicum , by which time he only described basses in E or D,

#870129