Sackbut
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Sackbut (var. Sacbutt; Sackbutt; Sagbutt;), a brass instrument from the Renaissance and Baroque Eras, is an ancestor of the modern trombone. The name is derived from the Middle French sacquer and bouter ("push" and "pull") and the term survives in numerous English spelling variations including sacbut, sagbut, shagbolt and shakbusshe. In France, the instrument was called sacqueboute; in Germany, Posaune, and in Italy, trombone. The term sackbut is usually used to differentiate the historic instrument from its modern counterpart. Increasing interest in authentic performance in recent years has brought many trombonists to the sackbut.
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[edit] History
The sackbut derived from the medieval slide trumpet. It originated in the Middle Ages; the earliest written reference to the instrument dates from 1468, at the wedding of Charles the Bold and Margaret of York at Bruges, during which a "trompette saicqueboute" was employed. The instrument evolved into what we know today as the 'Trombone', but is often described as having a more mellow tone. It was employed mainly in alto, tenor and bass sizes. It was one of the most important instruments in Baroque polychoral works, along with the cornetto and organ. Compared to a modern tenor trombone, the tenor sackbut has a considerably smaller bore, and a smaller, more conical bell.
[edit] Construction
Sackbuts come in several ranges. According to Michael Praetorius, there was an alto, a tenor, quart- and quint-basses, as well as a contrabass. Originally they were alto in D or E, tenor in A, bass in E or D, and contrabass in A. The common standards now are the alto in E♭, tenor in B♭, and bass in F (quart) or E♭ (quint). The basses, due to their longer slides, have a hinged handle on the slide stay, which is used to reach the long positions.
The bore size of renaissance/baroque trombones is approximately 10mm and the bell rarely more than 10.5cm in diameter.
Early mouthpieces had flat rims, and compared to modern trombone mouthpieces they had shallow cups and narrow apertures.
Modern reproductions of sackbuts sacrifice some authenticity to harness manufacturing techniques and inventions that make them more comfortable for modern players, whilst retaining as much of the original character of the old instruments.
Some original instruments could be disassembled into the constituent straight tubes, bowed tubes, bell flare, and stays, with ferrules at the joints. Mersenne has a diagram. (Little imagination is needed to see how it could be reassembled into something approaching a natural trumpet.) Modern sackbut reproductions are usually soldered together.
The stays on period sackbuts are flat. While the bell stay remained flat, from about 1660 the slide stays became tubular. On many modern reproductions round stays are much more comfortable to play and easier to make.
The original way to make the slide tubes was to roll a flat piece of metal around a solid cylinder mandrel, and the joining ends soldered together. Modern manufacturers now draw the tubes. They also tend to have stockings, which was only invented in around 1850. In addition modern made slides are usually nickel plated for a harder, smoother finish.
Tuning slides came in during the very late 18th century. Early trombonists adjusted pitch with the slide, and by adding variously shaped and sized crooks. Modern reproductions often have a bell bow tuning slide or telescopic slide between the slide and bell sections. Crooks are still used, as are variously sized bell bow sections.
The waterkey was added in the 19th century, but modern reproductions often have them.
[edit] Pitch
Renaissance wind band pitch (music) was typically approximately A=466 Hz, one half step higher than modern pitch. The tenors that survive are more or less pitched at B♭ at A=440 or slightly higher, which is equivalent to A at A=466 - or slightly higher. Praetorius describes an alto in D, tenor in A, and bass in D; some groups are beginning to use D and A positions in performance for the sake of greater historical accuracy, rather than transposing their parts up a half step - which helps avoid problems with tuning temperaments.
[edit] Sound
The sackbut's sound is characterized by a more delicate, vocal timbre than the modern instrument. Its dynamic flexibility lends itself to a vocal style of playing and facilitates effective shaping of phrases.
[edit] Repertoire
The sackbut replaced the slide trumpet in the 15th century alta capella wind bands that were common in towns throughout Europe. See Waits.
It also was used in church music both for instrumental service music (brought to a fine art by the Gabrieli family in late 16th century Venice) and as a doubling instrument for choral music. The treble and high alto parts were most often played by cornetts or shawms, with the violin sometimes replacing the cornett in 17th century Italian music.
Monteverdi ushers sackbuts into the first great opera - 'L'Orfeo' 1607.
Sackbuts also frequently played courtly dance music.
In the 17th century, a considerable repertoire of chamber music using sackbut with various combinations of violins, cornetts and dulcians, often with continuo, appeared. Composers included Dario Castello, Giovanni Battista Fontana, Johann Heinrich Schmelzer, Giovanni Paolo Cima and Andrea Cima.
Giovanni Paolo Cima, organist of S. Celso wrote the oldest known trio sonata and solo violin sonata. Contained in his Concerti ecclesiastici (Milan 1610) is his brother Andrea's Capriccio 'for cornett and trombone or violin and violone'.
Giovanni Martino Cesare wrote "La Hieronyma," (Musikverlag Max Hieber, MH6012) the earliest known piece for accompanied solo trombone. It comes from Cesare's collection "Musicali Melodie per voci et instrumenti a una, due, tre, quattro, cinque, e sei" published in Munich 1621 of 28 pieces for a mixture of violins, cornetts, trombone, vocal soloists and organ continuo.
Francesco Rognoni was another composer who specified the trombone in a set of divisions (variations) on the well-known song Suzanne ung jour (London Pro Musica, REP15). Rognoni was a master violin and gamba player whose treatise Selva di Varie passaggi secondo l'uso moderno (Milan 1620 and facsimile reprint by Arnaldo Forni Editore 2001) details improvisation of diminutions and Suzanne is given as one example. Although most diminutions are written for organ, string instruments or cornett, Suzanne is "per violone over Trombone alla bastarda". With virtuosic semiquaver passages across the range of the instrument, it reflects Praetorius' comments about the large range of the tenor and bass trombones, and good players of the Quartposaune (bass trombone in F) could play fast runs and leaps like a viola bastarda or cornetto. The term "bastarda" describes a technique that made variations on all the different voices of a part song, rather than just the melody or the bass.
Aside from the Italian areas, in the 17th century, sackbuts were also in use in England, Spain and Germany.
The first English piece scored for trombone is John Adson's 'Courtly Masquing Ayres' (1611). The other work of note from this period is Matthew Locke's 'Music for His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts', a suite for Charles II's coronation 1661.
An excellent piece that came out of Germany in the 17th century was Heinrich Schütz' 'Fili me, Absalon' (1629) scored for bass, four trombones and basso continuo.
[edit] Modern performance
Many groups specializing in period music make frequent use of the sackbut, including:
- Concerto Palatino
- Les Sacqueboutiers de Toulouse
- Caecilia Concert
- La Fenice
- Piffaro
- the Gabrieli Consort
- His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts
- The York Waits
- The Whole Noyse
- Capella de la Torre
[edit] Recordings
Plenty of recordings of the authentic sackbut are now available from the groups such as Concerto Palatino, HMSC, Gabrieli Consort and the Toulouse Sacqueboutiers. For a closer examination of the instrument, here are some recommended recordings where the sackbut is heavily featured in a 'solo' capacity.
- Treasury of a Saint - Caecilia Concert, Challenge Records 2006
- La Sacqueboute - Michel Becquet, Les Sacqueboutiers de Toulouse
[edit] Earliest surviving instruments
- Erasmus Schnitzer, Nuremberg, Tenor, 1551
- Georg Neuschel, Nuremberg, Tenor, 1557
- Anton Schnitzer I, Verona, Bass, 1579
- Anton Schnitzer II, Nuremberg, Tenor 1594
- Anton Drewelewcz, Nuremberg, Tenor 1595
[edit] Modern manufacturers
- Egger, Basel, Switzerland
- Ewald Meinl, Geretsried, Germany
- Geert Jan van der Heide, Netherlands
- Helmut Voigt, Germany
- Jürgen Voigt Brass, Germany
- Thein, Bremen, Germany
- John Webb, London
- Frank Tomes, London
- Böhm und Meinl
