The orchestra and its instruments . e March ofthe priests and to accompany Sarastro, the highpriest, in The Magic Flute. Beethoven gave the trombones much to do in theNinth Symphony, where they begin in the Trio of theScherzo. Schubert uses them strikingly in his Sym-phony in C; and Schumann in the Finale of his FirstSymphony and also in his Manfred Overture. Berlioz made a great use of this instrument. Hesaid: The trombone in my opinion is the true chiefof that race of wind instruments which I distinguishas epic instruments. It possesses, in an eminent degree,both nobleness and grandeur. It h
The orchestra and its instruments . e March ofthe priests and to accompany Sarastro, the highpriest, in The Magic Flute. Beethoven gave the trombones much to do in theNinth Symphony, where they begin in the Trio of theScherzo. Schubert uses them strikingly in his Sym-phony in C; and Schumann in the Finale of his FirstSymphony and also in his Manfred Overture. Berlioz made a great use of this instrument. Hesaid: The trombone in my opinion is the true chiefof that race of wind instruments which I distinguishas epic instruments. It possesses, in an eminent degree,both nobleness and grandeur. It has all the deep andpowerful accents of high musical poetry from the reli-gious accent, calm and imposing, to the wild clamors ofthe orgy. The composer can make it chant like a choirof priests, threaten, lament, ring a funeral knell, raisea hymn of glory, break forth into frantic cries, or sounda dread flourish to awaken the dead, or to doom theliving. As a rule there are three tenor trombones in theOrchestra, but no alto, nor TROMBONE, SYMPHONY SOCIETY OF NEW YORK R. Van der Elst THE BRASSWIND FAMILY 115 THE BASS TUBA This huge instrument, with the enormous bell stand-ing upright, with valves and horizontal mouthpieceand great coils of shining tubes, is over three feet long!We can never mistake it; for it is the biggest of allthe brass instruments. It has the deepest notes in theentire Orchestra. Its compass is immense! Four octaves!Having pistons, it can give sharps and flats. Con-sequently, it is a chromatic instrument. The sound ofits voice is solemn, mysterious and lugubrious. Itis very rich in its deepest notes. If we do not tryto listen for them we shall not be able to distinguishthem from the other bass instruments of the Orchestra. The tone of the bass tuba might be described aspartaking of both the trombone and the organ. Manyof the beautiful effects in Wagners Nibelungen Ringare due to this great tuba of five cylinders. Wagneruses it to describe the deep, dark
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