Cimbasso#External links

The Italian word {{lang|it|cimbasso}}, first appearing in the early 19th century, is thought to be a contraction used by musicians of the term {{lang|it|corno basso}} or {{lang|it|corno di basso}} ({{lit.|bass horn}}), sometimes appearing in scores as c. basso or c. in basso.{{sfn|Meucci|1996|p=144–5}} The term was used loosely to refer to the lowest bass instrument available in the brass family, which changed over the course of the 19th century. In the mid-20th century the word cimbasso began to be used in German-speaking countries to refer to slide contrabass trombones in F. This vagueness long impeded research into the instrument's history.{{sfn|Meucci|1996|p=157|loc=note 69}}

{{see also|Serpent (instrument)#History}}

The first uses of a cimbasso in Italian opera scores from the early 19th century referred to a narrow-bore upright serpent similar to the {{lang|fr|basson russe}} ({{lit.|Russian bassoon}}), which were in common use in military bands of the time.{{sfn|Bevan|2000|p=81}} These instruments were constructed from wooden sections like a bassoon, with a trombone-like brass bell, sometimes in the shape of a buccin-style dragon's head.{{cite web|title=Instruments: basson russe |work=Berlioz Historical Brass |url=https://www.berliozhistoricalbrass.org/basson_russe.htm |access-date=14 February 2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402102625/http://www.berliozhistoricalbrass.org/basson_russe.htm |archive-date=2 April 2015 }} Fingering charts published in 1830 indicate these early {{lang|it|cimbassi}} were most likely to have been pitched in C.{{sfn|Myers|1986|pages=134–136}}

Later, the term {{lang|it|cimbasso}} was extended to a range of instruments, including the ophicleide and early valved instruments, such as the Pelittone and other early forms of the more conical bass tuba. As this progressed, the term cimbasso was used to refer to a more blending voice than the "basso tuba" or "bombardone", and began to imply the lowest trombone.{{sfn|Meucci|1996|p=158–9}}

By 1872, Verdi expressed his displeasure about "that devilish bombardone" (referring to an early valved tuba) as the bass of the trombone section for his La Scala première of Aida, preferring a "trombone basso".{{sfn|Bevan|2000|p=406–13}} By the time of his opera Otello in 1887, Milan instrument maker {{Ill|Pelitti|it}} had produced the {{lang|it|trombone basso Verdi}} (sometimes {{lang|it|trombone contrabbasso Verdi}}, or simply {{lang|it|trombone Verdi}}). Although no Pelitti instruments, photographs or diagrams survive, it was a contrabass trombone in low 18′ B♭ wrapped in a compact form with 3 or 4 rotary valves. Verdi and Puccini both wrote for this instrument in their later operas, although confusingly, they often referred to it as the {{lang|it|trombone basso}}, to distinguish it from the tenor trombones.{{sfn|Bevan|2000|p=414}} This instrument blended well with the usual Italian section of three valve trombones, and was the prototype for the modern cimbasso.{{sfn|Meucci|1996|p=158–9}}

{{Multiple image

| total_width = 350px

| title = Early cimbasso instruments

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| image1 = "Russian Bassoon" (Bass Horn) MET DP249508 mod1.jpg

| image2 = Cimbasso in Bb by Stowasser SCCHMM-95928 (white bg).jpg

| alt1 = early 19th century basson russe in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

| alt2 = early 20th century cimbasso in B♭ by Stowasser in the University of Edinburgh collection

| footer = Early cimbassos, left: the first cimbasso was similar to this early 19th century {{lang|fr|basson russe}} (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York); right: early 20th century cimbasso in B♭ (after the {{lang|it|trombone basso Verdi}}) by Czech maker Stowasser (St Cecilia's Hall, University of Edinburgh)

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By the early 20th century the tuba was used in Italy for cimbasso parts, and the trombone Verdi, made mainly by Milanese and Bohemian manufacturers, disappeared from Italian orchestras. In 1959 German instrument maker Hans Kunitz developed a slide contrabass trombone in F with two valves based on a 1929 patent by Berlin trombonist Ernst Dehmel.{{sfn|Yeo|2021|pp=36–37|loc="contrabass trombone"}} These were built in the 1960s by Gebr. Alexander and named "cimbasso" trombones.{{Cite Q|Q112109526|p=877 |volume=7 |chapter=Posaune; III. Sondermodelle |chapter-url= https://archive.org/details/diemusikingeschi0007unse/page/n877/mode/2up?q=kontrabassposaune |access-date=15 May 2023}}{{Cite news |title=The lowest of the low |newspaper=Liverpool Daily Post |date=19 November 1968 |page=8 |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0005475/19681119/008/0008 |access-date=11 February 2025 |url-access=subscription |via=British Newspaper Archive}} The modern cimbasso found today emerged in Germany in 1985 by the brass instrument maker Josef Meinl, its design ultimately descended from the Pelitti trombone Verdi design. A contrabass trombone in F but fitted with the valves and fingering of a modern F tuba wrapped in-front of the player, it was quickly adopted throughout Europe by players and other makers, including Bavarian maker Thein Brass.{{sfn|Bevan|1997|p=297–298}}{{sfn|Gourlay|2001|p=7}}

The modern cimbasso is usually built with four to six rotary valves (or occasionally piston valves), a forward-facing bell, and a cylindrical bore. These features lend its sound to the bass of the trombone family rather than the tuba, and its valves allow for more agility than a contrabass trombone.{{cite Grove |title=Cimbasso |first=Renato |last=Meucci |date=2001 |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.05789 |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.05789 |url-access=subscription |access-date=14 February 2022 }} Like the modern contrabass trombone, it is most often pitched in 12-foot (12′) F, although instruments are made in 13′ E♭ and occasionally low 16′ C or 18′ B♭.{{Multiref2

| {{cite book |title=Brass Instruments |pages=17–18 |date=2021 |publisher=V.F. Červený & Synové |publication-place=Kraslice |url=http://www.vfcerveny.cz/media/attachments/2022/02/26/vfc_catalogue_2021_cmyk-min.pdf#page=17 |access-date=15 May 2023 |archive-date=24 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230224014937/http://www.vfcerveny.cz/media/attachments/2022/02/26/vfc_catalogue_2021_cmyk-min.pdf#page=17 |url-status=live }}

| {{Cite web |title=Cimbasso |publisher=G&P Wind Instruments |publication-place=Milan |url=http://www.gp-wind.com/instruments/httpswwwgp-windcomcimbasso |language=it |access-date=2 March 2023 |archive-date=1 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230301112643/http://www.gp-wind.com/instruments/httpswwwgp-windcomcimbasso |url-status=live }}

| {{Cite web |title=Cimbasso |publisher=Haag Brass |publication-place=Weinfelden |url=https://haagbrass.com/collection/cimbasso/?lang=en |access-date=9 July 2022 |archive-date=9 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220709030738/https://haagbrass.com/collection/cimbasso/?lang=en |url-status=live }}

| {{Cite web |title=Cimbasso |publisher=Helmut Voigt |publication-place=Markneukirchen |url=https://helmut-voigt.com/deutsch-cimbasso/ |access-date=2 March 2023 |language=de |archive-date=1 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230301112642/https://helmut-voigt.com/deutsch-cimbasso/ |url-status=live }}

| {{Cite web |title=Contrabass Cimbasso |publisher=Jürgen Voigt |publication-place=Markneukirchen |url=https://shop.voigt-brass.de/en/MASTER-INSTRUMENTS/TROMBONES/CONTRABASS-CIMBASSO/ |access-date=2 March 2023 |archive-date=1 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230301112643/https://shop.voigt-brass.de/en/MASTER-INSTRUMENTS/TROMBONES/CONTRABASS-CIMBASSO/ |url-status=live }}

| {{Cite web |title=CB-900 Cimbasso in F |publisher=Lätzsch Custom Brass |publication-place=Bremen |url=https://www.xn--ltzsch-shop-l8a.com/en/web-shop/84-cb-900-cimbasso-in-f.html |access-date=20 October 2022 |archive-date=19 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221019235718/https://www.xn--ltzsch-shop-l8a.com/en/web-shop/84-cb-900-cimbasso-in-f.html |url-status=live }}

| {{Cite web |title=Cimbasso |publisher=Melton Meinl Weston |date=17 May 2016 |publication-place=Geretsried |url=https://www.melton-meinl-weston.com/en/instruments/cimbassos/41-2/ |access-date=9 July 2022 |archive-date=15 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220815195525/https://www.melton-meinl-weston.com/en/instruments/cimbassos/41-2/ |url-status=live }}

| {{cite web |title=MJC Cimbassi |publisher=Mike Johnson Custom Instruments |publication-place=Salford |url=http://mike-johnson-custom.co.uk/instruments/index.html |access-date=15 August 2022 |archive-date=15 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220815015856/http://mike-johnson-custom.co.uk/instruments/index.html |url-status=live }}

| {{Cite web |title=Cimbasso |publisher=Rudolf Meinl Metalblasinstrumente |publication-place=Diespeck |language=de |url=https://www.rudolf-meinl.de/index.php?id=4586 |access-date=9 July 2022 |archive-date=9 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220709030738/https://www.rudolf-meinl.de/index.php?id=4586 |url-status=live }}

| {{Cite web |title=Cimbasso |publisher=Thein Brass |publication-place=Bremen |url=https://thein-brass.de/en/instrument/cimbasso/ |access-date=9 July 2022 |archive-date=7 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707075113/https://thein-brass.de/en/instrument/cimbasso/ |url-status=live }}

| {{Cite web |title=Cimbassos |publisher=Wessex Tubas |publication-place=Andover |url=https://www.wessex-tubas.com/collections/cimbassos |access-date=9 July 2022 |archive-date=9 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220709030738/https://www.wessex-tubas.com/collections/cimbassos |url-status=live }}

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The mouthpiece and leadpipe are positioned in front of the player, and the mouthpiece receiver is sized to fit tuba mouthpieces. The valve tubing section is arranged vertically between the player's knees and rests on the floor with a cello-style endpin, and the bell is arranged over the player's left shoulder to point horizontally forward, similar to a trombone.{{sfn|Yeo|2021|p=152|loc="trombone basso Verdi"}}{{sfn|Meucci|1996|p=158|loc=Fig. 13 (p. 179)}} This design accommodates the instrument in cramped orchestra pits and allows a direct, concentrated sound to be projected towards the conductor and audience.

The bore tends to range between that of a contrabass trombone and a small F tuba, {{convert|0.587|to(-)|0.730|in}}, and even larger for the larger instruments in low C or B♭.{{cite book |title=Rudolf Meinl Prospekt |date=2018 |publisher=Rudolf Meinl Musikinstrumenten-Herstellung |publication-place=Diespeck, Bavaria |url=https://www.rudolf-meinl.de/fileadmin/template/rudolf-meinl/download/prospekt.pdf#page=7 |access-date=10 September 2022 |archive-date=10 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220910021037/https://www.rudolf-meinl.de/fileadmin/template/rudolf-meinl/download/prospekt.pdf#page=7 |url-status=live }} The bell diameter is usually between {{convert|10|and|11.5|in}}.

There has been demand over time for larger bore instruments with a more conical bore and larger bell, in contrast with the trombone-like sound from smaller cylindrical bore instruments. This is because cimbasso parts are often played by tuba players, particularly in US orchestras. Czech manufacturer Červený catered to both needs in its 2021 catalog which lists two cimbassi in F, one model with a small {{convert|0.598|in|adj=on}} bore and {{convert|10|in|adj=on}} bell listed with their valve trombones, and another with a tuba-like bore of {{convert|0.717|in}} and a larger {{convert|11|in|adj=on}} bell with much wider flare, listed with their tubas.{{cite book |title=Brass Instruments |pages=17–18 |date=2021 |publisher=V.F. Červený & Synové |publication-place=Kraslice, Czech Republic |url=http://www.vfcerveny.cz/media/attachments/2022/02/26/vfc_catalogue_2021_cmyk-min.pdf#page=17 |access-date=15 August 2022 |archive-date=29 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220629001725/http://www.vfcerveny.cz/media/attachments/2022/02/26/vfc_catalogue_2021_cmyk-min.pdf#page=17 |url-status=live }}

The cimbasso is usually built with rotary valves, although some Italian makers use piston valves. British instrument maker Mike Johnson builds cimbassi with four compensating piston valves as commonly found on British tubas, in both F/C and E♭/B♭ sizes.{{cite web |title=MJC Cimbassi |publisher=Mike Johnson Custom Instruments |url=http://mike-johnson-custom.co.uk/instruments/index.html |access-date=15 August 2022 |archive-date=15 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220815015856/http://mike-johnson-custom.co.uk/instruments/index.html |url-status=live }} Los Angeles tubist Jim Self had a compact F cimbasso built in the shape of a euphonium, which has been named the "Jimbasso".{{cite web |title=Jim Self's Instruments |date=2017 |publisher=Basset Hound Music |url=https://www.bassethoundmusic.com/hardware.html |access-date=15 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210923180940/http://www.bassethoundmusic.com/hardware.html |archive-date=23 September 2021 |url-status=live }}

In 2004 Swiss brass instrument manufacturer Haag released a cimbasso in F built with five Hagmann valves and a {{convert|0.630|in|adj=on}} bore. Although discontinued, this instrument is used by several operas and orchestras, including Badische Staatskapelle, Hungarian State Opera, and Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and by Swedish jazz musician {{Ill|Mattis Cederberg|sv}}.{{Cite web |title=Haag Cimbasso Trombone C45HV |work=Haag Trombones |publisher=Musik Haag AG |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130312020418/http://www.haag-trombone.com/index.php/en/products/trombones/cimbasso |archive-date=12 March 2013 |url=http://www.haag-trombone.com/index.php/en/products/trombones/cimbasso |url-status=dead }}

Although the cimbasso in its modern form is most commonly used for performances of late Romantic Italian operas by Verdi and Puccini, since the mid 20th century it has found increased and more diverse use. It has occasionally appeared in modern scores, such as Russian composer Boris Tishchenko's fifth and eighth symphonies,{{sfn|Daniels|Oertel|Rahbee|2022|loc=Tishchenko, Boris|p=866-867}} Swedish composer Anders Hillborg's Exquisite Corpse (2005),{{sfn|Daniels|Oertel|Rahbee|2022|loc=Hillborg, Anders|p=393-394}} and English composer Brian Ferneyhough's New Complexity work Plötzlichkeit (2006).{{sfn|Daniels|Oertel|Rahbee|2022|loc=Ferneyhough, Brian|p=284}}

Along with the contrabass trombone, it has increasingly been called for in film and video game soundtracks.{{Cite Grove |title=Tuba |id=A2257418 |first=Clifford |last=Bevan |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.A2257418 |url-access=subscription |access-date=15 January 2024 }} Los Angeles tuba players Tommy Johnson, Doug Tornquist and Jim Self have appeared on many Hollywood soundtracks playing cimbasso,{{sfn|Kifer|2020|p=85–86}} especially since the popularization of loud, low-brass heavy orchestral music in films and video games such as the remake of Planet of the Apes (2001), Call of Duty (2003) and Inception (2010).{{sfn|Kifer|2020|p=48}} American nu metal band Korn used two cimbassos in the live backing orchestra for their acoustic MTV Unplugged album.{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/r952806 |title=MTV Unplugged |author=Korn |date=2007 |website=AllMusic |access-date=3 August 2022 |archive-date=24 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120424124332/http://www.allmusic.com/album/r952806 |url-status=live }} Swedish jazz musicians Per–Åke Holmlander and Mattis Cederberg employ cimbasso in jazz as a solo instrument, and for playing the fourth trombone parts in big bands.{{Cite web |title=Festival Report: Festival Jazz em Agosto 2015 in Lisbon |last=Bolte |first=Henning |work=London Jazz News |date=18 August 2015 |url= https://londonjazznews.com/2015/08/18/festival-report-festival-jazz-em-agosto-2015-in-lisbon/ |access-date=5 February 2024 }}{{Cite AV media |title=Dave Brubeck – Unsquare Dance |author=WDR Big Band |others=Brubeck, Dave (composer); Pfeifer-Galilea, Stefan (arranger); Mintzer, Bob (director); Cederberg, Mattis (cimbasso) |medium=music video |publisher=Westdeutscher Rundfunk |publication-place=Cologne |date=6 April 2023 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxEhkjjLn1E |access-date=22 May 2023 |via=YouTube |archive-date=22 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230522032009/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxEhkjjLn1E&gl=US&hl=en |url-status=live }}

Historically informed performance of early cimbasso parts presents particular challenges. Unless proficient with period instruments such as serpent or ophicleide, it is difficult for orchestral low-brass players to perform on instruments that resemble the early cimbassi in form or timbre. It is also challenging for instrument builders to find good surviving examples to replicate or adapt.{{sfn|Meucci|1996|p=162}}

Although there is still a lack of consensus from conductors and orchestras, using a large-bore modern orchestral C tuba to play cimbasso parts is considered inappropriate by some writers and players. Italian organologist Renato Meucci recommends using only a small narrow-bore F tuba, or a bass trombone.{{sfn|Meucci|1996|p=161–2}} James Gourlay, conductor and former tubist with BBC Symphony Orchestra and Zürich Opera, recommends playing most cimbasso repertoire on the modern F cimbasso, as a compromise between the larger B♭ {{lang|it|trombone basso Verdi}} instrument and the bass trombone. He also recommends using a euphonium in the absence of a period instrument for early cimbasso parts, which is closer to the sound of the serpent or ophicleide that would have been used before 1860.{{sfn|Gourlay|2001|p=8–9}} Douglas Yeo, former bass trombonist with Boston Symphony Orchestra, even suggests that in a modern section of slide trombonists playing parts intended for valved instruments, it should not be unreasonable to perform the cimbasso part on a modern (slide) contrabass trombone.{{sfn|Yeo|2017|p=246}}

{{reflist|25em}}

{{Refbegin}}

{{ubli

| {{Cite Q|last=Bevan |date=1997 |first=Clifford |author-link=Clifford Bevan |Q127092138|chapter=Special NEH report: Cimbasso Research and Performance Practice: An Update |page=289–299}}

| {{Cite Q|last=Bevan |date=2000 |first=Clifford |author-link=Clifford Bevan |Q111040769}}

| {{Cite Q|last1=Daniels |last2=Oertel |last3=Rahbee |date=2022

|author1-link=David Daniels (conductor) |first1=David |first2=David |first3=David |Q132725976}}

| {{Cite Q|last=Gourlay|date=2001 |first=James |Q118373994|author-link=James Gourlay |url-status=dead}}

| {{Cite Q|last=Kifer |date=2020 |first=Shelby Alan |Q118378306|medium=DMA thesis}}

| {{Cite Q|last=Meucci |date=1996 |first=Renato |Q111077162}}

| {{Cite Q|last=Myers |date=1986 |first=Arnold |Q118373974}}

| {{Cite Q|last=Yeo |date=2017 |first=Douglas |author-link=Douglas Yeo |Q111957781}}

| {{Cite Q|last=Yeo |date=2021 |first=Douglas |author-link=Douglas Yeo |Q111040546}}

}}

{{Refend}}

• {{commons-inline}}
• [https://www.jackadlermckean.eu/recordings Recordings of orchestral excerpts] by Jack Adler-McKean, including an [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZPUfisqTvc early cimbasso] and a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVw3iuha-30 B♭ Verdi cimbasso] by Orsi built c. 1902–1918, as well as serpent, ophicleide and other early tubas
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmEtjc268VQ Excerpts of Verdi's Nabbucco] arranged for four cimbassi (three in F by Červený, one custom-built in low B♭), performed by German tubist Daniel Ridder
• Mattis Cederberg's "Cimbassonista" [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVYWKW2kJLIgp8bTthVO1_cZw6ZI0-yHA YouTube playlist]

{{Brass instruments}}

Category:Brass instruments

Category:Contrabass instruments

Category:Bass (sound)

Category:Italian musical instruments

Category:Orchestral instruments