Why did Saint-Saëns use a contrabass trombone in an American work?
Holst and The Cloud Messenger
It turns out that Gustav Holst wrote a work for chorus and orchestra that uses a contrabass trombone.
Maisie Ringham Wiggins (1924-2016)
Farewell, Maisie. It was an honour and a privilege to know you and be your pupil.
Contrabass trombone repertoire
In an effort to clear up some of the confusion about classical works scored for the contrabass trombone, I wrote a post in February 2008 on The Trombone Forum. Although this was aimed at compiling a list of works explicitly scored by the composer for the contrabass trombone, it did also touch on works that are sometimes performed using a contrabass trombone,
German trombone history timeline
Way back in March 2003, I responded to a post on The Trombone Forum about the German trombone tradition and spent a considerable amount of time piecing together a timeline of events relating to the manufacture of trombones in German-speaking lands. I reproduce here what is otherwise only retrieved using a search and hope it may prove interesting.