The vast collections of the Parisian libraries and archives hold many secrets. Sebastiaan and Andrea are drawn there on a quest to rediscover 150 years of trombone history. The proud tradition of the Concours du Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMD) meant that a new piece was written for trombone and piano each year. Some of these pieces are still trombone favourites, but others are lost and forgotten. This tradition, started by Dutchman Antoine Dieppo in 1842, heralded a new era for the trombone as a solo instrument. Sebastiaan and Andrea want to bring these pieces back to life by recording all of them on period instruments – a project which will take many years, but which will give a beautiful representation of the development of the trombone and the way composers treated it.
The Dieppo Database will be a collection of videos which will be added to on a regular base, until all 95 pieces are found (which may remain merely a dream) and recorded.
Around 1800, the trombone was mainly used as a military instrument in France and The Netherlands. In the German-speaking part of Europe the instrument was still connected to the church and religious music, but it was rarely heard as a solo instrument. In the course of the 19th century that started to change.
Antoine Dieppo moved from Amersfoort, in The Netherlands, to Paris at a young age. In the 30s of the 19th Century, he quickly made a name for himself as a trombone player. He played in the Opéra-Comique and in the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire and became professor at the Conservatoire de Paris. Dieppo had to be an exceptional talent who could play the trombone in a very sensitive way. Hector Berlioz wrote several big solos in his orchestral works especially for Dieppo. Berlioz’ letters still show how impressed he was by Dieppo, whose playing was apparently a breath of fresh air, especially compared to the German players who gave Berlioz “a chest-ache, not to mention an ear-ache.”
Dieppo showed the world the lyrical side of the trombone. He wrote many solo pieces for the instrument, a method, and many arrangements of opera arias. At the Conservatoire there was an important tradition of having a new composition written each year for the exams. In 1842 this started for the trombone department as well, with a new piece for trombone and piano each year. The first pieces are still quite military in character, but that soon changes to a more lyrical, almost operatic style. This tradition not only made a very significant contribution to the trombone solo repertoire (95 new pieces written between 1842 and 1985), but also to the emancipation of the trombone as solo instrument – as a serious instrument which can be lyrical and virtuosic as well.
Some of the pieces that are written for the Conservatoire are still part of the standard repertoire of the instrument, but many are practically forgotten. Some pieces are lost, but many are still around – often not published but still lying in Parisian archives, waiting to be dusted off and rediscovered. The Dieppo Database will collect all the pieces (or at least all that can be unearthed) and bring them together for the first time.
The way composers wrote for trombone and piano kept evolving, but the instruments themselves have changed significantly, too. The trombones of 1830 were in many ways more like their baroque predecessors than to the instruments we use today. The famous French trombone builder Courtois provided instruments for all famous French soloists and teachers, while the Erard pianos dominated the French musical scene before 1900. Sebastiaan and Andrea will be looking for original instruments and have copies made of museum pieces where necessary. The soft-spoken and clear colours of these trombones and pianos will really bring the music alive again.
When Antoine Dieppo moved to France, he was about to change the future of the trombone forever. This project is an homage to Dieppo and his lyrical style.