The SACKBUT, forerunner of the modern trombone, is mentioned in writings from the XVth century onwards. It owes its name to two old French verbs, "sacquer" (to pull) and "bouter" (to push), reflecting the movements of the arm working the slide. Apart from the addition of the rotary valve, the instrument’s technology has remained unchanged since the XVth century; the only notable differences between the sackbut and the trombone are the diameter of the bore and the size of the bell.

In the XVth and XVIth centuries ‘high instrument’ ensembles were one of the key elements of the musical world, and sackbuts, either alone or in combination with other instruments, were employed in the service of musical entertainment; they were also found in church vocal music accompanying the singers, and in intermezzi they were an essential part of the orchestra in the old theatrical Olympic tradition which the Baroque opera inherited after Monteverdi.

The sackbut is, I think, the best instrument for playing the music of Josquin des Près, Schutz or Monteverdi, and the modern trombone best for Bério. Necessity being the mother of invention, it is easier for a sackbut to enter into a dialogue with a counter tenor without the latter being obliged to force his voice; in the same way, the sonatas of Marini, Riccio and Castello written for violin or cornett, sackbut and basso continuo, which demand a high speed of playing, are more readily performed on a sackbut: since the inertia and volume of the instrument are inferior than is the case with the trombone, the interpretation of the music will gain in lightness and finesse.

Why should one not use the instruments for which this music was written, music which enables us to rediscover a world of sound to which we are no longer accustomed, in which the search for musical expression involves more finesse in playing than it does complex harmonies and in which the quality of the musical rendition is not necessarily bound up with the number of decibels? It is impossible to over-encourage schools of music to acquire sackbuts. Pupils who have already mastered the techniques of trombone-playing can also, as is the case with my own classes, gain an insight into a repertoire that is nowadays little used. It is also a good way of forming ensembles in which brass instruments, so often out on their own, can be integrated with strings, woodwind and singers. It is obvious that one can play all forms of old music on a modern trombone, and that is in itself neither without interest nor pointless.

Likewise, one can play all the parts for a bass trombone on a classic trombone, and the parts for an alto trombone on a tenor trombone, but this now abandoned practice in respect of the bass trombone should also fall by the wayside with regard to the alto trombone and the sackbut. The current tendency towards a uniformity of sounds could become a permanent feature and be taken even further by computerised performances. Such a development is interesting in itself, but it seems to me that it contributes nothing to music if one removes the human factor and in effect eliminates the pleasure experienced by the instrumentalist, a pleasure that we sometimes forget in our lessons and which enables us to communicate more fully in the universal language of music.