Posaune

As Printed on a Score

Posaune (plural Posaunen) labels the trombone staff in German scores, abbreviated Pos.; Mahler heads it Drei Posaunen and names single players by number, Pos. III. Parts are at sounding pitch in alto, tenor and bass clef. In a staff shared with the tuba, Posaune marks where the trombone takes over. In German sung texts Posaune can also mean the last trumpet, as in Brahms’s Requiem.

Abbreviations: Pos.

Also spelled: Posaunen

How Composers Use It

German orchestras standardized three trombones (alto, tenor, bass; later two tenors and a bass) with tuba, and the section carries a chorale tradition: Brahms holds his trombones back until the chorale in the introduction to the finale of his First Symphony, then uses them sparingly. Mahler uses them for funeral solemnity and violent climaxes alike. Do not forget their soft playing; a trombone chord at pp can be more striking than a fortissimo.

Example

Mahler, Symphony No. 5, first movement, trombone staff (“Drei Posaunen.”), m. 65: “Pos.III.” singles out the third trombone at a p, two bars before an fff.

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