I saw a
baroque ensemble play last night; the
group included 2
guest soloists, one who played the sackbut and one who played the
natural trumpet. I had never heard of these
instruments before, but the sackbut did indeed look very like a
trombone, as
Webster 1913 suggests. As I
researched the sackbut (or
sakbut) today, I found that it is the
Renaissance precursor to the
modern trombone, perhaps named from the
French sacqueboute, meaning "pull-push". It was considered a very
useful instrument in its day because of its
versatility: it can be played
quietly or
loudly, so it can
accompany vocalists or
marching bands, as required; and it uses a double
slide, so that it can be played with perfect tuning at
virtually any
pitch. Instruments with finger holes
differ, apparently, as they are played
optimally at only one pitch. It has a
narrower
bore and smaller
bell than the modern trombone. Find out more, and see photos of sackbuts, at
http://www.trombone-society.org.uk/sackbut.htm