An equale or aequale (from lat, voces aequales, equal voices or parts) is a musical idiom. It is a piece for equal voices or instruments. In the 18th century the equale became established as a generic term for short, chordal pieces for

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

choirs, usually

quartets In music, a quartet or quartette (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers; or a musical composition for four voices and instruments. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations o ...

or trios. The instruments were not necessarily equal in pitch, but formed a closed consort.

Commemoration of the dead

Aequales were conventionally used in Austria to commemorate the dead. They were performed from towers on

All Souls' Day All Souls' Day, also called ''The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed'', is a day of prayer and remembrance for the faithful departed, observed by certain Christian denominations on 2 November. Through prayer, intercessions, alms and ...

(2 November), and on the previous evening. They were also performed at funerals. While aequales might be played by other instruments, the sound of trombones was thought to be especially solemn and noble. Trombones had also already acquired an association with death and the afterlife. Finally, the theological symbolism of the trombone, representing divine presence, the voice of the angels, and the instrument of judgment, was thereby underscored.

Examples

Notable examples of the genre are the three ''Equali'' for four trombones of

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

("'' Drei Equale''",

WoO Woo, WoO, WOO, W.O.O. and variants may refer to: People Woo or Wu, romanization of several East Asian names: * Hu (surname): 胡, 瓠, 護, 戶, 扈, 虎, 呼, 忽, 斛 * Wu (surname): 吳, 伍, 武, 仵, 烏, 鄔, 巫 * Ng (name): 吳, 伍 * Woo ...

30, see score), written for Franz Xaver Glöggl and performed in Linz Cathedral on All Souls' Day (2 November), 1812. Two of them were later performed, with the addition by

Ignaz von Seyfried Ignaz Xaver, Ritter von Seyfried (15 August 1776 – 27 August 1841) was an Austrian musician, conductor and composer. He was born and died in Vienna. According to a statement in his handwritten memoirs he was a pupil of both Wolfgang Amadeus Mo ...

of words from the ''Miserere'', at Beethoven's own funeral in 1827. They were also played as instrumental pieces at the funeral of William Gladstone in

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

in 1898. The two ''Aequali'' in C minor of

Anton Bruckner Josef Anton Bruckner (; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist best known for his symphonies, masses, Te Deum and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-Germ ...

date from 1847 and are for three trombones. Three years earlier, in 1844, the little-known

Wenzel Lambel Wenzel is a male given name (long version Wenzeslaus) as the German and Old English form of the Czech given name Václav or Venceslav, meaning "praised with glory". Variations are Вячеслав (Ukrainian and Russian), Vencel (Hungarian), Wacła ...

(1788–1861) of Linz had published ten equali for three or four trombones.

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century clas ...

scored ''In memoriam Dylan Thomas'', his setting of "

Do not go gentle into that good night "Do not go gentle into that good night" is a poem in the form of a villanelle by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas (1914–1953), and is one of his best-known works. Though first published in the journal ''Botteghe Oscure'' in 1951, the poem was written in ...

", for tenor, string quartet and four trombones, which may be an "echo" of the tradition.

References

{{Reflist, refs= {{cite web, last=Bellingham, first=Jane, title=Equale (aequale), url=http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t114/e2296, work=Oxford Companion to Music, publisher=Oxford Music Online Accessed August 2011. (subscription needed) {{cite web, last=Brown, first=Maurice J. E., title=Equale, url=http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/08899, work=Grove Music Online, publisher=Oxford Music Online Accessed August 2011. (subscription needed) {{cite book, editor-last=Sadie, editor-first=Stanley , title=The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, year=1980, publisher=Macmillan, location=London, isbn=978-0-333-23111-1, edition=Reprinted with minor corrections, page=218, volume 6 {{cite book, title=Mens en Melodie, volume 59, year=2004, publisher=Uitgeverij Het Spectrum, url=https://books.google.com/books?ei=ZYpSTomRHIrTsgaQzKmzAw , language=Dutch Accessed August 2011. From sleevenotes, Triton Trombone Quartet: "German Trombone Music"; BIS-CD-644 Beethoven: Three Equali for Four Trombones, WoO 30 │ An die ferne Geliebte, Opus 98 │ Symphony No. 4 in B-flat Major, Opus 60
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161225080236/https://www.sfsymphony.org/Watch-Listen-Learn/Read-Program-Notes/Program-Notes/BEETHOVEN-Three-Equali-for-Four-Trombones,-WoO-30.aspx , date=2016-12-25 , Program notes, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra Death music Brass instruments Compositions for trombone