Introduction
The Tokyo University Trombone Club held its first concert in 1979, and since then it has been active mainly in regular concerts almost every year. In 2009, we held our 30th regular concert, and to celebrate the 30th concert, we looked back at the history of TTC.
The Beginning of TTC
It was probably the week after the 1978 Komaba Festival ended, or maybe the weekend after that. On that afternoon, we gathered at 'Moselle', a coffee shop near the Komaba-Todai-mae station level crossing, to discuss the possibility of holding a concert with only the trombone members of the University of Tokyo Orchestra. I think there were about 10 of you from the '50' to '53' year of school. However, I remember that the idea of holding a concert on our own had already been discussed on the way back from rehearsals or at a banquet, or perhaps I had announced it in a drunken rush, and I had the approval of everyone(although I may have forced myself to do so). The reasons for our decision to hold a concert are that the trombone section of the University of Tokyo Orchestra had reached the point where they could hold their own concert, and that the eight-piece ensemble of several pieces that Mr. Imai had obtained at the time sounded very appealing to us. Therefore, in order to secure the number of students, I did not want the four of you, '53' of whom had just entered the school, to escape. When I think about it now, I can't help but marvel at how he was able to practice that short, unskillful piece for more than six months without getting tired of it. On the other hand, at the summer training camp in Kita-Karuizawa in 1950, when I entered the school, the main concert was Mahler's Symphony No. 5, but there were only me and Mr. Haruyama('49') on trombone. Compared to the other parts, we were somewhat discouraged, and we were severely embarrassed by the cold stares of those around us. From 1951 onwards, a succession of great players joined the orchestra, and the trombone's voice and position in the orchestra gradually became stronger, and the atmosphere for holding concerts gradually matured. There was another reason why I wanted to hold a concert with only the trombone of the University of Tokyo Orchestra. It was about a year before our first concert, when I was invited to participate in a trombone ensemble concert with some of my friends who I had met at the 'Jeunesses’. However, the result was somewhat unsatisfactory to me. In other words, I felt that the concert was not very deep and lacking in depth, because the members of the ensemble did not have the right way to breathe together, even though they were members of 'Jeunesses'. So, I guess we're on our own at some point. He had been secretly hoping that this would be the case. Let's look at the origin of the name 'Tokyo University Trombone Club'. The name of the club comes from the fact that at the time, there was a group called the Tokyo Horn Club, a group of eminent professional players led by former NHK Symphony Orchestra member Chiba Kaoru. I don't know whether or not the original horn club is still active today, but at the time I was very much fascinated by the sound of the horn club's concerts, and I think that's how the name 'Tokyo University Trombone Club' came about. Now, I still remember the 'Moselle' rally I mentioned at the beginning of this article, but I hardly remember the rehearsals and concerts that followed. On the day of the concert, I made a big mistake in missing the G in Speer, and in Bach's four fugues, just before the last bar, I made a big mistake in breathing with Mr. Miyauchi, a master bass trombone player, even though I had never made a mistake before. The reason for the mistake was that I ritually made ritardando more than I had in practice. Incidentally, the aforementioned Mr. Miyauchi, like me, was enrolled in the school of '50' and passed away suddenly in London in November 1995. Shortly before that, I had an opportunity to go to England with my wife and we stopped at his house in the suburbs of London. At that time, he presented me a CD of his trombone quartet, Berlin Posaunen Solisten, which he had obtained in Berlin. That CD is still with me today, of course, and I can't help but feel mixed feelings every time I listen to it. Mr. Miyauchi was the first friend who told me that we were going to give a trombone concert by ourselves(he was a mild-mannered man who rarely opposed anything), and we played together in the predecessor group of St. Valentine's Brass Ensemble. We would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere condolences to him. Now, I've gone back through the threads of my memory to write about the situation on the eve of the first concert, and glimpsing the recent e-mails I've received from people, I'm keenly aware of the weight of 20 years of time. Also, without fear of misunderstanding, I have not been able to get a clear answer when I ask myself what the meaning of what we thought and did in the early days of our existence is today. However, I am sure that there is no greater pleasure than that of the many people who have participated in the first concert since the first one, if they have received their own answers.
Tsugeno Masashi ('50')