"a second trombone"

I think this joke is in the libretto because it bothered Sullivan that the orchestra in the pit was so small that there never was enough room for more than one trombone player. A second trombone, then, however ideal, was imaginary. Sullivan's dissatisfaction with the number of trombones represents his desire to have a fuller, more complete, more serious orchestra and venue for his music.

Gilbert, Sullivan, D'Oyly Carte, and the members of the orchestra -- and possibly the members of the cast -- were likely to have gotten this joke, but I think the audience was not. It was an "in" joke, even then.

As the name of a musical instrument, trombone is mentioned in 1724 as a "foreign word" for an instrument "more properly [called] a Sackbut." The word, and the instrument, were in common use throughout the nineteenth century.

This discussion is based in part on the definition of the word trombone in the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, which requires a little explanation.

To Act I or Act II of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado.

To the homepage of this Mikado website.

Suggestions, contributions, criticisms, questions? Email Sharon Cogdill.

(c) Copyright 1998 Sharon Cogdill, dramaturg for this production and author of this website.

College of Fine Arts and Humanities

St. Cloud State University

This URL: http://web.stcloudstate.edu/scogdill/mikado/trombone.html.

Last update: 19 May 1998.