(1890–1975)
French trombonist, educator and composer
Works for Brass Quintet
- Suite Breve
- Suite Impromptu
Biography
André Lafosse was a professional trombonist and professor at the Conservatoire de Paris from 1948 to 1960, where he took over from Henri Couillaud.
He was also the brother of Marcel LaFosse (1895–1969) who played second trumpet with the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1928 until the mid-1950s.
He wrote a book entitled Méthode complète pour le trombone in three volumes published in 1921 (first two volumes) and 1946 (third volume). In it he famously describes the practice of playing with vibrato as vulgar and glissandos of questionable taste.
In the 1920s and 1930s he recorded in orchestras with Stravinsky. It has been suggested that he was the soloist in Stravinsky’s own 1928 Paris recording of Pulcinella where the trombonist omits the written glissandos – instead playing the notes staccato. Stravinsky’s Octet for winds recorded in the same period features trombonists André Lafosse and Raphaël Delbos.