The Emergence of the Euphonium

In 1828, William Wieprecht, "master of bands of the King of Prussia," created a set of brass instruments. These instruments, such as the Eb cornet, Eb trumpet, Bb tenor and Bb baritone, led to the eventual creation of the euphonium and tuba (Schwartz 237). The bore of the Bb baritone was later "made larger" in England and "became known...as the euphonium" (237). On page six of The Art of Tuba and Euphonium, Harvey Phillips quotes Clifford Bevan to have said that "the tenor tuba was superseded about 1843, by the Euphonium, invented by Konzertmeister Sommer of Weimer, apparently a tenor tuba with an even wider bore" (Phillips 6).

Adolphe Sax, known to be the creator of the saxophone, also created a line of instruments similar to the modern day euphonium. The "saxhorns" had a medium conical bore, medium-sized bell, and were played with funnel-shapped mouthpieces (Phillips 7). In 1842, he created "a complete family of valved brass instruments from soprano to bass which are direct antecedents of many brass instruments used today" (Pilato 1). These "saxhorns" were "used extensively in military bands, in particular, the American Civil War" (Blazich 1).

In 1869, renowned composer Richard Wagner scored for "tenor tubas" in his work, The Ring of the Nibelung (Pilato 1). Wagner had desired for "four-voice choirs within the brass and woodwind sections of the orchestra" (Phillips 7). He created "Wagner Tuben," in his attempt to create an instrument which would add "new colors to the orchestral body" and "bridge the gap between the horn and the trombone" (7). The Tuben were scored in a quartet. Two of them in the key of Bb and two in the key of F. These "tubas in miniature" were similar to the modern day euphonium, "with wide tapers and a timbre very powerful and dark in character" (7).

As one can see, there the family tree for the euphonium is not simple. The modern day euphonium is the product of many artists and skilled workers attempting to refine an instrument whose low voice and wide range can produce a dark, mellow sound. You may have heard the words "euphonium" and "baritone" used to describe the same instrument. What's the difference? Click here to see.