History of the Euphonium

The euphonium is a valved brass instrument and was invented in 1843 by Ferdinand Sommer from Weimar, Germany. The name derives from the Greek word, “euphonos”, which means “well-sounding” or “sweet-voiced”. The instrument was the successor of the ophicleide, as the euphonium was a part of a new generation of brass instruments which included the tuba and the modern trumpet. This generation was born out of the invention of piston valves in 1815.

            The birth of the euphonium has been known to be a little skewed. Around the same time Ferdinand Sommer invented his “euphonium” two other similar instruments were created. In 1838, Carl Moritz of Germany invented the tenor tuba, and also in 1843 Adolphe Sax invented his bass saxhorn. Carl Moritz’s tenor tuba would remain, but would eventually be overtaken the euphonium. Adolphe Sax’s bass saxhorn became the predecessor of the baritone horn.

Many have gotten the baritone horn and the euphonium confused. Though there is not a very distinguishable difference to the naked eye, the baritone horn and euphonium do have a difference in the size and shape. The euphonium’s bore has a conical shape, which means that the space inside the horn gradually gets larger throughout the tubing of the horn. This allows for a deeper sound. While a baritone horn’s bore has a cylindrical shape in which the space inside the horn stays mostly the same until it gets to the bell where the space increases dramatically.

The oldest ancestor of not just the euphonium, but all modern low brass instrument is the serpent. The serpent was invented around 1590 to accompany chants during the Roman Catholic Church service. The serpent, despite being labeled as a brass instrument, was mostly made of wood and was curved into an “S” shape. Since the serpent was invented before piston valves, or even keys, it used airholes to change notes. It was played with a cupped mouthpiece similar to the mouthpieces used on modern brass instruments today. The serpent eventually became part of the symphony orchestras where composers such as Hector Berlioz and Richard Wagner included parts specifically for the serpent in some of their works.

The instrument that followed the serpent in the evolution of the euphonium was the ophicleide. The ophicleide was introduced to the Western Art music world in 1817 by Jean Hilare Aste. At this time, keyed instruments were the new fad as opposed to air holes, so as a result the ophicleide was invented to be the low brass of the new keyed instrument style. Unlike the serpent, the ophicleide was made entirely of brass, and normally had nine keys. However, the ophicleide was played with a cupped mouthpiece like the serpent and modern brass instrument. Also, like the serpent the ophicleide was used by symphony composers of the Romantic period. Some examples include Midsummer Night’s Dream by Felix Mendelssohn and Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz. The ophicleide also became popular as a solo instrument during the early part of the 1800s. One of the most well-known ophicleide soloists was Alfred Phasey. Phasey would later become more known to mastering the euphonium as well.

Finally, in 1843 Ferdinand Sommer invented his euphonium. After the euphonium was invented however, the ophicleide and even the serpent still existed alongside. All three, as well as some of the other similar tenor like the tenor tuba, bass saxhorn, and coming a little later the Wagner tuba, would all battle for usage. Eventually, by it being easier to construct and at a lower monetary cost the euphonium would outlast the ophicleide. Then in 1874 David Blaikley invented the automatic compensating system. With this new invention, it improved the intonation on the euphonium and was the birth of the British style compensating euphonium. This new style euphonium has now became the standard for professional level euphoniums everywhere.

The euphonium is not widely recognizable in the orchestral scene as the instrument is only used sparsely in the small number of orchestral literature that calls for it or its alike counterparts. A couple of those pieces in the orchestral literature that do call for it have previously been named, but a couple other notables give the euphonium key parts include Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky and The Planets by Gustav Holst. Even though the orchestral scene has not completely accepted the euphonium into its instrumental family, the euphonium has found a home in wind symphonies, military bands, and brass bands.

The euphonium solo literature for most of its history has been known for being transcriptions of music initially written for other instruments. Some of the transcriptions were not even written for other tenor-voiced instruments as there are solos that were written for cornets and clarinets. Original solo literature for euphonium did not begin to really take off until the middle 1900s. Most original solo music for euphonium written before then did not really stick with the evolution of the instrument and has been loss. However, in the late 1980s one original concerto written for one of the euphonium’s counterparts in 1872 was found. The piece, Concerto per Flicorno Basso by Amilcare Ponchielli, was originally written for a “bass flugelhorn”. This piece however is credited as the first original euphonium concerto. Before the discovery of Ponchielli’s concerto, the first credited concerto was written by Joseph Horovitz one hundred years after Ponchielli. Some still give credits to Horovitz’ concerto because his was the first to actually say “Euphonium Concerto”.

The euphonium has had quite a few major artists and even a family of artists over the decades. The first “master of euphonium” was mentioned previously, that being Alfred Phasey. The man who would succeed him for that title would be Simone Mantia. Mantia was an Italian immigrant to the United States becoming popular at the turn of the twentieth century. He was the premier soloist for John Philip Sousa and an advocate for the double bell euphonium. Mantia was against playing with vibrato and preferred a straightforward sound instead. This help create the characteristic “American euphonium sound”. This is what the British euphonium players called Mantia’s tone and assumed that all American euphonium players played the same way. Since marching bands, that used a baritone/euphonium hybrid, were on the rise in the United States during this time Mantia’s tone was in fact the prototypical style of American euphonium players at the time. However, starting in 1930 the director of bands of Michigan State University would all eliminate that style of playing. That director of bands name was Leonard Falcone, another Italian immigrant of the United States. Falcone would inspire his euphonium students to use vibrato and play with a more elegance. Most of his students would go on to take premier positions with military bands. After his death, his students created the Leonard Falcone International Euphonium and Tuba Festival which has become the most prestigious solo euphonium competition today.  Some of the most notable euphonium soloists of today include Brian Bowman and Adam Frey of the United States, and Steven Mead and David Childs of the United Kingdom. The latter, David Childs, is a second generation euphonium player. Both his father, Robert, and his uncle, Nicholas, were respected euphonium players in the United Kingdom in the middle 1900s.

            Though the euphonium has a brief history in comparison to other instruments in the organology of Western Art music, the instrument is still growing in many aspects. The literature for the instrument increases everyday and it has received more acceptance in the music world as the soloists of today work to advocate for it in front of many different crowds. Hopefully this will result in even more acceptance and a brighter future for the euphonium.

Check out this video of Dave Werden, former euphonium soloist with the US Coast Guard Band. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IAt9rK6KKQ

Works Cited

http://www.davechilds.com/reviews-and-articles/article=the-history

http://www.yeodoug.com/articles/serpent/serpent.html

http://www.serpentwebsite.com/what.htm

http://www.dwerden.com/music-videos/euphonium-music-videos.cfm?vid=1787