The euphonium (English: /j u ˈ f oʊ n iː ə m / yoo- FOH -nee-əm; Italian: eufonio; Spanish: bombardino) is a brass instrument with a tenor and baritone voice. It is tuned to B♭, which is one octave lower than the B♭ trumpet or cornet. The euphonium is mainly used in brass, military, and concert bands. Like all brass instruments, sound is created by vibrating the lips in the mouthpiece, making a buzzing sound. The euphonium belongs to a group of brass instruments with valves, including the tuba and flugelhorn, and has a wide, cone-shaped tube inside. Most euphoniums have four valves, often special piston valves, though some have four or five rotary valves in Eastern and Central Europe.
Music written for the euphonium can be written in bass clef for concert pitch or in treble clef as a transposing instrument in B♭. In British brass bands, the instrument is usually written in treble clef, while in American band music, parts may be written in treble clef, bass clef, or both. A person who plays the euphonium is called a euphoniumist, a euphonist, or a euphonium player.
Name
The name "euphonium" comes from the Ancient Greek word εὔφωνος (euphōnos), which means "pleasant-sounding" or "sweet-voiced."
The euphonium is part of a large group of valved bugles. The baritone horn, used in British brass bands, is similar but has a narrower cone-shaped tube, a smaller bell, and often lacks a fourth valve. The American baritone, with three front-mounted piston valves, a narrower cone-shaped tube, and a curved bell, was widely used in American school marching bands during most of the 20th century. This instrument, along with the euphonium and similar cylindrical-shaped instruments like the trombonium, was often grouped together and called "baritone" by band directors and composers. Sometimes, band scores and manufacturers treated these instruments as the same or used "baritone" to refer to the euphonium, leading to confusion in the United States.
In 1844, Ferdinand Sommer patented an instrument called the Euphonion in Berlin. After Sommer toured Britain in the 1850s, the instrument became known as the euphonium there. The euphonium is sometimes called the "tenor tuba" by British composers, though this term can also apply to other tubas. In other languages, the euphonium has been called the French "basse," "saxhorn basse," or "tuba basse"; the German "Baryton," "Tenorbass," or "Tenorbasshorn"; and the Italian "baritono," "bombardino," "eufonio," or "flicorno basso." In Italy, "flicorno tenore" refers to the narrower baritone, while "flicorno baritono" and "flicorno basso" describe the euphonium with three or four valves, respectively. The common German term "Baryton" may have influenced Americans to use "baritone" for the instrument, especially as German musicians and instrument makers moved to the United States in the 19th century.
By the 1890s, American euphoniums were sometimes called the "B♭ bass" (with one "B"). A 1894 Lyon & Healy catalog listed instruments named "B♭ tenor," "B♭ baritone," and "B♭ bass," all with the same pitch and three-valve design but differing in tube and bell widths. It also listed "EE♭ bass" and "BB♭ bass" tubas. In the 1930s, American drum and bugle corps introduced a "baritone bugle" (or "Baro-tone") in the key of G with a single D piston valve. By the 1960s, a euphonium bugle in the same key but with a much wider tube had largely replaced it.
History
The history of the euphonium is connected to the history of the tuba, which was the search for a practical brass instrument with valves that could play low notes well in bands and orchestras. Before valves were invented in the 1820s, brass instruments had limited options. Some, like the natural trumpet or bugle, could only play notes in one harmonic series. Others, like the trombone, used slides, while instruments like the keyed bugle or serpent used keys and tone holes. For low-pitched brass instruments, these methods were not ideal. Bass trombones with slides were hard to play quickly, and the serpent’s sound was often criticized.
The euphonium’s history is partly linked to the ophicleide, a metal brass instrument with a cone-shaped inside, developed by a Parisian maker named Jean Hilaire Asté in 1817. The ophicleide was designed to extend the range of the keyed bugle and replace the serpent. It improved on the serpent by using larger tone holes in the correct positions. The wide cone-shaped design of the ophicleide gave it a warm, rich sound, similar to the modern euphonium. The ophicleide was widely used in French and British military bands, orchestras, and brass bands for many years, even after valves were invented, until the 1870s.
The invention of the Stölzel valve in 1814, the Berlin valve in 1833, and the modern piston valve by François Périnet in 1839 allowed brass instruments to play smoothly in all musical ranges. These advances, combined with new manufacturing methods from the Industrial Revolution, led to major changes in brass instrument design during the 19th century.
In 1829, a Prussian conductor named Wilhelm Friedrich Wieprecht asked for a new instrument called the Tenorbasshorn in B♭ with three valves. Though no examples remain, some historians believe it was a larger version of the Tenorhorn, later called the Baryton.
In the 1830s and 1840s, several instruments appeared that matched the description of a valved bugle with a wide cone-shaped inside. In Vienna, valves were added to the ophicleide, keeping its shape but replacing the keys. Larger versions of these became known as bombardons.
In 1838, Carl Wilhelm Moritz, son of Johann Gottfried Moritz, built a smaller tenor tuba in B♭ with four valves. Around the same time, an Italian maker named Giuseppe Pelitti created a bombardino with four valves based on the larger bombardone. Pelitti called his instrument the Pelittone, but others in Italy called similar instruments flicorni. These were built in B♭ with three or four valves and became the modern baritone horn and euphonium.
In 1843, a bandmaster named Ferdinand Sommer created the Sommerophone, which was later called the Euphonion by Franz Bock in Vienna. Around the same time, Adolphe Sax invented the saxhorns. Sommer performed his instrument in solo shows and at the 1851 London Great Exhibition, where it was called the Euphonion. This name became the anglicized "euphonium." However, the earliest modern euphonium was the saxhorn basse en si bemol (bass saxhorn in B♭), which had a slightly narrower cone-shaped inside but was often used like the euphonium in British brass bands.
Adolphe Sax’s saxhorns became popular in Britain and the United States, partly because of the Distin family, who promoted the British brass band movement. By 1850, Distin & Co. was making saxhorns in London, and later in New York and Pennsylvania. The bass saxhorn also became the basis for the six-valve French tuba in C, which was used by French composers and orchestras into the 20th century.
In 1852, an instrument maker in Austria-Hungary named Václav František Červený built the Baroxyton, a baritone instrument with four valves. Červený also created other instruments, including the Kaiserbaryton, which had a distinctive oval shape. This design became the standard for euphoniums in central and eastern Europe.
Valved brass instruments, with their consistent sound and easier playing, eventually replaced the ophicleide by the end of the 19th century. In Britain, ophicleides were replaced by euphoniums, which were sometimes given as prizes to ophicleide players who won competitions.
The modern "British-style" compensating euphonium was developed in the 1870s by David Blaikley, a factory manager at Boosey & Co. Blaikley improved a three-valve system with a four-valve version that added extra tubing to fix tuning issues. Similar designs were patented earlier by Gustave Auguste Besson in 1859 and Pierre-Louis Gautrot in 1864. Blaikley’s system became the most successful and was used continuously in Britain. After the patent expired in 1974, many manufacturers added the compensation system to their euphoniums.
Modern euphonium makers have made improvements, such as using tapered and wider valve tubing, adjusting compensation tubing to reduce sharp bends, and adding tuning slide triggers. Adams introduced an adjustable lead-pipe receiver, allowing players to customize the instrument’s sound and responsiveness.
Construction
The euphonium is a musical instrument that plays in the key of B♭, which is an octave lower than the trumpet or cornet. It uses a mouthpiece similar to those on the ophicleide or bass trombone. When the valves are not used, the instrument produces notes from the B♭ harmonic series, which are created by the vibrating air inside its 9-foot (2.7-meter) length of tubing.
The euphonium has a conical bore, meaning its tube starts narrow and gradually becomes wider (except for the cylindrical parts near the valves). The bore’s diameter ranges from 14.3 to 16.6 millimeters (.563 to .654 inches) at the first valve, and the bell (the wide end of the instrument) measures between 250 to 300 millimeters (10 to 12 inches). Like the flugelhorn and tuba, the conical shape helps emphasize lower musical tones, creating a softer, richer sound compared to instruments with cylindrical bores, such as the trumpet or trombone.
The valves on the euphonium add extra tubing to lower the pitch, allowing the instrument to play all the notes in a chromatic scale. Most euphoniums have three top-action piston valves, operated by the right hand’s first three fingers, and a fourth valve, usually on the right side, played by the left index or middle finger. On many models, the fourth valve is a compensating valve, which fixes tuning problems when playing notes below E2. In European models with rotary valves, the three or four valves are controlled by the right hand together, and some include a fifth valve for alternate tuning options. Beginner models often have only three valves, while some intermediate models may have a non-compensating fourth valve next to the others, played by the right hand’s fourth finger.
Modern compensating euphoniums use four valves. The fourth valve’s tubing is routed back through the other three valves, adding extra loops to correct tuning in the lower range, from E2 down to B1. Less common are three-valve compensating euphoniums, usually older instruments. These route the third valve’s tubing through extra loops on the other two valves, fixing tuning issues for notes like C3 and B2. This system is also found on some three-valve British-style baritone horns.
Types
The double bell euphonium was first created in 1847 by an Italian instrument maker named Giuseppe Pelitti. This instrument became especially popular in the United States during the early 1900s. It had two bells: a large main bell and a smaller second bell. A special valve allowed the player to switch between the two bells for certain notes or musical passages. The smaller bell, which had a narrower shape, was designed to produce a sound similar to that of a trombone. In the late 1880s, Harry Whittier of the Gilmore Band and Josef Michele Raffayalo in John Philip Sousa’s band brought the instrument to the United States. It was widely used in school and military bands until the 1960s, mostly made by American companies. The instrument was last listed in catalogs by Conn in the 1940s and King in the 1960s. Today, the double bell euphonium is rare, but it is often mentioned in the song "Seventy-Six Trombones" from the 1957 musical The Music Man. A version with four compensating valves (and a fifth to switch bells) is made by Wessex Tubas.
In Britain, a five-valve euphonium without compensating valves was made by Besson and Highams of Manchester during the late 1800s and early 1900s. This design improved how well the instrument could play in tune by offering more valve combinations. It was also less expensive to build than compensating instruments, but it was not widely used. The Besson model placed the first three piston valves horizontally and added two more on the side.
In central and eastern Europe, euphoniums typically have rotary valves and an oval shape. Manufacturers like Červený produce models with five non-compensating rotary valves.
Euphoniums designed with a horizontal bell-forward shape are used in marching performances. These marching euphoniums usually do not have a fourth valve to reduce weight. They are currently made by companies such as B.A.C. Music, Eastman, Jupiter, King, and Yamaha, as well as by some Chinese-made stencil brands like Schiller, John Packer, and O’Malley.
In American drum and bugle corps, the Canadian company Whaley, Royce & Co. introduced the euphonium bugle in the mid-1960s. This instrument was tuned a third lower in the key of G and had two valves. Most were made by American manufacturers like Olds, King, Conn, and Kanstul. Whether a drum corps uses marching euphoniums, marching baritones, or a mix of both depends on the arranger’s choice. In mixed ensembles, euphoniums usually play the lower parts, while baritones play the higher parts.
Repertoire
The history of the euphonium's music began in the mid-1800s with changes to popular songs called air varié (meaning "air and variations"), which were widely enjoyed in France and Britain. One famous example is Jean-Baptiste Arban's Fantaisie et variations sur "Le carnaval de Venise" (1864), which was later played on the ophicleide and then the euphonium. The first known solo piece written specifically for the euphonium is Concerto per Flicorno Basso (1872) by Amilcare Ponchielli, an Italian composer.
From about 1880 to 1920, the number of solo and band pieces for the euphonium grew as the instrument became important in musical groups. In the United States, composers like John Philip Sousa and Arthur Pryor helped expand the euphonium's role in bands and published music for it.
Since the mid-1900s, American composers have continued the British tradition of using the euphonium as the main tenor-voiced solo instrument in concert bands, similar to how the cello is used in orchestras. Since 1960, many serious works for the euphonium have been created, including challenging concertos with brass or concert band accompaniment. These works come from composers in the United States, Germany, Scandinavia, and Britain. Some concertos for the euphonium and orchestra were newly written and recorded, while others were adapted from existing band pieces.
Until the late 1900s, most music for the euphonium alone was based on pieces for other instruments like the trombone, cornet, tuba, cello, or bassoon. The International Tuba Euphonium Association (ITEA) supported the creation of new solo pieces for the euphonium through its "GEM Series," which was published in its journal.
Although the euphonium is mainly used in brass and symphonic bands, it occasionally appears in orchestras, where it is often written as a tenor tuba. It was first used in 1898 in Richard Strauss's tone poems Don Quixote and Ein Heldenleben. The euphonium also has solo parts in Gustav Holst's The Planets (1914–1917), Leoš Janáček's Sinfonietta (1926), Shostakovich's ballet The Golden Age (1930), and symphonies by Havergal Brian, Roy Harris, Arnold Bax, and Samuel Barber. Despite these uses, the euphonium has not become a regular part of the symphony orchestra. It is sometimes used to play parts originally written for the ophicleide, bass Wagner tuba, or the French C tuba.
Performance
The euphonium is mainly used in bands, especially military bands, where it has many professional roles. Despite this, more people are learning to play it because British-style brass bands are becoming more popular worldwide. These bands have a lot of music that shows the euphonium’s ability to play smoothly and expressively.
Like the cornet and flugelhorn, the euphonium and baritone horn can be played by the same musician with small changes in breathing and mouth position, since they have the same range and fingerings.
In British brass bands, most instruments (except the bass trombone) are transposing instruments that use treble clef, a notation system created by Adolphe Sax for his instruments. This means the euphonium, along with tenor trombones and baritones, is written as a B♭ instrument in treble clef, sounding a major ninth lower than written, similar to the tenor saxophone and bass clarinet.
In orchestras, concert bands, and US military bands, the euphonium is usually written in concert pitch using bass clef, like the orchestral trombone. High notes are sometimes written in tenor clef. Concert band music often includes both bass clef and B♭ treble clef parts to help players from different backgrounds. In European band music, parts for the euphonium are sometimes written in transposing B♭ in bass clef, sounding a major second lower than written.
The euphonium can play at least four octaves. Notes from E2 to G4 are easy to reach, but modern solo music often uses the full range, including low notes from B♭1 to B0 and high notes up to D5. Higher notes depend on the player’s strength and technique. Notes above the bell cutoff frequency (around D5) are hard to play clearly, but sliding sounds are possible, making valve use less important.
The lowest notes depend on the instrument’s valves. All euphoniums can play chromatically down to E2, and four-valve instruments can reach C2. Four-valve instruments without compensation struggle with low B1, but modern compensating fourth valves or five non-compensating rotary valves (used in some European models) solve this. Three-valve instruments can produce low notes using falset tones, which are easier on instruments with wide bores and large bells. The pedal range (from B♭1 downward) is part of the instrument’s harmonic series and is easier to play on the euphonium and tuba than on other brass instruments.
Ferdinand Sommer promoted his invention, the Sommerophone (later called the Euphonion), in Europe in the 1840s. His performances in Britain helped make the euphonium popular in brass and military bands. Alfred James Phasey, a British ophicleide player, switched to the euphonium and became well-known for his playing.
In Brazil, Irineu de Almeida (1863–1916) was a musician who played the ophicleide and euphonium. He helped spread Choro music, a Brazilian genre, and recorded early 20th-century music. His student, Pixinguinha, also helped popularize Choro.
In the United States, Simone Mantia (1873–1951), an Italian-born musician, played with John Philip Sousa’s and Arthur Pryor’s bands, made early euphonium recordings, and helped the instrument gain popularity. Leonard Falcone (1899–1985), also Italian-born, taught at Michigan State University and influenced many euphonium players. The Leonard Falcone International Tuba and Euphonium Festival was created in his honor.
Arthur Lehman (1917–2009), a euphonium player in the US Marine Band, supported the use of double-bell euphoniums and wrote a key teaching book. He studied with Harold Brasch and Simone Mantia and promoted a rich sound with minimal vibrato. Brian Bowman, a soloist in the US Navy and Air Force Bands, taught at the University of North Texas and adapted Arban’s cornet method for euphonium. He also performed the first euphonium recital at Carnegie Hall.
In Japan, Toru Miura helped start the International Tuba Euphonium Association (ITEA) in 1973. He taught at Kunitachi College of Music and received an ITEA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008.
In the late 20th century, many musicians from brass and concert bands became skilled euphonium players. Steven Mead, a British soloist, advanced the British euphonium sound and commissioned many solo pieces. His student, David Thornton, won competitions, led brass bands, and earned a 2016 ITEA award for recording. He now teaches at the Royal Northern College of Music.
The Welsh brothers Robert and Nicholas Childs recorded and commissioned euphonium music, and their son David Childs, a soloist and professor at the University of North Texas, commissioned a euphonium concerto.
In jazz, Rich Matteson and Bernard Atwell McKinney (later Kiane Zawadi) were rare euphonium soloists. Matteson worked with Harvey Phillips, who started the annual Tubachristmas events. Some trombone players, like Gus Mancuso, also used the euphonium.
In popular music, Don McGlashan, a New Zealand musician, began as an orchestral horn player and later included the euphonium in his work with bands like Blam Blam Blam and The Mutton Birds.
In popular culture
- In Japan, the popular Sound! Euphonium book series, which follows a high school student named Kumiko and her school's concert band, has been turned into manga comics, an anime television show, and translated into English.
- The Loophonium is a special musical instrument and art piece created in 1960 by the musician and artist Fritz Spiegl from Liverpool. It is located at the Walker Art Gallery.