The baritone horn, also called the baritone, is a brass instrument with valves that plays in the key of B♭. It belongs to the saxhorn family and is mainly used in brass, military, and concert bands. In North America during much of the 20th century, the word "baritone" also described similar instruments with a larger, wider-bore design, similar to the euphonium. The baritone has three or four piston valves, though some in Eastern and Central Europe use rotary valves and call the instrument the Tenorhorn. Its shape is somewhat cone-like, similar to the E♭ tenor horn and cornet, but narrower than the euphonium and other valved brass instruments like the flugelhorn and tuba. It uses a mouthpiece with a wide rim, similar in size to those used by trombones and euphoniums. Like the trombone and euphonium, the baritone can be played as a transposing instrument using the B♭ treble clef or as a non-transposing instrument using the bass clef.
In British brass bands, the standard setup includes two baritone parts along with two euphonium parts. In American concert bands, parts labeled "baritone" are often played on the euphonium instead. Because the baritone and trombone share similar sounds and ranges, a baritone can also play music written for the trombone.
Name
The term "baritone" has been used for several related brass instruments with valves in different regions, languages, and time periods. These instruments are usually tuned to 8-foot (8′) C or 9′ B♭ and were developed in the 19th century. The euphonium, which is similar to the baritone, has a wider, cone-shaped body and a larger bell, making it more like a tuba.
In other languages, the baritone is called the "saxhorn baryton" in French, from which the modern British brass band instrument was created. In Italian, it is called "flicorno tenore," "flicorno baritono," or "flicorno basso." The term "flicorno basso" always refers to an instrument with four valves. In Germany, the baritone often has an oval shape and rotating valves, and is called the "Tenorhorn." A smaller version, the E♭ tenor horn, is called the "Althorn." The German terms "Baryton" or "Baritonhorn" describe an instrument similar to the baritone but with a larger body and bell like the euphonium. In the United States, confusion between the baritone and euphonium may have happened because many German musicians and instrument makers moved to the U.S. in the 19th century.
A catalog from Lyon & Healy, a Chicago-based instrument maker, from 1894 lists instruments named the B♭ tenor, B♭ baritone, and B♭ bass (with only one "B"). These instruments have the same pitch and three valves but differ in the size of their bodies and bells.
The American-style baritone, which has three piston valves on the front and a curved bell pointing forward, was widely used in American school marching bands during most of the 20th century. This instrument, along with the British-style upright baritone, concert euphonium, and similar cylindrical instruments like the trombonium, was often grouped together and called "baritone" by both band directors and composers.
History
The baritone horn used in British brass bands was created from the French saxhorn baryton, a lower-pitched instrument in the saxhorn family. However, measurements of the inner space of older instruments show it is more similar to the baritone saxotromba. These were two families of brass instruments with cone-shaped inner spaces and piston valves, developed in the 1840s by Adolphe Sax. Other instruments from these families later became common in bands, such as the E♭ tenor horn and the E♭ and B♭ tubas.
By the 1850s, Adolphe Sax convinced French military bands to use saxhorns exclusively, making them important in military music. Saxhorns became standard in Britain and the United States, largely due to the Distin family, who helped spread the British brass band movement. They promoted and performed on Sax’s instruments widely. By 1850, Distin & Co. was manufacturing saxhorns in London. By the 1870s, production also began in New York and Pennsylvania after Boosey & Co. bought the London business.
In central and eastern Europe, the Baß-Tuba, patented in 1835 by Prussian military conductor Wilhelm Friedrich Wieprecht and instrument maker Johann Gottfried Moritz, inspired related instruments. These eventually used rotary valves, and their oval shape was developed by Václav František Červený in the late 19th century. The German name for the instrument with similar size, bell shape, and sound to the baritone is the Tenorhorn.
At the start of the American Civil War in 1861, there were few military bands in the United States. Existing bands included the United States Marine Band, the United States Military Academy Band, and some Army and militia bands. A War Department order in 1861 required each regiment to have 16–24 musicians in a band and two field musicians per company. These groups used bugles and saxhorns, including B♭ baritones and euphoniums. Instruments that hung over the shoulder were common, as their backward-pointing bells made it easier for soldiers marching behind to hear the music.
During the Civil War (1861–1865), American instrument makers produced thousands of brass instruments, many of which survive in museums today. After the war, bands and their music remained popular, and demand for bugles and saxhorns stayed high. From these groups and musicians came the American drum and bugle corps tradition, which standardized on G-pitched instruments by the early 1890s.
By the early 1930s, the narrow-bore bass bugle in G, used previously, evolved into the baritone bugle (originally called the bass baritone). This new instrument had a wider bore, was also in G, and included a single piston valve that lowered the pitch to D. Ludwig, then a subsidiary of C. G. Conn, named theirs the "Baro-tone" bugle. In the 1940s, an extra semitone rotary valve was added, later replaced by a second F piston valve after a rule change in 1967. By 1990, Drum Corps International (DCI) allowed three-valved instruments in any key, not just G. This change let bands use instruments common in other traditions, such as B♭ baritones and euphoniums with forward-pointing bells.
The modern British baritone horn was developed from the French saxhorn baryton. In the 1870s, David Blaikley, a factory manager at Boosey & Co. in London, created a three-valve compensation system. This system used extra tubing loops to fix the tuning of the instrument. Earlier designs by Gustave Auguste Besson (1859) and Pierre-Louis Gautrot (1864) were also developed. Blaikley’s system was the most successful and used on instruments made by Boosey & Co. and Besson after their merger in the mid-20th century. The three-valve system is still used on baritones from Besson, while Blaikley’s four-valve system is more common on euphoniums.
In the United States, for much of the 20th century, the baritone horn referred to a wider-bore instrument closer to the euphonium. These instruments had three front-action piston valves and a curved, forward-pointing bell. Made by American companies like Conn and King, and later by Yamaha and Jupiter, they were popular in school and military bands. American musicians, directors, and composers often used baritone horns and euphoniums interchangeably. Some manufacturers labeled cheaper student models as baritones and reserved the name euphonium for more expensive professional instruments.
Construction
The baritone horn, like the euphonium, is tuned to B♭, which is one octave lower than the trumpet or cornet. When no valves are used, the instrument produces notes from the B♭ harmonic series. These notes are created by the air vibrating inside its 9-foot (2.7-meter) length of tubing.
The baritone horn has a conical shape, meaning its tubing gradually widens from the mouthpiece to the bell. However, its bore is narrower than the euphonium’s, with a smaller bell and less flare. This design makes the instrument shorter and lighter. These features help produce higher-pitched overtones, giving the baritone a brighter sound similar to a trombone. Like the cornet and flugelhorn, the baritone and euphonium can be played by the same musician with slight adjustments to breathing and mouth position, as they share the same range and fingering.
Valves on the baritone horn add extra tubing to lower the pitch, allowing the instrument to play all notes in a chromatic scale. Most baritones have three top-action piston valves, controlled by the right hand’s first three fingers. Some models include a fourth valve, usually on the right side, operated by the left hand’s index or middle finger. Others may place the fourth valve next to the other three, using the right hand’s fourth finger. European tenorhorns typically have an oval shape and use three or four rotary valves, all operated by the right hand.
Many British-style baritones and older American models have a compensating third valve. This valve routes the third valve’s tubing through the first two valves, adding extra tubing to improve the tuning of lower notes, such as C3 and B2. High-quality models may include a compensating fourth valve, which helps tune lower notes and extend the instrument’s range below E2.
The fourth valve lowers the pitch by a fourth, provides an alternate way to play notes using valves 1 and 3, and extends the instrument’s range, similar to the F valve on a tenor trombone. While the fourth valve is not common on baritones, its absence does not define the instrument.
Performance
The baritone is often part of the tenor harmony section in a band. It can play parts written for the tenor trombone or euphonium, which are similar in pitch.
On the baritone, the second note produced without pressing any valves is B♭2, which is on the second line of the bass clef. The eighth note without valves is concert B♭4, located in the middle of the treble clef. The lowest note, E2, is produced by pressing all three valves. Notes above B♭4 are possible, but they become harder to play as they approach the upper range. Notes near the bell cutoff frequency, around D5, are especially difficult to play accurately.
The lowest notes a baritone can play depend on its valve setup. Instruments with three valves can play down to E2, while those with four valves can reach as low as C2. However, non-compensating four-valve instruments have trouble with low notes, such as B1. These issues are fixed with a compensating fourth valve. The pedal notes, starting from B♭1, are the lowest notes in the instrument’s harmonic series. They are harder to play on the baritone than on the euphonium because the baritone has a narrower tube and smaller mouthpiece. How low a player can go depends on their skill and whether the instrument has a fourth valve.
In British brass bands, most instruments (except the bass trombone) use the treble clef notation, a system developed by Adolphe Sax for his instruments. This system helps musicians learn and switch between instruments easily because the valve fingerings are the same. The baritone, like the tenor trombone and euphonium, sounds a major ninth lower than written when using treble clef. This is similar to how the B♭ trumpet or cornet sounds.
In concert bands, the baritone is sometimes written in bass clef at concert pitch, like the orchestral trombone. High notes may be 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, the baritone and euphonium are occasionally written as B♭ transposing instruments in bass clef, sounding a major second lower than written.
In the early 20th century, Simone Mantia, an Italian-born musician, played the baritone and euphonium. He performed with famous bands and helped make these instruments popular in the United States. Leonard Falcone, another Italian-born musician, taught at Michigan State University and influenced many baritone and euphonium players. A festival named after him, the Leonard Falcone International Tuba and Euphonium Festival, celebrates these instruments.
Some musicians have promoted the baritone horn. Katrina Marzella, a British artist, helped develop a new baritone model for Yamaha. She recorded two albums with new compositions and later became the first woman principal conductor of The Cooperation Band. Mike Cavanagh is a principal baritone with Black Dyke Band and teaches at the Royal Northern College of Music.
Helen Harrelson is a British baritone soloist and educator who started the National Youth Brass Band of America. She performs with Fountain City Brass Band and promotes brass music through teaching and research. Robert Richardson is a Scottish baritone and euphonium player who performed with the US Brass Band of Columbus and recorded an album with other baritone soloists.
In jazz, trumpet players sometimes play the baritone horn or valve trombone. Maynard Ferguson, a famous trumpet player, also played the baritone horn. The 2023 film Fremont features Leandro Joaquim playing the baritone horn, accompanied by double bass and the Persian setar.
Repertoire
In orchestral music, the baritone horn is not often used. The German composer Gustav Mahler wrote his Symphony No. 7 with a part for the Tenorhorn, but this part is usually played on the euphonium instead.
Italian composers sometimes include flicorni in the band sections of their operas. In his symphonic poem Pini di Roma (1924), Ottorino Respighi wrote baritone parts marked flicorno tenore in Si ♭. These parts were meant to be played, if possible, on copies of the ancient Roman instrument called the buccina.
In bands, the baritone horn helps create the tenor and baritone sounds. It is sometimes given solo parts to connect the trombones and euphoniums. However, the lack of music written specifically for the baritone has made it harder to be accepted as a serious instrument. Soloists often use concertos and other pieces written for the trombone or euphonium. In 1939, Leonard Falcone wrote an article in the Music Educators Journal asking for more solo music for the baritone. He said, "anyone well acquainted with the instrument cannot deny that the baritone is one of the most, if not the most, expressive of the brass instruments."
In 1948, American composer Alan Hovhaness wrote Divan Concerto No. 3 for the baritone horn and orchestra. In the 21st century, more music for the baritone horn has been written. Examples include Philip Sparke’s Rhapsody (1991) and concertos for band by Boris Diev (1997), Roger Thorne (2003), Andrew Duncan (2004), Darrol Barry (2006), and Martin Ellerby (2007). Peter Graham composed Turbulence, Tide & Torque (2018), which was first performed and recorded by Marzella.