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Thursday, April 30, 2015

A little history on the instrument I play

History of the Baritone
The history of the baritone started in 1790, when a man named Ernst Chladni created an instrument composed of glass tubes of different pitches, and named it the euphoniun. It was the basis for the modern brass instruments name. Then, the first brass instrument was created in 1815 by Heinrick Stolzel and Friedrick Blushmel At this period, the shape of the baritone is slowly molding to the modern designs. In 1823, William Wieprecht, a German musician uses a similar instrument to the baritone called the Tenor Bass Horn.
As you can see, the tenor bass horn (pictured to the right) looks very similar to the modern baritone pictured below it. William Wieprecht used the tenor bass horns in his ensembles in which he used to perform in front of the king of Prussia. In the 1830s, different manufacturers in Germany and Austria experiment with brass instruments of the tenor/baritone range. The prototypes developed in these factories led to the modern design of the baritone today. Then, in 1838, Carl Mortix creates the Tenor Tuba, with the same bell and mouthpiece positions as the modern baritones:
The Tenor Tuba had 4 keys, whereas the baritone only had 3.
The baritone also had saxophone influence; Adolph Sax, creator of saxophones made a batch of valved brass instruments called Saxhorns.
The Bb baritone saxhorn could relate to the modern baritone.



Finally, after almost 20 years of development, The Sommer of Weimar created the first euphonium. The greek derivative of the “baritone” means “great-voiced”, whereas a baritone counterpart, the euphonium means “well-sounding”.
As the invention of the euphonium travels around the globe, the french army was required to have 2 baritones in cavalry bands. The euphoniums’ first formal performance was with the The Royal Artillery Staff Band of Woolwich.
The baritone gets its first improvement in 1859, with Phasey, professor of Euphonium and Baritone at Kneller Hall in England. He expanded the bore, or conical hole in the bell. He did this again in 1870.
The baritone changes in its form to an over the shoulder type, and starts being seen in America. This kind of baritone pictured left below, was used in the civil war. The silver baritone to the right is an alternative model called the tear drop.
In 1870, the japanese used 2 euphoniums in their bands. In the from the late 1880s to 1903, another version of the euphonium, called the double belled euphonium, is used in many songs. The double belled euphonium, pictured in the commercial to the right, was an attempt to combine the trombone and the baritone.
After the euphonium, the baritones took over, as they started appearing, mostly in Mahler’s Seventh Symphony in 1908. In 1921, concert bands had too many brass instruments, so baritones were limited to just brass bands.
In 1950, the english started to perform in just low brass ensembles. In 1964, the last double-belled euphoniums were issued, putting a stop to the trombone-baritone combinations.
In 1968, R.Winston Morris creates an internationally recognized euphonium-tuba ensemble at the Tennessee Technological University, much like the one pictured below. The 1970 is viewed as the Euphonium renaissance, as the Tubists Universal Brotherhood Association (T.U.B.A.) has completely re-developed the styles for the brass.
Finally, in the 1990s, after 200 years, from when Ernst Chladni created the glass tube instrument, the first modern baritone is complete.
The modern baritone supports the range shown below. It has 3 valves.






The baritone and the euphonium have very little differences. THey have the same pitch, notes, and fingering. The euphonium has a fixed upright beland valves facing up. The baritone has a bell front bell, and valves facing forward.



Bibliography

  1. http://www.usna.edu/USNABand/groups/be.html           (for images)


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