HISTORY OF THE 'TONE

1790
An instrument consisting of glass rods of different pitches, which was played by rubbing them with moistened fingers, was invented by Chladni. This instrument was called a euphoniun or euphonium, which further complicated in naming other euphoniums that were invented later.

1815(1818?)
The actual inventor of the first valve for brass instruments is not known but the invention of valves is attributed to both Heinrick Stolzel and Friedrick Blushmel.

1823
William Wieprecht, a German and master of bands for the King of Prussia, uses an instrument similar to the euphonium named a Tenorbasshorn.

1830s
During this time instrument manufacturers in Germany and Austria began experimenting with designs of brass instruments of the tenor and baritone range which later led to the present-day baritone and euphonium.

1838
Carl Mortiz of Berlin Makes a tenor tuba.

1842-1845
Adolph Sax produces a family of valved brass instruments called Saxhorns. Two such saxhorns, the Bb Baritone Saxhorn and the Bb Bass Saxhorn, corresponded roughly to the baritone and euphonium.

1843
Sommer of Weimar, a German concertmaster, designed a "wide-bore, valved bugle of baritone range," at first called the Euphonium in Germany. Its name was later changed to Baryton. Ferdinand Hell of Vienna designed a similar instrument to the Euphonion, a bass bariton of tenor range, callet the Hellhorn.

late 1840s
Vaclav Cerveny of Hradec Kralove introduces a Phonikon which was a euphonium with a bulbous bell, like an english horn.

1849
Sommer is mentioned as being a euphonium and Sommerophone player in Jullien's band which played in England.

1849-1864
Heinrich J Hasenier constructed horns he called euphoniums. In reality, these were ten-keyed, chromatic bass horns.

1850s
French infantry and cavalry bands were required to have at least four bass saxhorns and two baritone saxhorns in their ensembles.

1851
The Royal Artillery Staff Band of Woolwich first used the euphonium in place of the ophicleide.

1859
Phasey, professor of Euphonium and Baritone at Kneller Hall in Engtland, improved the euphonium by enlarging the bore. He did this again in the 1870s. The stage band in Gounod's Faust calls for a basse saxhorn in Bb.

1860s
Over-the-shoulder euphoniums appear in America.

1870
Japan forms a military band utilizing two euphoniums.

1872
Although there were saxhorns used in the United States from the time of the Civil War, the earliest reference to the euhonium dates to this year, when it was used in Patrick Gilmore's band.

1874
David Blaikley, a British acoustician, introduced his compensating valve system.

1880s
Cerveny pioneered a 'Kaiser' range of instruments with particularly large bore which included a euphonium member called Kaiserbariton

late 1880s
The double-belled euphonium, mentioned in the lyrics of the song "Seventy-six Trombones" from Meredith Wilson's The Music Man, was an invention of the Conn Company. It was an attempt at combining the trombone and the euphonium.

1888
Harry Whittier, soloist with Gilmore's band, was the first to use a double-belled euphonium in the United States.

1896
Richard Strauss writes for a tenor tuba in his Don Quixote. It is also the first time that a mute is rquired for a euphonium. He uses the tenor tuba again the following year in his Ein Heldenleben.

1896-1903
Simone Mantia, a member of Sousa's band and generally regarded as on of the greatest euphonium soloists, used a five-valve, double-belled euphonium.

1908
The tenorhorn (baritone) is used in Mahler's Seventh Symphony.

1921
There were so many different instruments in various keys, sizes, shapes and names, that problem in band performance forced an official conference in instrumentation standardization to convene at London's Kneller Hall. Baritones were taken out of wind ban ds and limited primarily to the brass band.

1927
Shostakovich includes an extremely demanding solo for baritono (euphonium) in his music for the ballet The Golden Age.

1939
Harold Brasch introduced British compensating euphoniums to the United States.

early 1950s
The English were the first to perform in ensembles of low brass instruments.

1960s
The last double-belled euphoniums were found in the King ompany Catalogues.

1964
William J. Bell at Indiana University has a tuba ensemble that meets informally. At the same time Connie Weldon, Professor of Tuba at the University of Miami, also has a tuba-euphonium ensemble.

1967
R. Winston Morris creates an internationally recognized tuba-euphonium ensemble at Tennessee Technological University.

1970s
Music historians will probably view this time as a tuba/euphonium renaissance.

1973
The development of Tubists Universal Brotherhood Association (T.U.B.A.) is credited for the achievements of the tuba and the euphonium: better instruments, quality music written by composers sympathetic to the tuba and euphonium, better teachers, and bett er players.

1976
The Matteson-Phillips Tubajazz Consort is founded, on of the first groups to use tubas and euphoniums in a serious jazz setting.

1990's
The BRC is born. A new Golden Age begins.

2005
Notre Dame Baritones are named Section of the Year. Oose