Posted by Sean Chisham on December 01, 1998 at 08:48:57:
In Reply to: Wagner tuben posted by Nancy Simons on November 30, 1998 at 22:13:38:
Might want to consult a Groves for this one.
The basic jist is that Wagner loved new sounds, and the uglyer the better. The Wagner tubas are shaped like German euphoniums with the bell curving to the side at the top. The horn players are usually called on to play them in the Ring. I have been told that they are pitched in F and Bb.
The ones I have heard sound like the ghosts of euphonium players coming back to haunt an orchestra for having so few euphonium parts. This may be why you never hear Wagner tubas in Strauss or Holst tunes ;)
sean