Re: Difference between Euphonium & Baritone


[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TubeNet BBS ] [ FAQ ]

Posted by Rick Denney on July 09, 2001 at 08:37:59:

In Reply to: Difference between Euphonium & Baritone posted by Lyn Christie on July 08, 2001 at 15:09:25:

I've come to the speculative conclusion that the terms followed the instruments, not the other way around.

Everything Klaus says is correct. Everything!

The English have this peculiar instrument that they call the baritone. It's different than any other instrument on the planet that might attract such a name, and they had a tenor tuba that was bigger. So, they needed a name for it. Someone sees an advertisement for a tenor tuba with a maker's model name, the Euphonium, and it sticks, like Kleenex for facial tissue, just to avoid confusion.

In the U.S., nobody cared about the little English baritone horn, because by the time anybody cared about these terms that sort of horn was no longer in use. The concert wind band gained so much popularity that the brass band faded from view, including some of the specialized instruments that went with it. So, though Klaus is correct about the American term "altohorn" in reference to an English-style baritone, that term has gained usage in recent years along with the resurgence of the brass band movement.

Consequently, tenor tubas in the U.S. used the term they always used, which is "baritone". All the old music is marked thus. The typical American baritone differs from an English euphonium in no more ways than a typical American tuba might differ from a British or German tuba. So, with all due respect to experts like Dr. Werden, saying a euphonium has a large bore and an (American) baritone a small bore, and they are therefore different instruments, is like saying an American tuba, which its wide taper, is more or less a tuba than a British tuba, with its narrower taper.

So, when someone says "baritone," they mean an American-style tenor tuba, with a bore between half and six-tenths of an inch and a bell diameter between three-quarters and a full foot. That same description also applies to the traditional British euphonium. The differences between them are no greater than the differences between tubas from the respective countries, and they can be used interchangeably, each with advantages and disadvantages, according to the artistic tastes and objectives of the musician. I have a Reynolds baritone and a Besson euphonium. They sound different by about the same degree as my York and Miraphone tubas, and they vary dimensionally by about the same amount.

So, it seems to me that the Americans built tenor tubas in one style, and the British built them in another style (and, as Klaus points out, likewise the Germans, the French, the Swiss, and presumably, the Martians). Each applied their own name for their own reasons, and now we use the names to demark the horns, when really the horns demark the names.

Rick "who can't remember whose quote is 'a euphonium is a baritone played well'" Denney


Follow Ups: