ORCHESTRAL EUPHONIUM REPERTOIRE
Although the deficiencies of the ophicleide gave rise to both the euphonium and the tuba in the mid-nineteenth century, the tuba has long since been accepted as an orchestral instrument, while the euphonium never has been. Though the euphonium was embraced from its earliest days by composers and arrangers in band settings, orchestral composers have generally not taken advantage of its capabilities. Nevertheless, there are several orchestral works, a few of which are in the standard repertoire, in which composers have called for a tenor tuba, a German Tenorhorn, a Wagner tuba, or a French tuba in C.
In all of these cases, the composer's desired effect was that of tenor-voiced, valved brass instrument – and in many of these cases the euphonium is substituted for the called-for instrument, either because the instrument is obsolete (French C tuba), is unavailable (tenor tuba), or may be undesirable (Wagner tuba).
Chief among these examples are the tone poems Don Quixote (1897) and Ein Heldenleben (1898) by Richard Strauss, which were originally scored for Wagner tuba, but after their performance on Wagner tuba proved unsatisfactory, were rescored for euphonium with Strauss's approval. In the first movement of his Seventh Symphony (1906), Gustav Mahler wrote an extremely prominent solo for Tenorhorn. Gustav Holst used a tenor tuba in three movements (Mars, Jupiter, and Uranus) of his suite The Planets (1914–16). Finally, Leoš Janáček's most famous piece "Sinfonietta" employs two euphonium parts. Today, all of these parts are customarily played on euphonium, and in each of these cases, the instrument called for is used in a both a soloistic role and written to function as part of the brass section.
In addition, a number of British composers in the pre-World War II era, including Edward Elgar, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Percy Grainger, and Arnold Bax, wrote orchestral pieces with two tuba parts, understanding that the first part would be played on euphonium. Finally, there are several orchestral pieces – though none in the standard repertoire – in which the composer specifically calls for a euphonium. Among them are Dmitri Shostakovich's score to the ballet The Age of Gold, Leonard Bernstein's Divertimento for Orchestra, and several symphonies by the British composer Havergal Brian, the American Roy Harris, and the still-living Finnish composer Kalevi Aho.
Thanks to the work of several leading exponents of the euphonium there are also now a number of euphonium concerti with orchestral accompaniment available. A list of these can be found here, including the 2009 concerto by Karl Jenkins, premiered by David Childs and the BBC Concert Orchestra (conductor Owain Arwel Hughes) at St David's Hall, Cardiff, July 25th 2009. This work was commissioned by Euphonium Foundation UK.
Further information on this work and other prominent concerti for euphonium and orchestra can be found here
In all of these cases, the composer's desired effect was that of tenor-voiced, valved brass instrument – and in many of these cases the euphonium is substituted for the called-for instrument, either because the instrument is obsolete (French C tuba), is unavailable (tenor tuba), or may be undesirable (Wagner tuba).
Chief among these examples are the tone poems Don Quixote (1897) and Ein Heldenleben (1898) by Richard Strauss, which were originally scored for Wagner tuba, but after their performance on Wagner tuba proved unsatisfactory, were rescored for euphonium with Strauss's approval. In the first movement of his Seventh Symphony (1906), Gustav Mahler wrote an extremely prominent solo for Tenorhorn. Gustav Holst used a tenor tuba in three movements (Mars, Jupiter, and Uranus) of his suite The Planets (1914–16). Finally, Leoš Janáček's most famous piece "Sinfonietta" employs two euphonium parts. Today, all of these parts are customarily played on euphonium, and in each of these cases, the instrument called for is used in a both a soloistic role and written to function as part of the brass section.
In addition, a number of British composers in the pre-World War II era, including Edward Elgar, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Percy Grainger, and Arnold Bax, wrote orchestral pieces with two tuba parts, understanding that the first part would be played on euphonium. Finally, there are several orchestral pieces – though none in the standard repertoire – in which the composer specifically calls for a euphonium. Among them are Dmitri Shostakovich's score to the ballet The Age of Gold, Leonard Bernstein's Divertimento for Orchestra, and several symphonies by the British composer Havergal Brian, the American Roy Harris, and the still-living Finnish composer Kalevi Aho.
Thanks to the work of several leading exponents of the euphonium there are also now a number of euphonium concerti with orchestral accompaniment available. A list of these can be found here, including the 2009 concerto by Karl Jenkins, premiered by David Childs and the BBC Concert Orchestra (conductor Owain Arwel Hughes) at St David's Hall, Cardiff, July 25th 2009. This work was commissioned by Euphonium Foundation UK.
Further information on this work and other prominent concerti for euphonium and orchestra can be found here
