As noted in my previous post concerning Wagner Tuba, the book by William Milton was both informative and entertaining to read. Yet even at the end, I felt that although I understood how the instruments came to be, I had not cemented in my mind the key dates related to the development of the instrument. By going back through the first few chapters and consulting a small number of other general references, I was able to construct this time line, which I post here for the benefit of all.
1800-1829
- 1813 Birth of Richard Wagner
- ca. 1814-1818 H. Stözel and F. Blühmel independently develop a valve mechanism for use on brass instruments
- 1824 Birth of Anton Bruckner
1830-1839
- 1833 Birth of Johannes Brahms [Not really relevant at all to the development WT, but I choose to include it for perspective]
- 1835 “First practical bass tuba” created by W.F. Wieprecht and J.G. Moritz
- 1837 Journal reports of a “Tenor horn” played by the hornist Schunke
- 1838 Tenor tuba produced by C.W. Moritz
1840-1849
- 1842 Adolphe Sax sets up business in Paris.
- 1843 F. Sommer of Weimar develops an instrument known variously as Sommerophone, Euphonion, or Euphonium. The sound of the instrument was said to be similar to both horn and trombone, and was played by regular players of either of those instruments.
- 1843 Birth of Hans Richter
- 1844 The firm of V.F. Cerveny, in Koniggratz (Bohemia), produces a small tuba called the Cornon, played with a horn-like moutpiece and leadpipe. The instrument found use in Austrian military bands to replace horns. [Niether Melton nor Marcuse (1964) specify the key of the initial offering; Marcuse states that a bass instrument in F was available later, and by 1872 a family in E-flat alto, B-flat tenor, E-flat bass, and B-flat contrabass.]
- 1845 Birth of Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm, future King Ludwig II of Bavaria
- 1848 An instrument labeled the “Deutsches Horn” is described as having “tone color like the horn in the upper register, and like a tenor trombone in the lower.” The adoption of this instrument by military bands is also remarked upon.
1850-1859
- 1853 Wagner begins compositional work on the Ring cycle operas, starting with Das Rheingold.
- c. 1853? Wagner is said to have visited Sax’s Paris workshop. A subsequent Rheingold sketch that same year lists four saxhorns of different sizes
- 1854 Cerveny wins top honors for his instruments at a Munich exhibition.
- 1854 A sketch of the Valhalla motif in 4 voices, originally marked “trombones, dolce,” is changed by Wagner to “Tuben,” and specifying 2 tenors, 1 baritone, 1 bass.
- 1855 Sax is selling a family of matched brass instruments, called Saxhorns, from contrabass to piccolo registers.
1860-1869
- 1860 Birth of Gustav Mahler [Again, not really relevant to the WT]
- 1862 Conductor and Wagner patron W. Weissheimer writes to Wagner of difficulty finding suitable players for the “tuba quartet” in Rheingold [concert performance in Mainz(?)].
- 1863 A letter from Wagner remarks that “supplementary horns for the Nibelung pieces,” as performed in Budapest, were obtained from military bands, and “were adequate.”
- 1864 Birth of Richard Strauss
- 1865 Wagner writes to his benefactor, King Ludwig II, and appears to dismiss Saxhorns as not “adequate for my purposes.”
- 1866 Conductor and hornist Hans Richter becomes Wagner’s general musical assistant and secretary
- 1869 Letter from Wagner to conductor Hans von Bulow indicates that Richter has been charged with the tasks related to the still-sought tubas
- 1869 At the insistence of King Ludwig II, the premiere performance of Rheingold takes place, in Munich. The tuba quartet is supplied by military band instruments.
1870-1879
- 1870 Wagner writes to Richter, who is visiting family in Vienna, asking for his further assistance with the scoring of the “extra brass instruments” in Rheingold, with an eye toward completing the same work in the other scores.
- 1873 The printed score of Rheingold, published by Schott, describes the instrumentation of “8 horns, 4 of which alternate on the 4 tubas described as follows…2 tenor tubas in B flat…and two bass tubas in F….”
- 1874 Richter visits G. Ottensteiner in Munich concerning the instruments. Both Richter and Wagner later indicate that his desired tubas have been ordered in Munich, from the firm of G. Ottensteiner.
- 1875 A concert performance of music from Gotterdamerung is performed in Vienna using the first set of tubas.
1880 and after
- 1883 Death of Wagner
- 1884 First performance of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7, scored with tuba quartet (first symphonic use of the instruments)
- 1886 Deposition and later death of Ludwig II
- 1892 First performance of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8, conducted by Hans Richter in Vienna
- 1896 Death of Bruckner
- 1897 Death of Brahms
- 1911 Death of Mahler
- 1916 Death of Richter
- 1949 Death of R. Strauss
Bibliography
Marcuse, Sibyl. Musical Instruments: A Comprehensive Dictionary. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, 1964.
Melton, William. The Wagner Tuba: A History. Aachen, Germany: Edition Ebenos, 2008.