Books › A descriptive catalogue of the musical instruments recently exhibited at the Royal Military Exhibition, London, 1890 …, 1891 › scan 217
Scan 217
A descriptive catalogue of the musical instruments recently exhibited at the Royal Military Exhibition, London, 1890 …, 1891
6 lines. Read by computer on 1 October 2026. Printed page 197. See the scan on archive.org.
1The application of the valve to the Kent bugle, or cor-à-clefs, about 1843, by Sax, was the origin of a complete family, virtually bugles, and called by the generic name of saxhorns. These instruments have since been known by various names. They consist principally of Flügel horns, or valve bugles, alt horns, tenor horns, or barytons, &c., and are too well known to need further description; their tubing is conical, and their compass, as has been said, lies between the 2nd and the 8th harmonics inclusive. They are chiefly employed in wind bands, and rarely if ever in the orchestra.
3The instruments mentioned in Group 3, although in reality saxhorns, yet differ in that they are constructed with tubing of sufficiently large proportion to allow of the production of the fundamental sounds. And this peculiarity is turned to account, and thus considerably augments their compass, besides producing a full and rich quality of tone entirely wanting in instruments of smaller proportions. As the notes in the first octave, lower than can be produced upon three-valve instruments by the conjunction of several valves, are frequently required, a fourth valve, lowering the pitch two and a half tones, is very often added, and, for a solo instrument, the fourth valve is absolutely necessary. And so, as can be understood, these instruments possess the enormous compass of some three and a half octaves. This group of instruments are of more recent invention than the other valved instruments, and are used now to replace the ophicleides and bass horns once employed in military bands, where their introduction has proved of the highest value. Introduced of comparatively recent years into the orchestra, they are now of general use; and, indeed, a full orchestra that did not possess at least one euphonion and tuba, would not be considered complete. The fundamental of the euphonion is B♭ or C; of the bass tuba E♭ or F; and of the contra-bass tuba B♭ or C.
5There are, besides those just mentioned, another family of valved instruments, whose proportions are a sort of compromise between those of the horn and of the bugle. They were first described by Sax, and called by him saxtrombas; the mouthpieces resembled those of the horn in shape, and were made of suitable sizes. The invention of these instruments has been claimed for the German musician Wieprecht, and instruments of a somewhat similar nature were certainly
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