Re: Difference between Euphonium & Baritone


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Posted by Klaus on July 08, 2001 at 16:16:49:

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

You are sticking your nose in a bees’ hive, so I will give you my strictly personal, but multinational interpretations of these terms:

Basically baritone and euphonium are both instruments covering the vocal tenor, baritone, and bass ranges.

The British, as in almost any other matter, have gotten everything wrong, so they call their small bore (originally about .516, recently perverted into .547) Bb instrument typically covering the tenor functions in bands by the sick name of a Baritone.

The Germans as usual have gotten everything right, but in a fashion unbearable for the entire sphere of humanity, so they call their equivalent tenor instrument a Tenorhorn. Actually this instrument has the same bore as the older Brit baritones, but the Germans put a much more voluminous bell on these instruments.

One coulf call the Belgians narrowminded because they made tiny Bb Tenorhorns under the Mahillon brand name.

But again the Brits won the game of narrowmindedness. They reserve the Tenor horn title for their Eb alto instruments, which every sane nation on this planet calls an Alto horn.

The Germans call their wide bored, wide belled instrument Bariton. Which makes sense, as it actually covers the baritone range in the Don Juanian sense. You probaly know that opera by Wolfgand Gottlieb Mozart, where one can not sleep through the ending because of those trombones.

The Brits are geeks, so they of course took inspiration from the Greeks (The Brits spell about as well as I do), so they called their instrument covering the baritone range a euphonium. Literally a tool for radiating beautiful sounds (so please go home and practise).

The USians see themselves as the great mediators of this planet, so they made compromise between the Brit baritone (which is a tenor as you remember) and the Brit euphonium. The bore somewhat to the euph side. And the US term was quite rightfully: the Baritone.

When US military bands were in Europe during and after WWII, they found out that the Brit euphs actually were better tools for making music than were the US baritones.

Making the US the largest market for Brit euphs. Since 1970 the Swiss and the Japs actually make better euphs, than the Brits do. A knowledge reserved for the minority of US euph players.

Confused? Then I have not told of the French terms. And I am not going to do so. At least for now. Neither I will tell of the terms in my country.

Just for the preservation of your sanity I will tell you of the Polish term for French horn: Róg!

Isn’t that just an obvious term?

Klaus


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