Baritone horn

Baritone horn

Brass instrument
Other names	Baritone German: Baritonhorn Italian: flicorno tenore, flicorno baritono French: saxhorn baryton
Classification	Wind, brass, aerophone
Hornbostel–Sachs classification	423.232 (Valved aerophone sounded by lip vibration)
Playing range
Baritone horn in B♭ tessitura is E2 to B♭4. In treble clef band music, sounds a major ninth lower than written. Can reach higher, and lower to C1 with a fourth valve.
Related instruments
Saxhorn Flugelhorn Tenor horn German horn Wagner tuba Euphonium

The baritone horn, sometimes called baritone, is 3 or 4 valved tenor-voiced brass instrument in the saxhorn family. It is a piston-valve brass instrument with a bore that is mostly conical, like the smaller and higher pitched flugelhorn and tenor horn, but it has a narrower bore compared to the similarly pitched euphonium. It uses a wide-rimmed cup mouthpiece like that of its peers, the trombone and euphonium. Like the trombone and the euphonium, the baritone can be considered either a transposing or non-transposing instrument.

In the UK, the baritone is part of the standardized instrumentation of brass bands. In concert band music, there is often a part marked baritone, but these parts are most commonly intended for, and played on, the euphonium. A baritone can also play music written for a trombone due to similarities in timbre and range.

Construction and general characteristics

The baritone, like the trombone and euphonium, is a nine-foot brass tube. Valves are most often piston-style. It is predominantly of conical bore, like the euphonium, but has a narrower bore than the euphonium. The smaller bore renders its attack more distinct than the rounder attack of the euphonium, and also provides it with a brighter sound than the dark-sounding euphonium.

Key

The baritone is pitched in concert B♭, meaning that when no valves are actuated, the instrument will produce partials of the B♭ harmonic series. Music for the baritone can be written in either the bass clef or the treble clef. When written in the bass clef, the baritone is a non-transposing instrument. However, when written in the treble clef, it is often used as transposing instrument, transposing downward a major ninth from the music as written, so that written middle C for the baritone is concert B♭ below low C (B♭₂ in scientific pitch notation), with the fingerings thus matching those of the trumpet but sounding an octave lower. It is often used to play parts written for the similarly pitched tenor trombone or euphonium.

Range

The baritone is part of the tenor section of a band. Its second partial with no valves actuated is concert B♭ on the second line from the bottom of the bass clef (B♭₂ in scientific pitch notation). The eighth partial with no valves pressed is concert B♭ in the center of the treble clef (B♭₄). Virtuosi can reach certain pedal tones below the E₂ second partial with all valves depressed, which is the nominal lowest note on the instrument, and several half-tones above the B♭₄, which is the nominal top of the instrument's range.

Tone

The baritone has a timbre between the brightness of the trombone and the mellow tone of the euphonium, due to its bore being sized between the two and its moderate bell flare, which adds some warmth without amplifying lower overtones as strongly as the euphonium’s larger bell.

History and Development

The baritone was derived from the baritone saxhorn, a lower voice in the family of instruments developed by Adolphe Sax, who is also known for creating the saxophone family. There were a collection of difference brass instruments that developed from this, such as the flugelhorn and alto/tenor horn, both similarly conically shaped instruments.

By the 1850s, Sax had convinced French military bands to use exclusively saxhorns in their bands, giving the instruments one of it's first staples in the military field.

Brass band and Military Traditions

In a British brass band, the baritone is typically a member of the tenor section, alongside alto/tenor horns, some trombones, and sometimes the euphoniums.

At the start of the Civil War, there were few military bands. The few that did exist included the US Marine Band, The US Military Academy Band, several Regular Army regimental bands, and bands associated with state militias. The War Department General Order no. 48 issued on 31 July 1861 entitled 2 field musicians (buglers or fifes and drummers) per company of soldiers and a band of 16-24 musicians for each regiment. In these groups, saxhorns were played as a versatile brass voice, with the baritone finding it's development here. An over-the-shoulder variety of the instrument was used quite frequently, as the backward-pointing bell of the instrument allowed troops marching behind the band to hear the music.

Drum and Bugle Corps

Drum Corps International (DCI) is the governing body for competitive junior drum and bugle corps in North America, showcasing elite marching ensembles made up of performers aged 13 to 21. Known as "Marching Music’s Major League," DCI hosts nationwide competitions culminating in the annual World Championships.

Sgt. David Cox, U.S. Marine Drum & Bugle Corps baritone player

There are typically five brass instruments: the trumpet (soprano voice), the mellophone (alto voice), the baritone (tenor/baritone voice), the euphonium (baritone voice), and the contrabass (bass voice). The baritone within these ensembles is often known as the marching baritone, used in both college and high school marching bands. They have three valves and a front-facing bell and are pitched in the key of Bb, similarly to the baritone.

These horns originally started as a lower-voiced bugle. Eventually they started adding valves to the bugles, which were only allowed to be in the key of G. First came a single horizontal piston, then 1 piston and 1 rotor, 2 pistons, and finally 3 pistons. In current day, there is a combination of different corps which use either the marching euphonium, marching baritone, or both, typically having around 24 members in the section. `

Differences between the Baritone and Euphonium

Wessex 4-valve baritone

Although both baritone and euphonium produce partials of the B♭ harmonic series in the same range, and both have a nine-foot-long main tube, the baritone tends to have a smaller and more cylindrical bore than the euphonium which is more conical. The baritone usually has a tighter wrap and a smaller bell, and is thus smaller and lighter overall, and produces a "lighter" and more direct sound versus the more solid, round timbre of the euphonium.

There is a common misconception that the three-valved instrument is a baritone and that the four-valved instrument is a euphonium. Euphoniums often have a fourth valve as an alternate fingering for 1 & 3 split fingering with improved intonation. The fourth valve can also be viewed in the same way as an F trigger on trombone, re-pitching the instrument to expand the lower range. A fourth valve is less common on baritones, but absence of a fourth valve is not a defining characteristic.

An "American baritone", featuring three valves on the front of the instrument and a curved forward-pointing bell, was common in American school bands throughout most of the twentieth century. While this instrument is in reality a conical-cylindrical bore hybrid, neither truly euphonium nor baritone, it was almost universally labeled a "baritone" by both band directors and composers.

Notable Repertoire and Artists

Repertoire

The baritone is highly applauded in its soloistic tendencies, with many brass band compositions using the solo baritone (or the first chair for American counterparts) as a solo voice. Its rich, lyrical tone bridges the gap between the trombone and euphonium, offering warmth, agility, and expressiveness ideal for melodic lines. Below are notable performances of key repertoire works for the instrument.

• The Holy Well - Peter Graham
• The Swan (Il Cigno) - Camille Saint-Saëns
• Donegal Bay - Paul Lovatt-Cooper
• Rhapsody for Bb Baritone - Philip Sparke

Artists

Notable artists who are today referenced as great baritone players include and

• Katrina Marzella has been hailed as the leading baritone horn player of her generation. Her musical development owes much to the rich brass band heritage she encountered growing up in West Lothian, Scotland. Katrina now lives in Manchester and has played with many of the UK’s most accomplished bands. She currently plays solo baritone with Black Dyke Band.
• Helen Harrelson is a British baritone horn soloist, educator, and brass band advocate based in the United States. She has performed with top brass bands like the Black Dyke Band and Fountain City Brass Band (of which she currently plays solo baritone with), and has earned numerous national titles as both a soloist and ensemble performer. A dedicated music educator and founder of the Fountain City Youth Brass Academy, she continues to promote brass band music through teaching, performance, and research.
• Robert Richardson is a distinguished baritone and euphonium player originally from Lenzie, near Glasgow, Scotland. He began his musical journey on piano and cornet at age 10, later transitioning to low brass. Richardson held principal positions in the National Youth Brass Band of Scotland and has performed extensively with the Brass Band of Columbus. He has also published some of the primary scholarly sources regarding baritone repertoire.
• Mike Cavanagh (B. 1994) is from Stockport and began playing the Baritone at the age of 8. He is currently Principal Baritone of the world-famous Black Dyke Band, and the professor of baritone horn at the Royal Northern College of Music.
• Simone Mantia was an American baritone horn/euphonium virtuoso and also trombone artist at the turn of the twentieth century. He was both a performer and administrator with many American band and orchestral ensembles.
• Leonard Falcone was a virtuoso of the instrument, and one of the first so. The Leonard Falcone International Tuba and Euphonium Festival is a notable venue for aspiring artists on euphonium, but its namesake played baritone on his many recordings. He had also published a rather fiery NAfME article advocating for the soloistic voice of the baritone, stating "anyone well acquainted with the instrument cannot deny that the baritone is one of the most, if not the most, expressive of the brass instruments."

Trumpeter Maynard Ferguson used a baritone in the song "Gospel John" and in one of his three solos (the other two involving a valved trombone and a trumpet) in a live performance of his song "Great Guns". The instrument used in "Great Guns" may have been a euphonium, but with the American naming system, it has been classified as a baritone through this article.

Japanese free-improvisation trumpeter Toshinori Kondo has played baritone on some dates and recordings (e.g., Jazz Bunker), as has saxophonist Ralph Carney (e.g., Night on Earth).