High pitch with old euphonium
Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2004 9:58 pm
I have an old, apparently-Czech-made oval euphonium or tenor horn which I got at a flea market. It's banged up but plays well with a modern Bach 3 or Schilke 53 mouthpiece - except it is very sharp; even with the main tuning slide pulled out, what would be a B flat is almost a B natural.
It always attracts attention at any US gathering like TubaChristmas because it looks so different, very Central European. I have been able to tune it and play with modern groups by using an extra piece of tubing in the mouthpipe, though it looks a little awkward. (I could, at least theoretically, also adapt by playing it as a B-natural horn. But my brain doesn't work fast enough for that transposition.)
I have been told that the instrument was probably made to an old pitch convention which was around in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Are there any references which would help me put a rough date on this horn?
It always attracts attention at any US gathering like TubaChristmas because it looks so different, very Central European. I have been able to tune it and play with modern groups by using an extra piece of tubing in the mouthpipe, though it looks a little awkward. (I could, at least theoretically, also adapt by playing it as a B-natural horn. But my brain doesn't work fast enough for that transposition.)
I have been told that the instrument was probably made to an old pitch convention which was around in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Are there any references which would help me put a rough date on this horn?