From the bombardon to the Vienna concert tuba
Written by Mag. Gerhard Zechmeister   

The Vienna tuba has been part of the "Vienna sound" and the Vienna Opera (Vienna Philharmonic) for 160 years.

The Theater of the Carinthian Gate (the "Kärntnertortheater", the new name for the former court opera) was built by the City of Vienna with imperial sanction and was inaugurated on November 30, 1709. In 1712 the theater was used by the "old German Folk Theater". Then in 1765, after having been destroyed by fire in 1762, the court bought back the building. It was first administered by the gentry, and then, in 1776, was open to anyone (by virtue of "freedom of performance") until 1785 when the court again took over management and engaged its own orchestra.

Valve trombones

In 1807 the first trombonist was engaged (bass trombonist Leopold Seegner, member of the Court Orchestra founded in 1498 by Emperor Maximilian I); in 1809 the register was completed with Georg Kässmayer and around 1814 with Franz Seegner.
Toward the middle of the 1830s the Opera of the Court of Vienna replaced the small bore slide trombones with new valve trombones equipped with maker Leopold Uhlmann‚'s system of double slide tubes ("pumpen" valves), the type that are still used in Vienna horns today. They had a bigger sound and allowed more virtuoso playing. To make up for the change in the sound ("less easy to make sing") they used mouthpieces with rims that were quite "sharp" (the sharp edge of the inside rim of the cup "sharpened" the sound). The tonal model continued to be the slide trombone. In 1852 Franz Seegner still taught according to his conviction: "that you must first learn to sing with a natural trombone if you want to be able to do the same with a valve trombone!" (Glöggl, "Neue Wiener Musikzeitung" No. 30, p. 130, 1852.)

The bombardon in F

The first person to build a vertical bombardon (valved ophicleide) in Vienna (and which served as a model for the bass tuba of Berliners Moritz and Wieprecht) was Wenzel Riedl in 1829. First equipped with two valves, he soon added a third and then a fourth (illustration II). In 1835 Uhlmann, instrument maker to the imperial Viennese court, copied a French ophicleide (illustration I), replacing the keys with his own system of sliding double tubes (patent 1830, Vienna). This instrument, constructed in the key of F, became the standard bombardon of the era (illustration III). The opera orchestra of the court adopted the bombardon in 1834 (one year before the invention of the bass tuba!). Though the raucous sound and the intonation (roughly that of the ophicleide [keyed, illustration I]) disturbed the refined musical sensibilities of the Viennese, the valved ophicleide (bombardon) was distinguished by its warm, full sound and by its excellent intonation (Uhlmann‚'s bombardons were famous for this). "Bombardonist" Franz Fretzer, a member of the 2nd regimental artillery company band, also played stage music at the opera under the direction of Joseph Dobihal. Dobihal was also a clarinetist at the opera beginning in 1810.

Bombardon in C in the form of a helicon

In 1862, after the introduction of the normal French pitch standard (lower), it became necessary to buy new wind instruments (first used on November 4, 1862). Although the purchase of a new bombardon in F was initially planned, it was decided after having consulted orchestra conductor Heinrich Esser to acquire a bombardon in C in the form of a helicon which was called the "Contrabass" (illustration V). This "helicon", constructed for the first time in 1848 by Viennese instrument maker Ignaz Stowasser on the specifications of Berlin head of military music Wieprecht (who discovered them in Russian military bands) produced a sound that was four times bigger (owing to its double size) than that of a bombardon in F or that of the bass tuba. The helicon is still in use today in the traditional "Deutschmeisterkapelle" ("German Masters‚' Band").
The decision was probably taken on instructions from the direction, which demanded that a single instrument be sufficient to assume all musical tasks of this sort. The first excerpts of the "Ring des Nibelungen" by Richard Wagner were programmed for Christmas/New Year‚'s 1862/63 and needed a contrabass tuba. The program included among others the Ride of the Valkyries. This was played with the helicon and the valve trombone.

Introduction of the Vienna tuba

When bombardonist Franz Fretzer retired in 1875, the new opera orchestra conductor Karl Richter recommended hiring Otto Waldemar Brucks, a young tubist from Berlin, all of 16 years old. Richard Wagner, during the preparation of his Bayreuth Festival in 1876, expressly asked for Brucks, "the child tuba prodigy", who effectively played the part of the contrabass tuba in the premiere of the Ring. Richter himself had met Brucks during the orchestra rehearsals in 1875.
With the arrival of Brucks in the Vienna Opera orchestra, the Vienna tuba made its entry into the panoply of the Vienna sound. The tuba was purchased in 1875 from Berlin maker Paulus (successor of Lemke). When Brucks left Vienna a year later, his successor Rudolf Huber inherited the "Vienna tuba" and established it in Viennese musical life (Huber retired in 1908). Brucks himself left for Berlin, first as a trombonist in the "Unter den Linden" Opera of the Court of Berlin; in 1883 he became an opera singer and died in 1914 in Metz, France, where he had become the intendant of the municipal opera.
The form of the Vienna tuba stems from the bass tuba of Moritz/Wieprecht (Berlin, 1835, illustration VI). It was equipped with 5 (pumpen) valves. A "trigger" (3rd valve on the right hand) changed the bass tuba in F to a contrabass tuba in C (later even a 6th valve was added). With its truncated bell and its cylindrical leadpipe, the Berlin bass tuba had a characteristic "trombone" sound which blended well with the small bore slide trombones that were played at that time in the German capital. With the construction of the large bore slide trombone that first appeared around 1850, they sought a tuba sound that was a little rounder. The cylindrical leadpipe was replaced by a conical leadpipe in the Viennese tradition, the bell by that of the Vienna bombardon (more sound) and, while keeping the same fingerings, the Berlin piston valves were replaced by Vienna valves. This new tuba, called the "Vienna Concert Tuba" integrated very well with the Vienna sound tradition. It could match the ranges of bombardons in F and C (without a change of tone) and, thanks to the big direct sound, blended in a very homogeneous manner with the trombone sound.
Although he had lived in Vienna since 1869, Anton Bruckner, with the tonal concept of an organist, instrumentated in terms of (organ) registers and only added a tuba part to his 4th Symphony (2nd version, 1878) after the introduction of the Vienna tuba in 1875. This improved the homogeneity of the sound of the low brass (it should be mentioned that the premiere of the 4th Symphony of Bruckner by the Vienna Philharmonic in 1881 was still performed using valve trombones). The helicon, in spite of its small bore, had a characteristic "buzzing" sound. Also, the contrabass tuba was only used in Vienna in special cases, e.g. Wagner‚'s Ring, or where a buzzing low bass sound was desired. This clearer tuba sound marked the first tendency toward more brightness in the Vienna low brass!

Slide trombones

In 1883 the new large bore German trombones were also adopted in Vienna because of their "more lively sound", and because they "offered a more energetic color to orchestral expression", said director Jahn to the head intendant (H.H.S.T.A Wien: Oper /K74/ No. 311 es 1883; K77/ No. 1390 ex 1883). As none of the five opera trombonists had mastered slide trombone, three new slide trombonists were engaged on March 1, 1883, all Germans (Otto Berthold, Julius Mehlig, Fritz Alex). The three oldest valve trombonists (August Turek, Johann Mettenleitner, Johann Schuöker) were sent into retirement and the two youngest (Karl Malischek, Ferdinand Schubert) said they were prepared to begin slide trombone. The slide trombone "not being cultivated in Vienna at all" (director Jahn, H.H.S.T.A in Vienna: Oper... see above), slide trombones were obtained (an alto in Eb, a tenor-bass in Bb with trigger, a Bb tenor) from the Penzel factory in Leipzig (former Sattler, inventor of the tenor-bass trombone in 1839) and another tenor-bass belonging to the newly engaged trombonist Mehlig.
In the last purchase of valve trombones in 1862, tenors and basses were chosen exclusively (no altos). Presently slide alto trombones were reintroduced, and the old valve bass trombones were replaced by slide tenor-bass trombones. Because of this, the orchestral sound intensified in the center (with the Vienna horns and F trumpets), creating a sort of central "tonal body". When later the Bb trumpets completely replaced the old trumpets in low F (a bigger sound, mixing with that of the horns), they tried to compensate for the removal of the trumpets from the central "tonal body" by equipping them with very deep mouthpieces (still a Viennese tradition today). The "direct" low brasses were to remain unchanged tonally for 80 years until 1964 when Rudolf Josel (also a fine jazz player) was engaged as principal, which developed a trombone sound that was a little softer.

Traditional Vienna concert tuba

The "Vienna concert tuba" was until the 1960s uncontested and very appreciated for its properties of "sound compactor" of the trombones (thanks to its rich upper harmonics). Until World War II it was broadly in use internationally as an "orchestral tuba". Because of the internationalization of orchestras, pressure to use the American C tuba continually mounted in European orchestras, which led to the disappearance of many special traditions (e.g. the English F tuba, the French 6-valve C tuba). Thus influenced, many peripatetic conductors wanted to hear a massive tuba sound wherever they were, in Vienna as elsewhere ("Everyone plays the big tuba, why not in Vienna?"). But the Vienna tubists, aware of the quality of their instruments (good homogeneity of sound with the trombones, ingenious mechanism) didn‚'t want to give in to the pressure (the sound of the C tuba does not blend very well with the trombone register). Vienna tubists understand the necessity for further development of the Vienna tuba (to augment the tonal volume; the size/bore of the instruments has remained unchanged for decades). But for commercial reasons makers balk at seriously buckling down to working on the problem. Most of the time they are content to install six valves on standard tubas, which as far as tone and technique are concerned, are hardly satisfactory.

The new Vienna concert tuba

In 1982 I succeeded in interesting "Musica" (today: U.M.I. Austria), the Austro-Czech instrument factory, in such a project with the main goal of increasing tonal volume while preserving the clear and direct nature of the sound as much as possible. The prototype that came out of this was amazingly close to what we were looking for, and a corresponding model has been produced in series since 1983. For these models, I developed in 1996 in collaboration with Viennese mouthpiece specialist Karl Breslmair a line of mouthpieces that work well with the Vienna F tuba and favor the maximal exploitation of its resources. The special form of the interior canal of the shank of Breslmair‚'s mouthpiece reinforces the direct character of the tone which is so important to the tradition of the Vienna tuba (homogeneity with the trombones, "compact sound" thanks to the richness of its upper harmonics).
This new Vienna tuba is also made for our era and can be recommended to all players of the F tuba. Switching from one to the other is no problem since this instrument uses logical fingerings. (For those interested: Gerhard Zechmeister, "Systematisches Ansatzaufbau-, Trainings- und Kontrollprogramm für die sechsventilige Basstuba in F (Wiener Konzerttuba)" ["Systematic warmups, training and self-analysis program for 6-vale F tubas (Vienna concert tuba)"]. Soon to be published in German by Musikverlag Doblinger, Vienna.)

New tendency

Furthermore, since I developed the "Vienna concert sound" for the brasses of the United Philharmonic Vienna Orchestra in 1993, there has been an upswing in interest for a more direct trombone sound. Breslmair‚'s special mouthpieces that favor the diffusion of upper harmonics are also helping large bore trombones to sound more direct. To sum up: direct attacks; the sound carries well but is transparent in spite of its voluminous sound, creating an optimal compact sound. The harmonic-rich Vienna tuba with 3 trombones makes a very homogeneous quartet.

Copyright

© World Copyright by Brass Bulletin (Jean-Pierre Mathez), Switzerland.
Any reproduction of this article, extracts or complete, is stricly forbidden wihtout permission.

Source

Brass Bulletin No. 98, II - 1007