Wagner Tuba: A Hybrid Brass Instrument Born from Opera

Overview

The Wagner tuba is a four-valve brass instrument commissioned by and named after the German composer Richard Wagner. It combines technical features of both standard tubas and French horns, though despite its name it is much closer in family to the horn and is normally played by horn players rather than tubists. Wagner created the instrument for his four-part opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen, where its purpose was to bridge the acoustical and textural gap between the French horn and the trombone (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagner_tuba). Critics and players have variously described its sound as “smoky”, “metallic”, “unearthly” and “majestic” (https://www.proquest.com/docview/1323193266/).

In German-language scores the instruments are usually called Tuben, Tenortuben and Basstuben, and may also appear as Wagnertuben, Waldhorntuben, Bayreuth-tuben, Ring-tuben or Horn-tuben. Wagner himself sometimes used the singular Tuba, sometimes the plural Tuben, in his published scores.

Origin and history

The Wagner tuba was conceived for Der Ring des Nibelungen, an opera cycle drawing on Nordic mythology. Wagner was attempting to perfect the so-called Valhalla leitmotif, and Das Rheingold was the first work in which he tried to conceive pitch, rhythm and instrumentation as a single creative gesture. He first planned to use trombones for the motif, but ultimately decided to commission new instruments, which he called Tuben. He distributed them across four pairs of horn players, the last two pairs doubling on the new instruments: a pair pitched in F (bass Tuben) and a pair in B-flat (tenor Tuben) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagner_tuba).

Wagner wanted a sound that would evoke Norse legend and create a more homogeneous blend within the brass section. According to David M. Guion, his sonic ideal was the ancient Nordic lur, examples of which had been unearthed by archaeologists in 1797 and were still playable (https://doi.org/10.1353/not.0.0190). Because natural lurs were not chromatic, however, Wagner needed the flexibility of a valved instrument similar to a saxhorn.

In 1853 Wagner visited the Paris workshop of Adolphe Sax, inventor of the saxophone and the saxhorn. The saxhorn had a more cylindrical, larger bore and used a parabolic cup mouthpiece, producing a tone Wagner found too brassy. The composer instead specified a conical bore similar to the horn and a tapered horn-style mouthpiece, producing a darker, vocal sound that could blend with both horns and trombones. The instruments were eventually built in time for the first complete Ring performances at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus in 1876.

Construction and materials

The Wagner tuba is built with rotary valves, which (as on the French horn) are operated with the left hand. Horn players traditionally double on Wagner tubas because the cup mouthpiece and fingering are identical to those of the horn, even though the bore of the Wagner tuba is roughly midway between that of a euphonium and a horn. The bore size is also similar to that of the cornophone, which contributes to a closely related timbre.

The instrument nominally exists in two sizes: a tenor in B-flat and a bass in F, with ranges comparable to horns of the same pitches but slightly less agile in the highest register. Several twentieth-century and later manufacturers, such as Gebr. Alexander of Mainz (whose model 110 is the instrument shown above), have combined the two sizes into a single double Wagner tuba that can switch between B-flat and F via a thumb valve (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Double_Wagner_tuba_by_Alexander.jpg). The bell points upward and slightly forward, and the body is wrapped more like an upright tuba than a coiled horn.

Playing technique

Because the mouthpiece, fingering and rotary-valve mechanism all match the French horn, Wagner tubas are virtually always assigned to horn players who double on them within the same orchestral piece. This doubling is one of the practical reasons Wagner conceived of the section as he did: the same player can switch between horn and Wagner tuba between movements or even between cues.

Wagner tubas are normally written as transposing instruments, but the notation used varies considerably and is a notorious source of confusion. Wagner himself used three different and incompatible notations in the course of the Ring, and all three of those systems (plus several others) have been used by subsequent composers. An additional source of confusion is that the instruments are sometimes labelled in scores simply as Tuben, leaving conductors to determine whether the part calls for true bass tubas or Wagner tubas.

Cultural context

Although created for one specific operatic cycle, the Wagner tuba quickly became part of the late-Romantic and early-modern symphonic palette. Anton Bruckner used quartets of Wagner tubas (two tenor, two bass, plus contrabass tuba) in his Seventh, Eighth and Ninth symphonies. Richard Strauss wrote for them in Eine Alpensinfonie and Elektra, and Igor Stravinsky called for them in The Rite of Spring. Arnold Schoenberg used them in Gurre-Lieder, and twentieth-century film composers have occasionally used them to suggest the same legendary, “Wagnerian” weight that the composer originally sought.

The name “Wagner tuba” itself is considered problematic by many theorists. The orchestration writer Kent Kennan argued that the instruments are poorly named because “they are really modified horns” rather than actual tubas, and several alternative names (Bayreuth-tuben, Ring-tuben, Waldhorntuben) are still used in German-language literature.

Notable players and examples

Because the Wagner tuba is played by section horn players rather than dedicated specialists, fame attaches to the orchestras and recordings rather than to individual soloists. The Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic and the Berlin Philharmonic are particularly associated with the instrument through their Wagner and Bruckner traditions. Modern instruments are made by Gebr. Alexander (Mainz), Paxman, Yamaha and other specialist horn makers; the Alexander 110 double Wagner tuba in F/B-flat shown in our header image is a long-running reference model.

Comparison with related instruments

Compared with the trombone and bass trombone, the Wagner tuba blends more easily with the horn section because of its conical bore and horn-style mouthpiece. Compared with the tuba, it is smaller, lighter and far more agile, but cannot reach the same low register or volume. Like the trumpet and other valved brass, it owes its chromatic capability to the nineteenth-century valve revolution kicked off by Adolphe Sax and his contemporaries.

FAQ

Is the Wagner tuba really a tuba?
Not in the strict organological sense. Most theorists, including Kent Kennan, describe Wagner tubas as modified horns: they use horn mouthpieces, horn fingerings and a bore size much closer to a euphonium or French horn than to a true tuba.

Who invented the Wagner tuba?
Richard Wagner specified the instrument in 1853 after visiting Adolphe Sax’s Paris workshop. The exact identity of the first builder is debated, but Wagner’s design choices (conical bore, horn mouthpiece, rotary valves) defined the instrument as we know it.

In what keys does the Wagner tuba come?
Two basic sizes exist: a tenor pitched in B-flat and a bass pitched in F. Many modern instruments combine both into a single “double” Wagner tuba switchable between the two pitches.

Who plays the Wagner tuba in the orchestra?
Almost always horn players. Wagner originally assigned the parts to the third and fourth pairs of his eight horns, and the tradition of horn doubling has continued ever since.

Which composers besides Wagner wrote for the instrument?
Anton Bruckner (Symphonies 7, 8 and 9), Richard Strauss (Eine Alpensinfonie, Elektra), Igor Stravinsky (The Rite of Spring) and Arnold Schoenberg (Gurre-Lieder) are the most famous examples.