Ophicleide

The ophicleide is a family of conical-bore keyed brass instruments invented in early 19th-century France to extend the keyed bugle into the lower range. Of these, the bass ophicleide in eight-foot (8′) C or 9′ B♭ took root over the course of the 19th century in military bands and as the bass of orchestral brass sections throughout Western Europe, replacing the serpent and its later upright derivatives. By the end of the 19th century, however, it had been largely superseded, in bands by the euphonium and in orchestras by early forms of the modern tuba, some developed from valved ophicleides. The late 20th century saw a revival of interest in the instrument for historically informed performance practice, and ophicleides are built by a small number of manufacturers.

History

The ophicleide was invented in 1817 by the Paris instrument maker Jean Hilaire Asté (operating as Halary) as a set of instruments to extend the keyed bugle into lower registers, with an intention to replace the serpent. His 1821 patent described the (nominally bass) ophicleide in eight-foot (8′) C or 9′ B♭, an alto Quinticlave built in 6′ F or 6½′ E♭, and a contrabass monstre in 12′ F. A rare instrument, the quinticlave enjoyed only brief use in military bands before being superseded by valved instruments; the clavicor with three Stölzel valves, followed quickly by alto and tenor saxhorns.

The contrabass in 12′ F or 13′ E♭, known in France as the Monstre, was not widely adopted. Mendelssohn commissioned one for later performances of his 1846 oratorio Elijah, played by the French musician Prospère in performances in France and England. Four known instruments, all in F, survive in non-playable condition in museums. Only two playable contrabass ophicleides exist, both built in E♭ since the late 1980s by the Californian instrument maker Robb Stewart. Adolphe Sax in the 1840s built examples of a soprano ophicleide, an octave above the bass, and playable replicas have also been built by Stewart, including a smaller instrument in E♭.

The most successful size was the bass ophicleide, which became the bass voice of the brass section of the early Romantic orchestra outside of German-speaking countries, replacing the Renaissance-era serpent and its later upright derivatives. In scores, ophicleide first appeared in the banda (stage band) of the opera Olimpie by Gaspare Spontini in 1819. By mid-century, the instrument was standard in French serious operas by Meyerbeer, Halevy, and Auber, as well as English operas by Michael Balfe, Vincent Wallace, and others. In Italian opera, Rossini, Bellini, and Verdi scored the lowest brass part for serpentone or cimbasso in their early operas; by the mid-1830s these parts were often played on the ophicleide, until the appearance of valved instruments like the bombardone and pelittone. In Germany, Richard Wagner also composed for the ophicleide in his early works, anticipating performances in Paris, before later switching to the bass and contrabass tuba or contrabass trombone.

Construction

The ophicleide's tubing has a similar length and arrangement as that of the upright serpents that preceded it, bending back on itself in a similar manner to the bassoon. The taper of the ophicleide's wide conical bore is similar to a saxophone of comparable range, with only a modest bell flare compared to other brass instruments.

It is played with a cup-shaped mouthpiece, similar to a modern trombone or euphonium mouthpiece. The patent describes the original instrument having nine keys, but it was later expanded to up to 11 and 12 keys, covering large tone holes sized proportionally to the bore diameter. Most surviving instruments have either nine or eleven keys.

Ophicleides were built in sufficient numbers, until as late as the 1920s, that instruments can still be found in playable or repairable condition. Modern replicas have been made, sometimes with modern improvements to materials, key work and acoustic design, usually to order by artisan instrument makers such as Benedikt Eppelsheim, Robb Stewart and Jérôme Wiss. In 2002 the editor of the Serpent Newsletter, Paul Schmidt, published instructions for building the Box-O-Cleide, a serviceable instrument built from plywood. The British-Chinese maker Wessex Tubas offer new ophicleides and quinticlaves, based on 19th century instruments by Halary and Gautrot, and the Leipzig instrument maker Takao Nakagawa makes a valved ophicleide in F with five rotary valves.

Performance

Keyed brass instruments have fingering unlike other keyed wind instruments, where fingers usually cover and close tone holes (or on larger instruments, operate a key mechanism to close them remotely). On the ophicleide the tone holes are normally closed, and are uncovered to an open position when pressing the associated key lever.

The largest key-covered tone hole, just below the bell, is normally open and closes when its key is pressed. When open, this tone hole acts as the acoustic bell, the bell itself having little effect on sound or pitch. When closed, the air column is extended past the tone hole and up to the bell, lowering the pitch by one half step. The sound produced with no key levers pressed is the nominal pitch of the instrument, so the lowest note, obtained by closing the open key, is a semitone lower.

The player can obtain the available partials for a given air column length by changing embouchure, as with other brass instruments. When one of the normally closed tone holes is opened by pressing its key, it effectively makes that hole the "bell" of the instrument, with a corresponding shorter air column and higher series of partials. The left hand controls three such tone holes, plus the normally open top hole below the bell. Pitches in the upper and middle range of the instrument can be obtained by using only the left hand keys, the right hand holding and stabilizing the instrument.

The lowest register of the instrument is more complex, requiring between one and three additional right-hand keys to operate smaller tone holes closer to the mouthpiece. Right hand keys can also be used in the upper register as alternate fingerings to facilitate faster passages, or to improve intonation, known as venting.