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tubashaman wrote:What were some of the names of early tuba players before Jacobs and Bell and harvey phillips

The only one that comes to mind is Helleberg, for sousas band. But i think they had to be good players, take tocatta marziale for example, and orchestral literature

You've barely even made it back into the 19th century, and the tuba was invented 64 years before that century ended.

Try reading some literature. I recommend Clifford Bevan "The Tuba Family" Second Edition, Piccolo Press. That's a good starting point.

Before Helleberg, there just weren't many American tuba players. Try looking for European tuba players. Harry Barlow comes to mind, but there were many others.

Rick "thinking that section musicians were pretty anonymous working-class types, and most still are, or will be when their history gets written" Denney

Go here. Someone has already done the homework:

http://www.iteaonline.org/historymateri ... yBell.html

Waldemar Otto Brucks. The 16 year old specifically requested by Wagner to play the premiere of "The Ring" on a helicon.

Here is a list of players from the Sousa Band alone from approximately 1892-1928 in no particular order: The players listed, while not necessarily household names today were certainly among the elite of their day. Sousa’s band was one of the most prestigious positions of the times and an appointment with Sousa would open MANY doors towards future employment. This is by no means a complete list of ALL the tubists who played with Sousa, but this does give some idea at how nice the employment opportunities were in the days before mass recordings, television, & amplification. Bands were a significant form of popular entertainment in those days and thus a major source of employment for tubists. Those were the Days! Remember there were many touring/professional bands in those days. Lots of tuba players were working!


Eldon Baker
Herman Conrad
William Jeschka
Tomaso Giovannone
Frederick Walen
Luca Del Negro
Horace Seavey
William Sweetland
John W. Richardson (longest tenure of any tubist with Sousa)
Arthur Griswold
Arthur Storch, Jr.
Oscar Cott
John Kuhn (The Chief)
Oscar S. Petersson
Emil Weber
Emelio Bianco
Jess Russ
Henery Stern
W.V.Webster
Edward Burant
Nicola Ferrara
Daaniel Markert
Fred Phaff (Played 2nd tuba to Bell in 1921. B .Bell was then only 18 or 19)
Earl Field
Donald Gardner
Arthur Raymond
Gabe Russ
Arthur Davenport
Paul Kniss
Nathan Lower
Loren Kent
Albert Weber
Hebert Weber
Frank Tritton
Edwin Bearman
Reuben C. Evans
Elvin Freeman
John Pierce
George Woolley
August Helleberg, Jr.
John Helleberg
Jonnny Evans

Golly, please don't forget some of the Dixielanders (e.g. Cyrus St. Clair) or big bander (e.g. Joe Tarto).. I suspect that there was a time when Tarto was known to more people than Bell (he also played with the NBC and CBS studio orchestras).

From "I feel Lucky" on Google.com searching for "ophicleide soloist":

http://www.ophicleide.com/articles/About.htm wrote:Invented in 1821 by the French maker Halary(Halari), as a lower-pitched extension of the keyed Bugle family, the Ophicleide was essentially made redundant in the orchestra and brass band by the bass tuba and euphonium by 1860. Occupying an era where composers required a lower voice to supplement the trombones, and where the piston valve was at a primitive stage, the Ophicleide utilizes a bassoon-like keyed mechanism. Performers, such as English Virtuoso's Samuel Hughes and the Royal Italian Opera's(Covent Garden) J.H. Guilmartin, continued to perform on the instrument late into the 1890's, however even manufactures(Courtois) ceased listing the instrument in their catalogues by the first decade of the 20th century. Built in sizes ranging from an alto in F or E flat to a Contrabass in C, the most common of are the bass variant pitched in B flat or C. Composers such as Berlioz, Meyebeer, Mendelssohn and Wagner all wrote specific parts for this most idiosyncratic of instruments, which utilised its unusual sound and timbre. Sweet and versatile in the upper register whilst open and gruff in its lower tones, the instrument is wholly individual in character and temperament compared with its modern replacements.

Doubltless other G**gle searches will turn up more information--and you should also check Bevan.

An early tuba player:

Christian Pedersen Helleberg, August Helleberg's father.

Get an read Clifford Bevan's book, The Tuba Family. Great tuba history