 Ophicleides: bass (the most common), alto (quinticlave) and soprano (rare). Rijksmuseum, Metropolitan Museum of Art | |
| Brass instrument | |
|---|---|
| Classification | |
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 423.21 (aerophone sounded by lip vibration with keys) |
| Developed | 19th century |
| Playing range | |
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| Related instruments | |
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The ophicleide (/ˈɒfɪklaɪd/ OFF-ih-klyde) is a family of conical-bore keyed brass instruments invented in early 19th-century France to extend the keyed bugle into the alto, bass and contrabass ranges. Of these, the bass ophicleide in C or 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 By the end of the 19th century, however, it had been largely superseded by early forms of the modern tuba, developed from valved ophicleides.[2]
- ^ Herbert, Myers & Wallace 2019, p. 486, Appendix 2: The Ranges of Labrosones.
- ^ Bevan 2000, p. 128.