Editing Euphonium (section)

== Repertoire ==
{{Main|Euphonium repertoire}}
{{unreferenced section|date=April 2020}}

The ''euphonium repertoire'' consists of solo literature and orchestral, or, more commonly, concert band parts written for the euphonium. Since its invention in 1843, the euphonium has been important in ensembles. While the euphonium is predominantly a [[concert band]] instrument, certain composers have featured it in [[symphonic music]]. Notably, it has iconic appearances in [[Holst]]'s [[The Planets]]. Still, solo literature was slow to appear, consisting of only a handful of lighter solos until the 1960s. Since then, however, the breadth and depth of the solo euphonium repertoire has increased dramatically.

[[File:Amilcareponchielli.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Amilcare Ponchielli]], composer of the first original euphonium solo]]

Upon its invention, it was clear that the euphonium had, compared to its predecessors the serpent and ophicleide, a wide range and had a consistently rich, pleasing sound throughout that range. It was flexible both in tone quality and intonation and could blend well with a variety of ensembles, gaining it immediate popularity with composers and conductors as the principal tenor-voices solo instrument in [[Brass band (British style)|brass band]] settings, especially in Britain. It is no surprise, then, that when British composers – some of the same ones who were writing for brass bands – began to write serious, original music for the concert band in the early 20th century, they used the euphonium in a very similar role.

When American composers also began writing for the concert band as its own artistic medium in the 1930s and 1940s, they continued the British brass and concert band tradition of using the euphonium as the principal tenor-voiced solo.
This is not to say that composers, then and now, valued the euphonium only for its lyrical capabilities. Indeed, examination of a large body of concert band literature reveals that the euphonium functions as a "jack of all trades."

Though the euphonium was, as previously noted, embraced from its earliest days by composers and arrangers in band settings, orchestral composers have, by and large, not taken advantage of this capability. There are, nevertheless, several orchestral works, a few of which are standard repertoire, in which composers have called for instruments, such as the Wagner tuba, for which euphonium is commonly substituted in the present.

In contrast to the long-standing practice of extensive euphonium use in wind bands and orchestras, there was, until approximately forty years ago, literally no body of solo literature written specifically for the euphonium, and euphonium players were forced to borrow the literature of other instruments. Fortunately, given the instrument's multifaceted capabilities discussed above, solos for many different instruments are easily adaptable to performance on the euphonium.

The earliest surviving solo composition written specifically for euphonium or one of its saxhorn cousins is the ''Concerto per Flicorno Basso'' (1872) by Amilcare Ponchielli. For almost a century after this, the euphonium solo repertoire consisted of only a dozen or so virtuosic pieces, mostly light in character. However, in the 1960s and 1970s, American composers began to write the first of the "new school" of serious, artistic solo works specifically for euphonium. Since then, there has been a virtual explosion of solo repertoire for the euphonium. In a mere four decades, the solo literature has expanded from virtually zero to thousands of pieces. More and more composers have become aware of the tremendous soloistic capabilities of the euphonium, and have constantly "pushed the envelope" with new literature in terms of tessitura, endurance, technical demands, and extended techniques.

Finally, the euphonium has, thanks to a handful of enterprising individuals, begun to make inroads in jazz, pop and other non-concert performance settings. One well-known euphonium player from the world of popular music is [[Don McGlashan]], the New Zealand musician who began his musical career as an orchestral brass player<ref>{{Cite web |last=Anderson |first=Vicki |date=2015-06-18 |title=Don McGlashan - counting his lucky stars |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/christchurch-life/69470819/don-mcglashan---counting-his-lucky-stars |access-date=2023-03-02 |website=Stuff |language=en}}</ref> before finding success in popular music with bands such as [[Blam Blam Blam]] and [[The Mutton Birds]].