Euphonium repertoire euphonium was embraced from its earliest days by composers and arrangers in band settings, orchestral composers have generally not taken advantage of its capabilities. Nevertheless, there are several orchestral works, a few of which are in the standard repertoire, in which composers have called for a tenor tuba, a German "Tenorhorn"¹, a Wagner tuba, or a French tuba in C. In all of these cases, the composer's desired effect was that of "tenor-voiced, valved brass" instrument – and in many of these cases the euphonium is substituted for the called-for instrument, either because the instrument is obsolete (French C tuba),
Brass instrument valve by Heinrich Stölzel in 1815) was an early variety. The piston valve found in the majority of valved brass instruments was invented in 1838 and patented in 1839. They are sometimes called Périnet valves after their inventor, François Périnet. They work by diverting air obliquely through ports in the stock of the valve so that a loop of tubing is included in the air stream, lowering the pitch. The stock of the valve is cylindrical and moves up and down through a larger cylindrical casing. The rotary valve works using a short circular plug housed in a larger cylindrical casing.