The challenge of playing the Wagner tuba can produce many questions for a hornist, one them being: ‘Who made the very first Wagner tuba?‘
Wagner’s Tuben Search – Richter & Ottensteiner
As mentioned in our history section, Richard Wagner first had the idea for developing the instrument in 1853 whilst working on Das Rheingold. He envisaged the use of a quartet of horns that could produce a more resonant and dramatic sound than any horn manufactured up to that point. Somewhere between a horn and a trombone.
It was Wagner’s collaboration with Hans Richter, a talented hornist himself, that eventually provided the solution more than twenty years after his initial conception. Hans Richter understood what Wagner had in mind and in late 1874 commissioned a Bavarian woodwind and brass instrument maker in Munich (Johann Georg Ottensteiner) to build what Wagner referred to as ‘Tuben’.
NOTE: It would be another three years before another brass instrument manufacturer produced their first Wagner tuba. This was Moritz in 1877 followed by Alexander in 1890. Both manufacturers improved on Ottensteiner’s design and subsequently supplied Wagner tubas for Bayreuth.
Johann Georg Ottensteiner: The First Wagner Tuba Maker
Johann Georg Ottensteiner was the craftsman who produced the very first set of Wagner tubas. His name is unfamiliar to many hornists and, as of the date of this article’s publication, he doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page! So, for the benefit of spreading awareness of his notable contribution to music, here is what we know about his life.
Ottensteiner was born on 9 February 1815 in Füssen and died on 6 August 1879 in Munich. (Source: Wikidata). His family had a strong connection to musical instruments with his father playing both flute and clarinet. In his early twenties he moved to Paris where he was professionaly trained. He spent a number of years there before moving back to Bavaria where he built his reputation primarily as a clarinet maker. He collaborated with the Bavarian clarinetist and composer Carl Baermann to produce what became known as the Baermann-Ottensteiner key system for the clarinet. Here are some examples of instruments made by Johann Georg Ottensteiner that are still around today:
Basset horn by Ottensteiner (Edinburgh University Museum)
Baritone horn by Ottensteiner (Edinburgh University Museum) Note: This baritone looks remarkably similar to a Wagner tuba!
Ottensteiner made the first set of Wagner tubas in Munich some time between late 1874 and early 1875. A description of them, their playability and some of the technical specification can be found here.
Ottensteiner’s First Wagner Tubas Featured In Concert Performance (1875)
These very first Wagner tubas were played at a public concert for the first time in Vienna on 1 March 1875. The dress rehearsal took place from 9.30am until 12 noon and the concert started at 7pm. Richard Wagner himself was conductor and the hornists selected to play these first Wagner tubas were Alois Schantl, Michael Pichler, Franz Nittmann and Wilhelm Kleinecke. As such, they were the definitive, first ever Wagner tubists.
The concert was one of five which Wagner gave in Vienna in the Spring of 1875 and Cosima Wagner was in attendance on 1 March 1875. Cosima describes the concert in her diary, describing Wagner’s reception as:
“incomparable …. R. had to address a few words to the audience thanking the splendid public of Vienna …” You can read the full diary entry here.
Also performing at the concert was Amalie Materna, the Austrian operatic dramatic soprano who originated the role of Brunhilde.
Ottensteiner’s Legacy
By the Spring of 1875 Wagner had tested these first attempts at ‘Tuben’ as he called them but he was not happy. They required some technical refinement if they were to aspire to the sound he had envisioned. As already explained, this followed some years later (Moritz and Alexander). So, it may have been an inauspicious start for Ottensteiner, but his legacy as an instrument maker is undeniable and merits more widespread recognition.
If it were not for his willingness to try and satisfy the unique musical vision of a great and demanding composer, we might never have seen the development of the instrument we know today as the Wagner tuba.
