Sam Hughes (1 September 1823 – 1 April 1898) was the last great ophicleide player and one of the greatest who ever played the instrument in its short history.

Biography

Samuel Hughes was born in

Trentham, Staffordshire Trentham () is a suburb of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in North Staffordshire, England, south-west of the city centre and south of the neighbouring town of Newcastle-under-Lyme. It is separated from the main urban area by open space and by the Tre ...

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, the son of a bricklayer. In the mid-19th century the ophicleide was the bass-baritone instrument of the brass family, replacing the

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and in turn being replaced by the

euphonium The euphonium is a medium-sized, 3 or 4-valve, often compensating, conical-bore, tenor-voiced brass instrument that derives its name from the Ancient Greek word ''euphōnos'', meaning "well-sounding" or "sweet-voiced" ( ''eu'' means "well" o ...

. It was a keyed instrument (unlike the serpent), but without valves (unlike the euphonium). Hughes began his career playing the ophicleide in one of the newly popular brass bands, the Cyfarthfa Brass Band in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. He played with the band from the mid-1850s to about 1860. In 1860 the band won the national contest at

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, but Hughes was no longer with them. He also played with

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's orchestra. There he became a star, known especially for his ophicleide solo of "Ruddier Than the Cherry" from '' Acis and Galatea''. Even

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, who had written disparagingly of the instrument (it had been "born obsolete") was impressed with this song when he heard it at Covent Garden. Hughes became professor of ophicleide at the

Royal Military School of Music The Royal Military School of Music (RMSM) trains musicians for the British Army's fourteen regular bands, as part of the Royal Corps of Army Music. Until August 2021, the school was based at Kneller Hall in Twickenham, however it moved to HMS ...

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and at the Guildhall School of Music. He died in poverty in 1898 in

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, Berkshire,

. The ophicleide died with him. His widow received a small grant for his burial from the

Royal Society of Musicians The Royal Society of Musicians of Great Britain is a charity in the United Kingdom that supports musicians. It is the oldest music-related charity in Great Britain, founded in 1738 as the ''Fund for Decay'd Musicians'' by a declaration of trust sig ...

. His instrument is on display in the Cyfarthfa Castle Museum, known around the world as one of the best surviving examples of its type.

References

"A Lament for Sam Hughes"
by Trevor Herbert

External links

"The History and Development of the Euphonium"
by David Childs {{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Sam 1824 births 1898 deaths British performers of early music Musicians from Staffordshire People from Trentham, Staffordshire