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The mellophone belongs to a family of instruments whose progenitor was the Koenig Horn, an instrument reputedly designed by virtuoso cornettist Herman Koenig and first built by Antoine Courtois in 1855. The Koenig Horn was originally a family of right-handed bell-down C instruments pitched in the soprano, alto, tenor and bass registers. In 1856, Antoine Courtois presented an instrument to Herman Koenig that in outward design resembles what in today's terms is refered to as the "classic" mellophone in F. This original instrument is still in existence.
In 1868, Boosey & Co. began marketing a bell-up family of C instruments, designed by Henry Distin, called the Ballad horn.
The earliest example of an instrument bearing the name "mellophone" is a circa 1881 bell-down instrument manufactured by Kohler & Son in London, England. In terms of inward design, this instrument is a knock-off of Distin's Ballad horn, which in turn is a knock-off of the original Koenig horn. This instrument was a recent acquisition of Arnold Myers, curator of the Edinburgh University Museum, and head of the university's Brasswind Taxonomy Project. The aim of this project is to properly classify, and in some instances reclassify, all brasswinds.
The Koenig horn and several of its subsequent progeny represented three types of experimentation:
(1) Brasswind manufacturers were attempting to create families of brasswinds based upon a single template in order to produce a unified, homogenous sound. Some examples are: the Saxhorns of Adolphe Sax; the Koenig horns made by Antoine Courtois; the Cornophones made by Besson; and the Vocal horns made by Besson and Rudall, Carte & Rose.
(2) Brasswind manufacturers were attempting to create a suitable upper-middle brass instrument, primarily for use in concert and marching bands.
(3) In furthering these goals, the manufacturers tried mixing and matching three mouthpiece types, bore-profiles and bell-types.
A few examples are as follows:
The Koenig horn, Ballad horn and Antoniophone used a fluegal mouthpiece and have a fluegal bore-profile.
Most mellophones use a Saxhorn mouthpiece, have an Eb alto horn bore-profile and bore-size, and a bell that was fashioned on a French horn mandrel.
The tenor cor uses a Saxhorn mouthpiece, has the bore-profile and bore-size of a cornet, and smaller bell than the mellophone.
The Vocal horn, Cornophone and Frumpet use a French horn mouthpiece, and have a Saxhorn bore-profile and bell.
The bell-forward marching mellophone has existed in one form or another since circa 1860. These instruments were called Cavalry or Vocal horns.
The original mellophonium was an old "classic" mellophone that in 1960 was stripped of its bell- and lead-pipe braces by Stan Kenton and Johnny Richards, and bent into a bell-forward shape. This amendment to the original design was presented to C. G. Conn, who subsequently put the instrument into production.
The modern marching mellophone entailed the taking of this basic design, and reconfiguring the instrument so that it more resembled an oversized trumpet.
While the most popular version of the mellophone today is the marching variety pitched in F, the "classic" version in F, Eb and F/Eb is still very much with us, and is slowly regaining popularity around the world.
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