THE WAGNER JOURNAL
" 'Literature about the Wagner tuba consists mainly of assertions either dubious or erroneous,' wrote Hans Kunitz in 1968. William Melton, a Philadelphia-born Wagner tuba and horn player in the Sinfonie Orchester Aachen, has set about remedying the situartion, in a book he modestly subtitles 'A History' but which is far more -- an all-embracing and microscopically detailed study of this most elusive of instruments, from its inception as a gleam in the mind's ear of Richard Wagner, to its belated invention and development, its place in the orchestral and operatic repertoire, and its surprising latter-day rebirth in Hollywood and elsewhere. … Melton is constantly illuminating, surprising and often amusing; his capacity for telling a good story, his appetite for forgotten facts and fascinating byways, and his horn player's nose for the eccentric and absurd, ensure that the reader's attention is almost constantly engaged. … If there is only one definitive book to be written on the Wagner tuba, this is surely it: an extraordinary and magnificent achievement."
(The Wagner Journal, Vol. 4, No. 1, March 2010)


NOTES (Music Library Association)
"Anyone interested in Wagner's music, the development of orchestration, or the history of brass instruments will find much of interest in Melton's book."
(Notes, Vol. 65, No. 4, June 2009)


THE BRUCKNER JOURNAL
"This very well produced publication developed from a series of articles that appeared in The Horn Call (The Journal of the International Horn Society) between 2001 and 2004. The Author's membership of the Horn/Wagner Tuba section of the Aachen Symphony Orchestra confers the special authority of a practitioner of the instrument. The result is copiously illustrated with music examples and a gallery of photographs of representative instruments, is replete with references, and has a comprehensive index... ...A review can, at best, give no more than the flavour of a book, but I recommend this one unreservedly to all those with an interest in orchestral colour and its development from the late 19th century to the present day."
(The Bruckner Journal, March 2009)


THE HORN CALL (International Horn Society)
"[An] almost unbelievable level of research, using a truly amazing number of primary and secondary sources. This is what true scholarship is all about, and the result is a truly authoritative resource for the Wagner tuba, and an inspiration to those who appreciate the act of conducting research. Even just reading the footnotes is totally thrilling ... I offer my highest recommendation, for its content and as an example of the type of work scholars (and scholar-wannabes) should emulate."
(The Horn Call, February 2009)


THE HORN PLAYER (British Horn Society)
"This is a significant book which has been carefully researched ... The author makes a very good job of separating fact from fiction during the early history of the instrument ... Melton also deals lucidly with the question of transpositions used in the Ring scores ... Altogether this is a much needed, fascinating and well written book. Highly recommended."
(The Hornplayer, Autumn 2008)