Dick Martz
A Nearly Complete List of
His Collection of Strange and Wonderful


Horns


(Note: The horns in this collection are listed below grouped by nationality having similar characteristics. The general background comments are offered as only a synopsis of the sometimes complex development of the instrument over three centuries. Detailed information on specific instruments is provided on the linked pages with more pages to be added continually to eventually complete the collection. For a more complete history of the horn please consult the excellent works listed in the bibliography at the bottom of the page.
Hunting Horns
Maker Description Location Date Ref. Updated
"A S" Parforce Horn in C basso Germany? ca 1800? 016 6/10/2008
Courcier & Prétet Trompe de Chasse in D Besançon, France ca. 1890? 017 4/22/2007
Elless Trompe de Chasse in D France ca. 1900 018 5/28/2008
Pélisson, Guinot & Blanchon Trompe de Chasse in D Lyon-Paris, France ca. 1900 019 1/30/2008
Erste Wiener Productiv Genossenschaft der MusikInstrumentenmacher Waldhorn in Eb Vienna, Austria ca. 1900 020 1/17/2008


France, England, and Belgium
The horns of France, England, Belgium are grouped together here due to their close similarities. They are of relatively small bore, small bell, and similar taper based on the profile of the original French natural horns of Raoux, et. al. Credit for the invention of the first practical valved horn has generally been given to Heinrich Stölzel (or Stoelzel) of Breslau, Upper Silesia in 1814. (This invention was challenged by Friedrich Blühmel who claimed to have invented a valve as early as 1811/12. Stözel and Blühmel were issued a joint patent in 1818.) For most of the nineteenth century there was strong opposition in France to the use of valves at all. The Stözel valve enjoyed some popularity there on horns and cornets prior to about 1850, however the valveless cor d'orchestre continued to be preferred. The continuing strong predilection for the natural horn sound with its stopped and half stopped coloration led to the development first of the "omnitonic" horns and later of the sauterelle removeable valve section. The omnitonic concept was to semi-automate the process changing the length of the air column using various ingenius combinations of slides or rotary "taps" to eliminate the box of terminal crooks that accompanied the cor d'orchestre. One such horn by P.-L. Gautrot is included in this collection. After about 1850 horns made in France, England, and Belgium almost universally employed the piston valve designed by François Péinet in 1839. The other uniquely French innovation was the ascending third valve system developed by Jules Halary around 1847. In this system the whole-tone third valve slide is part of he open horn airway and is subtracted when the valve is pressed. For this reason the horn is played with a G terminal crook which stands the horn in F with the added length of the third valve. Most of the F-horn fingerings are unchanged with the exception of the total loss of some notes in the lower register. The advantage is the some of unstable notes of the F horn are eliminated due to the shift in the harmonic series afforded by the ascending valve. This system was common (although not universal) into the double horn era of the twentieth century. Some horns were equipped with a sauterelle in which the standard valve section can be slipped out of the horn corpus and replaced by a section of straight tubing thus converting the horn back to its "natural" mode. This is the form that was advocated by François Brémond at the turn of the twentieth century and probably the horn for which Dukas intended his Villanelle as the morceau du concours for the Paris Conservatory in 1906. In the twentieth century, double horns became prominent, still using the Périnet piston for the three finger valves (often with the ascending third valve) but usually incorporating a rotary thumb valve for the F/Bb conversion.
Maker Description Location Date Ref. Updated
Lowell Greer, after Hofmaster Baroque horn with crooks, after Hofmaster, London, ca. 1750 Toledo, Ohio, U.S.A. 2003 032  
C.T.D. Petite Cor d'Orchestre Paris, France 1807 031 2/6/2006
Halary Cor d'Orchestre Paris, France ca. 1830 034 2/6/2006
Tabard Cor d'Orchestre Lyon, France ca.1830 006 1/8/2008
Guichard? 2 Stoelzel valves with crooks Paris?, France ca. 1840 008 2/6/2006
Gautrot Breveté Omnitonic horn with 3 rotary taps Paris, France ca. 1850 054 1/1/2008
Antoine Courtois 3 Périnet valves with crooks Paris, France ca. 1870 039  
F. van Cauwelaert Cor à Pistons with 3 Périnet Valves Brussels, Belgium ca.1871 003 7/24/2007
F. van Cauwelaert Cor à Pistons with 3 Périnet Valves (silver plated) Brussels, Belgium ca.1871 048  
C. Mahillon Model 499 Cor à Pistons with 3 Périnet Valves Brussels, Belgium ca. 1875 055 2/27/2008
Steemans Single F Brussels, Belgium   051  
Raoux-Millereau single F ascending, silver plated Paris, France ca. 1880 047  
Gautrot Breveté Cor d'Harmonie with 3 Périnet Valves Paris? France ca.1890 005 3/6/2002
Thibouville-Lamy 3 Périnet valves with crook Paris, France ca. 1890 050  
C. Mahillon Model 29 Single Horn Single F, 3 rotary valves Brussels, Belgium ca. 1897 058 8/22/2008
Raoux-Millereau Cor naturel avec sauterelle, 3 Périnet valves (right handed) Paris, France ca. 1900 022 6/3/2008
Boosey & Co. "Class A - Light Valve", 3 Périnet valves, sauterelle London, England 1900 046 1/10/2008
Couesnon Compensating ascending double 3 Périnet and 1 rotary valves Paris, France ca. 1910? 045  
Besson "Prototype" - 4 Périnet valves in F and Bb (non-compensating!) London, England ca. 1920 025 2/6/2006
Boosey & Co. "Sotone" - 3 Périnet valves with crook in F London, England 1921 024 1/10/2008
Henri Selmer Compensating, ascending double 3 Périnet and 1 rotary valve in F and Bb (silver plated) Paris, France 1933 041  
Couesnon Compensating, ascending double 3 Périnet and 1 rotary valve in F and Bb Paris, France ca. 1945 053  
Henri Selmer Compensating, ascending double 3 Périnet and 1 rotary valve in F and Bb (brass) Paris, France ca. 1950 049  


Germany and Bohemia
The horns of Germany and neighboring Bohemia are pretty much the opposite of the French models described above. In general they are of much larger bore, bell profile and diameter, and very early incorporated the rotary valve rotary valve designed and first produced (but not patented) by Friedrich Blühmel in 1828.
Maker Description Location Date Ref. Updated
anonymous "German model" natural horn Germany? ca. 1800 035
anonymous 3 Berliner Pumpen Valves Berlin?, Germany ca.1840 007 3/1/2008
Josef Wolf 3 rotary valves (triangular pattern) in F with crooks Prague, Bohemia ca. 1875 029  
Josef Müller 3 rotary valves (triangular pattern) with crook Schönbach, Bohemia ca. 1880 033 6/19/2008
anonymous 3 Rotary Valves in Eb Germany? ca.1880? 009 3/6/2002
anonymous 3 rotary valves with crooks Germany? ca.1885 004 3/6/2002
anonymous 3 rotary valves and 1 "Quick Change" rotary valve in F and F# with crook Germany? ca.1890? 013  
R. Schopper Single Eb (right-handed) Leipzig, Germany ca. 1890 011  
V.F. Cervený 3 rotary valves in F Königgratz, Bohemia ca. 1890? 030  
V.F. Cervený and Sohne 3 rotary valves with crooks in F and Eb alto Königgratz, Bohemia ca.1901 036  
Gebr. Alexander 3 rotary valves in F Mainz, Germany ca.1900? 002 3/6/2002
anonymous 3 Rotary Valves with crook in F (right-handed) Bohemia? 1920? 027 2/6/2006
Lidl 4 Rotary Valves in F and Bb (Lehmann-Chemnitzer patent or "Waltzen"compensating design) Brno, Czechoslovakia ca. 1930 021  
Gebr. Alexander 4 rotary valves in Bb/High F (descant) Mainz, Germany ca.1930 010 3/6/2002
C.F.Schmidt 3 rotary valves and one piston valve in F and Bb Weimar, Germany ca. 1934 044  
"3 Crowns" (probably Schuster & Co.) 4 rotary valves in F and Bb (right handed) Markneukirchen?, Germany   042 2/19/2008
F. Kreisel 3 rotary valves in F Posen, Germany   040  


Vienna Horns
Maker Description Location Date Ref. Updated
anonymous 3 Vienna Pumpen Valves and crook (right-handed) Vienna?, Austria? ca.1840? 015 2/6/2006
Josef Cidrich 3 Vienna pumpen valves and crook Brno, Moravia ca.1870 014 2/6/2006
Erste Wiener Productiv Genossenschaft der MusikInstrumentenmacher 3 Vienna pumpen valves Vienna, Austria ca. 1900 038 2/6/2006


Italy
Maker Description Location Date Ref. Updated
G.B. Cazzani 3 Rotary valves in Eb alto (right-handed) Milan, Italy ca. 1870 026 8/22/2006
Ferdinando Roth 3 Rotary Valves (right handed Paoli Model) Milan, Italy ca.1875 001 3/6/2002
Fernando Roth Single Horn in Eb (right-handed) Milan, Italy ca. 1934 043  


United States
Maker Description Location Date Ref. Updated
Boston Musical Instrument Manufactory 3 rotary valves, single horn in F (brass) Boston, Massachussetts, U.S.A ca. 1870 037  
Boston Musical Instrument Manufactory 3 rotary valves, single horn in F (German Silver) Boston, Massachussetts, U.S.A ca. 1870 052  
C.E. Doelling 3 Rotary and 1 "Quick Change" rotary valve in E and Eb Philadelphia, Pennsylvania U.S.A ca. 1910 012  
C.G. Conn 3 rotary valves in F, Eb, and D with tuning slide crooks Elkhart, Indiana U.S.A. ca. 1912 023 2/6/2006
E.A. Couturier 3 rotary valves in F "Conical Bore" Laporte, Indiana U.S.A. ca. 1920 056 4/5/2008
Lorenzo Sansone 5 rotary valves in F and Bb New York, N.Y. U.S.A. ca. 1950 028  



Some Other Horns from Other Places

Life and Times of a Horn Player


Bibliography

<<>>Books<<>>
Adams, Peter H. Antique Brass Wind Instruments, Identification and Value Guide. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., 1998. ISBN 076430027X

Baines, Anthony. Brass Instruments, Their History and Development. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1976. ISBN 0684152290

Baines, Anthony. European & American Musical Instruments. New York: The Viking Press, 1966.

Carse, Adam. Musical Wind Instruments, A history of the wind instruments used in European orchestras and wind-bands from the later middle ages up to the present time. London: Macmillan and Co. Limited, 1939.

Carter, Stewart, ed. Perspectives in Brass Scholarship, Proceedings of the International Historic Brass Symposium, Amherst, 1995, Bucin: The Historic Brass Society Series No. 2. Stuyvesant, New York: Pendragon Press, 1997. ISBN 0945193971

Brüchle, Berhard, and Kurt Janetzky. Das Horn, Eine kleine Chronik seines Werdens und Wirkens. Bern und Stuttgart: Hallwag Verlag, 1977. ISBN 3444102135

Brüchle, Berhard, and Kurt Janetzky. The Horn. Trans. James Chater. London: B.T. Batsford, 1988. ISBN 0713456817

Brüchle, Berhard, and Kurt Janetzky. Kultergeschichte des Horns, Ein Bildbuch / A Pictorial History of the Horn. Tutzing: Hans Schneider, 1976 ISBN 3795201799

Coar, Birchard. The French Horn. Dekalb, Illinois: Birchard Coar, 1947.

Coar, Birchard. A Critical Study of the Nineteenth Century Horn Virtuosi in France Dekalb, Illinois: Birchard Coar, 1952.

le Doulcet, Louis Adolphe, comte de Pontécoulant. Organographie: essai sur la facture instrumentale, art, industrie et commerce. Paris: Castel, Libraire-Éditeur, 1861

Flachs, Werner. Das Jagdhorn, seine Geschichte von der Seinzeit bis zur Gegenwart. Zug, Schweiz: Kalt-Zehnder, 1994. ISBN 3857612541

Garafalo, Robert, and Mark Elrod. A Pictorial History of Civil War Era Musical Instruments & Military Bands. Charleston, West Virginia: Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, 1985. ISBN 0933126603

Gregory, Robin. The Horn, A Comprehensive Guide to the Modern Instrument & Its Music. New York / Washington: Frederick A. Praeger, 1969.

Heyde, Herbert. Das Ventilblasinstrument, Seine Entwicklun im deutschsprachigen Raum von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart. Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1987. ISBN 3765102253

Heyde, Herbert. Hörner und Zinken, Musikinstrumenten-Museum Leipzig Katalog Band 5. Leipzig: VEB Deutscher Verlag für Musik, 1982.,

Humphries, John. The Early Horn, A Practical Guide Cambridge Handbooks to the Historical Performance of Music. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. ISBN 0521632102 hardback 0521635594 paperback

Montagu, Jeremy. The French Horn Shire Album 254. Buckinghamshire, UK: Shire Publications, 1990. ISBN 0747800863

Morley-Pegge, Reginald. The French Horn. A Benn Study, Music, Instruments of the Orchestra. Second Edition. London: Ernest Benn Limited/New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 1973. ISBN 0510366015 051036607 Pbk. 0393021718 (USA)

Pizka, Hans. Hornisten-Lexikon / Dictionary for Hornists. Kirchheim b. München: Hans Pizka Edition, 1986. ISBN 3922409040

Tuckwell, Barry. Horn. New edn. Yehudi Menuhin Music Guides. London: Kahn & Averill, 2002. ISBN 1871082420. OCLC 50588516, 50654046

Waterhouse, William. The New Langwill Index, A Dictionary of Musical Wind-Instrument Makers and Inventors. London: Tony Bingham, 1993. ISBN0-946113-04-1

<<>>Theses and Dissertations<<>>


Snedeker, Jeffery Leighton. Joseph Meifred's "Méthode pour le Cor Chromatique or à Pistons", and Early valved horn performances and pedagogy in nineteent-century France DMA Dissertaion. Madison: The University of Wisconsin, 1991



<<>>Periodicals<<>>
The Galpin Society Journal. The Galpin Society, 1948 - present.

Historic Brass Society Journal. New York: Historic Brass Society, 1989 - present.

The Horn Call. The International Horn Society, 1971 - present.

The Horn Magazine for Horn Players by Horn Players. British Horn Society, 1992 - 2003.

The Horn Player. British Horn Society, 2004 - present.

Larigot. Paris:L'Association des Collectionneurs d'Instruments de Musique à Vent, 1988 - present



<<>>Web Pages<<>>
Note: Since web sites are notoriously volatile and short-lived, the following links cannot be guaranteed.

The 19th-Century Horn

The American Musical Instrument Society

L'Association des Collectionneurs d'Instruments de Musique à Vent

The Brass Players Museum

British Horn Society

Cité de la Musique

Edinburgh University Collection of Historic Musical Instruments

The Galpin Society

Historic Brass Society

Horn History.Com

The International Horn Society

National Music Museum, America's Shrine to Music

See additional museum links at the AMIS Resources page.

Be sure to come back again soon. This collection and web site
are both works in progress and will continue to be updated.
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