Is it really what you think it is?

Like most collectors of antique horns, I have been guilty of not doing my homework on identifying exactly what kind of horn, valve type, maker, etc I have. The sources for this kind of identification are there, but often the novice collector does not know where to look Two good starting points are Langwills Index and Heydes works. Other sources are Eliasons works and other collectors in different countries.

I had been making this mistake for years, until just recently, I made the acquaintance of  German collector Udo Koehne. Udo has a very interesting and a good sized collection of brass instruments. In addition, Udo is a professional brass musician (trumpet) in a Bonn Germany orchestra, so when he talks about brass instruments and valve systems, you can learn a lot.

I had been in error for years in identifying one of my horns as having Vienna Valves. Udo informed me that the instrument was in fact known as “Neumainzer” and had what was known as “Klinkerdrucker” and explained that was the reason the Graves/Boston horn on Ebay sold for over $14000.

Udo was kind enough to share this information and even told me where to look to find examples of this type of valve. Just another example of how important it is to the novice collector to contact the right sources and persons for information. Thanks Udo!

Calling all restorers

Restoration experts are hard to find if you are an antique horn collector. Looking at it from the perspective of the restorer, he/she wants do make a profit from their skills and the more they can do in a day, the more money they can earn. The time spent in making parts for instruments made over a century ago can take time and skill, and the ability to do research before attempting restoration. If you know collectors like I do, they want the instrument to play like they were new and the cost of repair to be minimal.

Most museums have their own in house restoration expert, a situation the private small collector does not enjoy. So, where does the little guy go when a restoration is needed? Most music stores will laugh you right out the door and consider you a waste of their time. I think European collectors have a better chance of finding a skilled restorer and linking up with them. Sending your horn across the waters to be restored can be risky business.

There is, in the United States the problem of finding an “instrument repair person” why wants to restore your instrument to “like new condition” and actually overdo a restoration with polish and lacquer.

This is that spot between a rock and a hard place that the American collector finds himself in.

Any ideas out there?

Town Bands, a link to our musical past

Town Bands once numerous in small town America have all but disappeared from the scene in most of the country. Wisconsin and Minnesota still have several, but the small town brass band of a century ago has become a thing of the past.  

From 1870 to just before the First World War, the small town band was the only form of entertainment people had. There was no telephone, radio, television, automobiles, planes, and the only way folks of a century or more ago. The town band played at weddings, funerals, parades, and in the bandshell on the green on lazy summer evening when ladies in long dresses sipped lemonade while listening to the local boys play a Strauss Waltz or a stirring march.

Small town bands had their beginnings with the returning Civil War bandsmen and from the late 1860s to 1920, the movement caught fire. My grandfather was a clarinetist in the Kenosha Band and it was there that he met my grandmother. I can picture her now, sipping lemonade and keeping an eye on that handsome fellow playing clarinet.

The picture of the Batavia band shows the instrumentation of smaller band and the Eb cornet played by the seated musician (second from the right). The transition from Eb to Bb brass band was still not under way,The British Brass Bands still use Eb cornets, but American bands seldom use them.

 

I can remember 60 years ago as a young man playing in my first town band. As a beginning musician, I found the music challenging but it sparked an interest in a hobby that continued into my mid 70s.  Music is a wonderful and rewarding hobby and I’m sure it will continue to entertain me as a now participate in it in different ways. 

Collectors I have known

Like most instrument collectors, I have met several collectors in 30 plus years. Some have been helpful to me as a young collector and others have not. About 30 years ago I met Franz Streitweser and viewed his collection. He offered me much good advice and it is to him that I owe my success in collecting. Another important collector of my acquaintance is Dan Woolpert who rescued the 1st Brigade Band when it was about to fall apart about 30 years ago.  Not only did Dan become a good friend, he also became a collector and is responsible in large measure for the magnificent collection amassed by the 1st Brigade Band. He became the bandmaster and curator of the collection, The 1st Brigade Band collection is unique in that the majority of the instruments are restored to playing condition and are used regularly in concert performances

Nancy Campbell, a performer on brass is one of the main reasons the collection remains playable. Other persons, Byron Autrey in particular, also does many restorations for the band.

I know of no other band with such a large collection of playable instruments anywhere.

Now that I have retired from playing and collecting, I appreciate what a really important unit this band is and was in my life. I keep in contact with other collectors and would enjoy hearing from both collectors and restoration experts on this very interesting hobby

Collecting, when is enough, enough?

Good question, and one every collector faces at a point in his/her collecting experience.

I recently faced this choice and since my sons are not interested in continuing the collection, I decided to dispose of it by sale to other collectors. Museums, you will find, will gladly take your collection, but they want it donated and while this often happens, the collection most often ends up being stored in the bowels of the museum in plastic bags with a tag indicating who made the donation, never to be seen again.

Many years ago, while visiting one of these museums, and doing 2 days research on over the shoulder horns I found bag after bad full of horns, many of them mislabeled and generally not accessable to the public for viewing. The museum had a wonderful display of instruments available in the viewing area, but the bowels of the museum contained many uncovered treasures and sources of information to the collector

It seemed such a shame that donated instruments were not available to the public who had donated them, but only to a chosen few for research. Several large collections exist in National Museums and are under the control of the person making the donation. That person usually becomes the curator for life (at a salary) as long as the collection stays at the museum after that persons death.

I have known several collectors with large collections and have found that several feel as I do that the horns would be better off sold to other individual collectors rather than disappearing into the basements of large museums never to be seen again.

My choice is to keep the smaller collections alive. That way, more of the public will have access to the instruments

Vienna Valves and their role in Music

Today, only the Vienna Symphony uses horns with Vienna Valves.  They are specially made and they, like the Berliner Pumpen valve, seem to have disappeared into obscurity.  Vienna valves, known in the United States as Vienna Double slide valves, are little known.  Surprisingly, American makers attempted to make Vienna Valves and several have been found in American collections.  One sold recently on ebay for $14,400.  It was made by Graves in Boston, probably in the 1850’s.  Another example by a obscure maker in Cincinnati is in the 1st Brigade Band collection and can be viewed online at the band’s very interesting website.  The 1st Brigade Band is a website that should be visited by anyone, collector or researcher, to view the collection.

I actually played one of my Vienna valved horns when I was in the 1st Brigade Band and I found it to play rather well.  I still always went back to my Berliner Pumpen Alto, as it was the horn I preferred over all others.  I guess every musician has a favorite and I had mine.

One of the men in the band, as his favorite, preferred a rotary valve alto horn that was used in the original 1st Brigade Band in the 1850’s.  It was used at the Lincoln-Douglass debates in Illinois before the Civil War.  Playing a horn with a historic connection is a joy in itself.  Just for your info - it didn’t play as well as my favorite, the Berliner Pumpen Alto.

Box Valve Cornet

I suppose every collection has a conversation piece which has puzzled the collector and generates a wide variety of comments from those viewing the collection. My conversation piece has been this box valve cornet that I acquired over thirty years ago. Some say it is extremely rare and an important piece. Others say that it is someones idea of a bad joke.

Either way, I still don’t have an answer and would like to solicit comments from those interested just what this is. I know that there are probably less than 10 known box valved instruments in existence.  Mine certainly doesn’t look like the two I saw in the museum in Nuerenberg Germany. I know that Quimbey attempted a box valve horn in the 1870s but have never seen an example of one.

A friend told me of the existence of this horn in the late 1970s and I was fortunate enough to be the successful bidder on it. It is not a complete horn and is missing the lead pipe and bottom plate for the box valve section. The bell section is obviously an E flat Sheppard crook cornet, common in the 1870s. The valve section is like nothing I have ever seen. Can you help me identify it?

To restore or not to restore

There are two schools of thought here and one most collectors have pondered at one time or another. The most difficult decision for me was when I had to decide what to do with my box valve cornet. I acquired it in 1970 at an antique shop in Illinois and since it looked so strange, I wanted to research box valves. I soon discovered that box valves are the rarest kind of valves and finding an instrument in a collection was almost impossible. In the early 1970s while visiting Germany, I found two instruments at a museum in Nuremberg that were made by the inventor of the box valve, Schuster, in the 1820s. From the U.S. Patent office, I acquired a copy of the Quimbey patent for horns they intend to make in the 1870, but in searching for box valved horns I discovered that there were very few in existence. One in a Museum in Rhineland Germany and another at the Shrine to Music in Vermilion S.D.

 

Since my instrument was incomplete (missing the lead pipe, one valve slide and one square valve mechanism, I had nothing to go on in completing the restoration. Finally, Byron Autrey attempted to recreate the missing 1st valve mechanism and was quite successful, but would not attempt further restoration as he had nothing to   use as a model. Bob Pallansch in Virginia also would not attempt it for the same reason

 

I have finally given up my quest for restoration and I believe there are probably no more than ten existing horns with box (square) valves in collections today. So, this mission is unaccomplished unless there is someone out there with another example of a horn with box valves. The valve was invented by Schuster in the early 1820s and Quimbey was the last to market a successful horn.  The box valve seems to have died a quiet death in 1870, never to be heard from again. Just another dilemma for a horn collector desiring a restoration.

Creating a Civil War Brass Band

In this podcast, Dan Woolpert talks about issues surrounding the creation of a Civil War era brass band.

Mr. Woolpert (Bandmaster Emeritus and Instrument Curator) is an Ex Officio member of the board and are regular attendee of the Heritage Military Music Foundation

Collecting Antique Horns

Back about 40 years ago when I began collecting horns, I got a bit of good advice from another collector who was downsizing his very large collection to specialize in Civil War instruments and bands. He cautioned me to aim at a certain field of collecting and to concentrate on that field, otherwise I would end up with an attic full of instruments that wouldn’t tell any kind of story.

I decided that since I live in an area of Wisconsin that was heavily settled by Germans and Irish from 1820 to 1900, I would collect instruments of that origin. In addition, I decided to tell the story of the development of different valve systems.

This has worked to my advantage and I would highly recommend that young collectors follow this path. Joining the 1st Brigade Band helped me to develop relationships with persons of a like mind and interests.

It has been a wonderful journey in that I met many fine and talented people. I also visited many historic places and learned more about the history of brass instruments than I could have at some of the finest universities in the land.

I look forward to continuing this relationship with persons like myself who absolutely love music history.

Next Page »