Copyright © 2000, 2001 by Richard I. Schwartz
(internal links at bottom of page)
CHAPTER 1
EARLY HISTORY Part 3
Extensive discussions of valve systems can be found in many sources. One such discussion appears in Brass Instruments: Their History and Development (Baines 1976, 206-219).
There are also discussions dealing with early valve systems in articles (in four parts) by Herbert Heyde entitled "Zur Frühgeschichte der Ventile und Ventileinstrumente in Deutschland (1814-1833)" in Brass Bulletin 24 (1978), 9-33; 25 (1979), 41-50; 26 (1979), 69-82; and 27 (1979), 51-61. Another excellent article can be found in the Brass Bulletin entitled "Reminiszenzen an modifizierte Drehventile" by Günter Dullat in Brass Bulletin 58 (1987), 18-27. All articles in the Brass Bulletin are in German, English, and French, so they are quite helpful to a diverse audience. Arnold Myers also discusses valve design, technology, and manufacture of brass instruments since 1800 in Chapter 9 of The Cambridge Companion to Brass Instruments (Herbert and Wallace 1997, 115-130).
There was a multitude of nineteenth-century manufacturers for the cornet. Entries for the following will appear in Chapter 6 of this document. Their names are listed here for quick reference:
ALLEN, ARBAN, BESSON, BOOSEY, BOSTON MUSICAL INSTRUMENT MANUFACTORY, CONN, COURTOIS, COUESNON, DISTIN, FISKE, GAUTROT AÎNÉ, GUICHARD, DAVID C. HALL, HAWKES, J. HIGHAM, KÖHLER, LEHNERT, GODFREY MARTIN, PACE, PAINE, J. W. PEPPER, SLATER, JOHN FRANKLIN STRATTON, and ELBRIDGE G. WRIGHT. Although known for their keyed bugles, flutes, and clarinets, GRAVES & CO. is discussed in Chapter 6 because it was the important precursor to the BOSTON MUSICAL INSTRUMENT MANUFACTORY.
The article entitled "19th Century Brass Instruments at the Shrine to Music Museum" (Banks 1988, 50-59) contains information about, and photographs of some of the nineteenth century brass instruments in the Museum’s collection. See the next paragraph for the cornets of the nineteenth century in the collection and inspect the museum’s web site listed below in Chapter 7 for more information about the collection.
Another interesting article entitled "The Edinburgh University Collection of Historical Musical Instruments" (Myers and Parks 1994, 10-19) shows two of the many cornets in the collection, e.g., a cornopean (#2393 and #3294) built by G. Smith of Birmingham between 1830 and 1846, and a soprano Eb cornet (#2583) built by Courtois in c1875. For a more complete look at the cornets in the collection check the Edinburgh University web site listed below in Chapter 7.
The dissertation entitled "The American Piston Valved Cornets and Trumpets of the Shrine to Music Museum" (Scott 1988, 27-307) reveals that all of the accessible nineteenth century cornets in the museum (as of 1988) were finished in silver plate. Of the 100 cornets listed in the dissertation, only sixteen of them are from the nineteenth century. Six cornets were silver plated and ten were silver plated with a gold wash inside the bell. This does not mean that other finishes were not available for purchase during that time period, but may imply that the most popular one was the silver plate. Brass, nickel plated brass, silver plate (with or without satin finish), gold plate, and silver plate with a gold wash inside the bell were many of the varieties available in the nineteenth century. Engraving was also an option, but always at a premium.
Information in the above mentioned dissertation includes a lengthy discussion of each of the almost 200 trumpets and cornets in the collection; total length of tubing before, through, and after the valves; descriptive information, accessories, many photographs, and the Shrine to Music Museum catalogue number for the instrument. The sixteen cornets of the late nineteenth century in the collection are as follows in chronological order:
1) 1876 Conn-Dupont [no model] (ser. no. 162). Eb/C/Bb high pitch silver plated. Three top spring valves. First and third slides connected with small tube on the right. Bore .46", Bell 4.5", 12.25" long.
2) 1879 C. G. Conn [no model] (ser. no. 3071). Bb high pitch silver plated. Three top spring valves. Bore .45", Bell 4.75", 12.5" long.
3) 1882 C. G. Conn [no model] (ser. no. 7562). Eb high pitch silver plated with gold washed inner bell. Three top spring valves. Bore .45", Bell 4.75", 11.5" long.
4) 1888 C. G. Conn [no model] (ser. no. 14450). Bb/A high pitch silver plated with gold washed inner bell. Three tower spring valves and three guidepins. Bore .47", Bell 5", 12.25" long.
5) 1888 C. G. Conn [no model] (ser. no. 15287). Bb/A high pitch silver plated. Three tower spring valves and three guidepins. Bore .46", Bell 5", 12" long.
6) 1890 C. G. Conn [no model] (ser. no. 18056). Eb high pitch silver plated. Three tower spring valves and three guide pins. Bore .44", Bell 4 7/8", 12.25" long.
7) c1893 Henry Distin [no model] (ser. no. 9901 on bell, no. 9714 on second valve). A [Bb shank not present] low pitch silver plated with a gold wash inside the bell. Three tower spring valves with three guidepins. Bore .46", Bell 5", 12.25" long.
8) 1895 C. G. Conn "Wonder" (ser. no. 31908). Bb low pitch silver plated with a gold wash inside the bell. Three tower spring valves and three guidepins. Bore .41", Bell 5", 12.75" long.
9) 1898 C. G. Conn [no model] (ser. no. 51987). (Key and pitch not listed because of instrument damage). Silver plated. Three tower spring valves and three guidepins. Bore .43", Bell 5", 12.75" long.
10) Late Nineteenth Century Henry G. Lehnert "American Standard" Model (ser. no. 101112). Bb low pitch silver plated. Three top spring valves. Bore .45", Bell 2.75", 12.5" long.
11) 1880-1910 Boston Musical Instrument Company "Ne Plus Ultra" Model (ser. no. 19837). Bb/A low pitch silver plated with a gold wash inside the bell. Bore .47", Bell 4.5", 13" long. Three tower spring valves and three guide pins. Key change achieved by pulling out second small loop of slides (with notch) situated before valves.
12) 1880-1910 Boston Musical Instrument Company "Ne Plus Ultra" Model (ser. no. 20387). Bb high/low pitch silver plated with a gold wash inside the bell. Three tower spring valves and three guidepins. Bore .47", Bell 4.5", 13" long.
13) 1893-1915 H. N. White "King, Model" (ser. no. 8510). Bb/A low pitch silver plated. Three tower spring valves and guidepins. Bore .45", Bell 4.5", 14.75" long. Key change is achieved by pulling out a second small loop of slides (with a marking rod) before the valves. (Instrument no. 3642).
14) 1893-1915 H. N. White "King, Master" Model (ser. no. 16432). [Bb/A?] Part of leadpipe missing. Silver plated with a gold wash inside the bell. Three tower spring valves and guidepins. Bore .46", Bell 4.625", 15.75" long.
15) 1893-1915 H. N. White "King, Master" Model (ser. no. 18179). Bb/A high/low pitch silver plated with a gold wash inside the bell. Three tower spring valves and guidepins. Bore .45", Bell 4.625", 15.75" long. There are two sets of valve slides, one for high pitch and one for low pitch, each notched for the key of A.
16) 1893-1915 H. N. White "King, Master" Model (ser. no. 29136). Bb/C high/low pitch silver plated with a gold wash inside the bell. Three tower spring valves and guidepins. Bore .44", Bell 4.625", 14.25" long. Another unique instrument. The key change is achieved by quick change rotary valve before the valves. There are two sets of valve slides, one for Bb and one for C. Each has a notch to adjust to low pitch. Included are also high and low pitch main slides.
A pattern emerges with instruments in this collection. As the century came to a close, tower spring valves with guide pins were more common. Keys were changed more with rotary quick change valves and/or extra slides than with extra shanks and adjustable slide pulls. As the twentieth century progressed, a mouthpipe fixed to A=440 or "low" pitch (see below for explanation of "low" pitch) became standard. Transposition, therefore, eventually became a necessary component of the cornetist’s training in the twentieth century. It is not a concern for the cornetist of the nineteenth century, because of the wide variety of shanks and crooks available to the player. H. N. White is not represented in Chapter 6 of this document because the primary activity of this company occurred in the twentieth century. The company’s instruments were listed here to determine any general trends in manufacture.
A number of trends of manufacturing traits can be discovered in Edinburgh University Collection of Historical Musical Instruments, as well (Myers and Parks 1994, 13-33).
Alignment of valves in cornets during the nineteenth century was done in a variety of ways:
The most common fashion to guide the valve was either of the first two options above.
Pitches levels on cornets varied greatly in the Edinburgh Collection:
As the century progressed, pitches of A=440 and the Old Philharmonic Pitch were more common.
The most common valve type in the collection was the Périnet valve. The two PACE cornopeans, however, in the collection had the usual three Stölzel valves, and one unique cornet by GAUTROT had one Périnet valve on the second valve and two Stölzel valves, one each on the first and third piston.
It was also apparent that cornets were constructed to a wide variety of bore sizes. Most of cornets in the collection were not endorsed by artists, but it is known that Herman Koenig [c .464"] preferred large bore cornets, Matthew Arbuckle [c .452"] preferred medium bore cornets, and Jules Levy, small bore cornets (Myers and Parks 1994, 13-33).
A most intriguing instrument found by the author of this document in the Edinburgh Collection was # 2502, a side-action rotary valve Orchestral Cornet or Trumpet built by HALL & Quinby. The outstanding feature of the instrument is its fixed mouthpipe! The date was estimated between 1865 and 1876, so it is quite possible that a fixed mouthpipe came quite early, although certainly not as a general practice. This date is much earlier than estimated in Bands (Herbert 1991, 186) which mentions that one of the earliest cornets to employ a fixed mouthpipe was Rudall Carte’s Patent instrument of 1903. Rudall Carte’s cornet could be put into the key of A by pulling out an extra tuning slide. [Some manufacturers provided a quick change rotary valve on the Bb and Eb cornet. By turning the valve, the performer could change the instrument’s key]. Fixed leadpipes were certainly not standard equipment on brass band cornets until after World War II (Herbert 1991, 186). The instrument by HALL & Quinby in the Edinburgh Collection is interesting for other reasons, as well. Its pitch is higher than any other cornet in the collection (100 cents above A=440) and it is made of German Silver with garland, three side action ALLEN Rotary Valves with flattened windways, and helical springs. Although not unique to HALL & Quinby instruments, the ALLEN Valve was unique among the many other valve types available. The cornet is extremely long at 415 mm (16.3 inches) which may well be the reason why the instrument is classified as an Orchestral Cornet or Trumpet. An added point is that the instrument plays well in tune and has "extremely good quick valves" (Myers and Parks 1994, 25).
Back to Home Page: The Cornet Compendium- The History and Development of the Nineteenth-Century Cornet
On to next page: Early History 4
To Bibliography: Bibliography
