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Piccolo trumpet, B-flat, A

Piccolo trumpet, B-flat, A

Date: 1985
Place Made:Elkhorn, Wisconsin, United States, North America
Model: Eterna 940 S
Serial No: BP 3271
SignedStamped on bell: ETERNA / BY / GETZEN
MarkingsStamped on second valve casing: BP 3271
Stamped on fourth valve slide: 271
Stamped on valve stems, respectively: 1, 2, 3, 4
DescriptionSilver-plated brass, polished, mother-of-pearl finger buttons, single loop, telescopic tuning slide at leadpipe with ligature screw, four Périnet valves (lowering pitch by whole tone, semitone, minor third, and fourth), top-sprung, spring inside hollow stem with wide openings, alignment by one lug on plastic spring-anchor plate, steel pistons, Amado water key at third and fourth valve slides, windway 4-3-2-1.

Two silver-plated telescopic brass tuning slides for B-flat and A.
Silver mouthpiece, stamped: SCHILKE 12A4A

The Getzen “Eterna” line was first introduced in 1963, and revised in 1985 as “Eterna II.” The present instrument seems to be a member of the first line, just before the company switched to the second line. The so-called Amado water key was developed by the Getzen Company in August 1970. Its purpose was to remove bore irregularity caused by the cavity of the water tap (between cork and tubing) of a normal water key. In the Amado water key this tap is replaced with a conical outlet with sucking effect, so the fluid inside can drain automatically when a little push-button is pressed.


DimensionsHeight: 267 mm
Tube length: 572 mm
Bore diameter (initial, minimum, valve slides): 11.4 mm, 9.6 mm, 10.6 mm (0.419 inches)
Bore diameter (tuning slides, range initial, minimum): 10.8-10.9 mm, 10.5-9.5 mm
Bell diameter: 93 mm (3 3/4 inches)
ProvenancePurchased from Giardinelli, New York, New York, 1985.
Credit Line: Joe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection, 1999
Not on view
Published ReferencesKlaus, Sabine Katharina. Trumpets and Other High Brass: A History Inspired by the Joe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection. Volume 1: Instruments of the Single Harmonic Series (Vermillion, SD: National Music Museum, 2012), p. 259.
Object number: 06784