Alto horn in helicon shape, E-flat
Alternate name(s)
- Flicorno contralto tracolla
Maker
Dante Rancilio
Date1924 ca.
Place MadeMilan, Italy, Europe
ModelFlicorno contralto tracolla
Serial No.none
SignedStamped on bell: [Coat of arms of the Kingdom of Italy (Regno d’Italia)] / D. Rancilio / MILANO / PRIMARIO / FORNITORE [R] ESERCIT[0] / [E]sportatione Mondiale / [R]APPR. P. CODELLA / WATERBURG CONN / [six-pointed star] (D. Rancilio / Milan / Primary Army Supplier / Worldwide Export / … P. Codella / Waterbury / Connecticut).MarkingsEngraved on valve cases: IIII, V, VI
DescriptionBrass, single loop valve segment with tuning slide at first bow, circular upward-pointing bell segment closed to oval with dummy tube, fixed curved leadpipe, three Périnet valves (1, ½, 1½), bottom-sprung, alignment by one key on piston (brass), windway 3-2-1.
Dante Rancilio is recorded in Milan from 1914 to 1931. This instrument can be categorized as "Flicorno contralto Mib tracolla." The Italian word "tracolla" means shoulder bag, referring to the fact that the instrument is carried over the player’s shoulder.
Reverent Pasquale Codella (1868–1941), whose name is stamped on the bell, was pastor of the Italian Congregational Church in Waterbury, Connecticut, serving the Italian protestant immigrant population of this town for decades. Before immigrating to the United States, Codella had served as a military band master in Italy for five years. As the stamp with his name on this instrument shows, he acted as an agent for Rancillio, transferring Italian models to Connecticut.
DimensionsHeight: ca. 625 mm
Tube length: 2101 mm
Bore diameter (initial, minimum, tuning slide, valve slides): 11 mm, 10.9 mm, 10.9 mm, 11.3 mm
Bell daimeter: 188 mm
ProvenancePurchased from Steve Dillon, Woodbridge, New Jersey, 1988.
Published ReferencesSabine Katharina Klaus, Trumpets and Other High Brass: A History Inspired by the Joe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection. Volume 4: The Heydey of the Cornet (Vermillion, SD: National Music Museum, 2022), pp. 235-36, 297.
Klaus, Sabine.."From Milan, Italy, to Waterbury, Connecticut." _National Music Museum Newsletter_ 45, no. 1 (Winter 2021):10,
Credit LineJoe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection, 1999
Object number06920
On View
Not on view
