Advanced Search

Lied horn, C, [B-flat and A]

Lied horn, C, [B-flat and A]

Trade Name: Henry Distin
Date: 1882
Place Made:London, England, Europe
Model: A 19
Serial No: 27862
SignedStamped on bell: TRADE MARK (within Trumpet) / DISTIN (within banner) / Patent Light Valve / BOOSEY & CO / MAKERS / 295 REGENT STT / LONDON / 27862 / WM A. POND & CO / SOLE AGENTS FOR THE U.S.A. / NEW YORK
MarkingsStamped on second valve casing: TRADE MARK (within Trumpet) / DISTIN (within banner) / 19230
Stamped on valve slides: C, BI, A
Stamped on valve casings, spring stem and caps, respectively: 1, 2, 3
DescriptionGerman-silver-plated brass, double coil, telescopic tuning slide with ligature screw at leadpipe, three Périnet valves (1, ½, 1½), top-sprung, spring inside hollow stem, alignment by three unequal lugs on spring anchor plate, pistons of nickel-silver alloy, windway 3-2-1.

Telescopic tuning slide for C of nickel-plated brass.

The Boosey & Hawkes instrument books at the Horniman Museum in London list this instrument with the following entry: “Lied Horn N.Y.”, model A 19. Given out 6.10. 82; given to the polisher 11.10. 82; charged to Regent Street 19.10.82. Paid Jacob for batch of 2, 49½ hours = £ 1/17/2 charged to Regent Street. According to the pistons books, the valves were made by Derkinderen, in stock 1.6.76. The instrument was intended for the American market and sold to William A. Pond, Boosey & Co.'s agent in New York on October 10, 1882.

The conical bore Lied horn, pitched in C with crooks for B-flat and A produced by Boosey & Co., was intended to play vocal scores with piano accompaniment, while at the same time being usable as a band instrument. The term Lied horn (German for melody horn) referred to the non-transposing key of C. This particular instrument only survives with the straight telescopic tuning slide for C, while the crooks for B-flat and A do not survive but are hinted at by the marks on the valve slides.
DimensionsHeight: 270 mm
Tube length: 1085 mm, 1130 mm
Bore diameter (receiver, valve slides): 11 mm, 11.5 mm
Bore diameter (tuning slide, initial, minimum): 9.1 mm, 8.9 mm
Bell diameter: 152 mm
ProvenancePurchased from Tony Bingham, London, England, 1994.
Credit Line: Joe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection, 1999
Not on view
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. 224-25, 246, 295.

Arnold Myers. “Brasswind Innovation and Output of Boosey & Co. in the Blaikley Era,” Historic Brass Society Journal, Vol. 14, 2002, p. 402-403.
Object number: 07121