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Cornophone, alto, E-flat
Maker: F. Besson
Date: 1910 ca.
Place Made:Paris, France, Europe
Serial No: 80428
SignedStamped on bell: SYSTEME PROTOTYPE (in banner) / FB (monogram) / F. Besson / BREVETE / 96. RUE D’AMGOULÊME / [five-pointed star] / GRANDS PRIX / PARIS 1900 / ST LOUIS 1904 / LIÈGE 1905 / BRUXELLES 1910 / HORS CONCOURS
MarkingsEngraved on bell below signature: Don de la Société / Les Amis de la Musique
Stamped on second valve casing: F BESSON / [five-pointed star] / BREVETE / 80428
Stamped on valve casings and caps, respectively: 10, 11, 12
Stamped on second valve casing: F BESSON / [five-pointed star] / BREVETE / 80428
Stamped on valve casings and caps, respectively: 10, 11, 12
DescriptionGerman-silver-plated brass, triple loop, tuning slide at first bow (small first loop), fixed leadpipe, three Périnet valves (1, ½, 1½), bottom-sprung, alignment by one key on piston (brass), single water key at tuning slide, windway 1-2-3.
The cornophone offered an alternative to the Wagner tuba and was used in Paris instead of that instrument.
The cornophone offered an alternative to the Wagner tuba and was used in Paris instead of that instrument.
DimensionsHeight: 405 mm
Tube length: 2015 mm
Bore diameter (initial, minimum, tuning slide, valve slides): 10 mm, 9.3 mm, 10.9–11.3 mm, 11.3 mm
Bell diameter: 149 mm
Tube length: 2015 mm
Bore diameter (initial, minimum, tuning slide, valve slides): 10 mm, 9.3 mm, 10.9–11.3 mm, 11.3 mm
Bell diameter: 149 mm
ProvenancePurchased from Galerie Inauen, Zürich, Switzerland, 1996.
Terms
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. 242-43, 298.
Object number: 07141