Normaphone, tenor, B-flat
Date1926-1930 ca.
Place MadeMarkneukirchen, Germany, Europe
ModelNormaphon
Serial No.0200
SignedStamped on bell: Normaphon (trademark) / D. R. G. M. / GERMANYMarkingsStamped on each touchpiece, valve-linkage stems and support bar, 2nd-valve casing, and bottom valve caps: 13
Stamped on conical tube segment near main lower bow: 0200
DescriptionBrass with nickel-silver trim. Saxophone-shaped body. Three side-action, German-style, rotary valves with mechanical linkages and clock-spring return mechanism for whole tone (1st valve), semitone (2nd valve), and minor third (3rd valve). Leadpipe with telescoping tuning slide and ligature screw. Main tuning slide after valve segment at first bow. Pull ring only for second valve slide. Engraved floral design only on 2nd valve rotor shaft top screw and linkage.
Normaphones are hybrid instruments that combine a trumpet body and valve system with a saxophone shape. In the 1920s, when the saxophone and jazz music were very popular, several ideas to make brass instruments look like saxophones emerged. The "Normaphon" was patented and marketed as such by Oskar Richard Heber (1872-1938) from Markneukirchen, based on the tradename "Norma" that had been in use by the family workshop (founded in 1857) at the time. Originally, three sizes were made: soprano, alto, and tenor. Later, a bass version was added. Heber submitted a patent application for a "metal wind instrument with valves in saxophone shape" on February 26, 1926 (of which the original drawing survives), and the design was protected as German Utility Patent (D.R.G.M.) no. 945751 on April 22, 1926. However, the patented design features an instrument with piston valves. This example at the NMM is the only one known so far with rotary valves that bears the Normaphon trademark. The style of the valve design (based in Uhlmann's 1843 Wiener Flügel), however, seems a rare choice for late 1920s, as this system was already outdated in the Vogtland area. Since no documentation exists about this particular design, it is possible that this normaphone may be a prototype. Heber could have well used an older rotary valve system part he had in his workshop to attempt a new design that would appeal to the local German customers, who favored brass instruments with rotary valves.
DimensionsFootprint (LxHxW): 735 x 185 x 370mm
Bell diameter: 184mm
Tube length: 2764mm (9-foot B-flat)
1st slide: 313.5mm
2nd slide: 158mm
3rd slide: 517mm
Bore at mouthpiece receiver: 11.8mm
Minimum bore at mouthpiece receiver: 11mm
Bore at leadpipe exit tube: 12.2mm
Bore at main tuning slide: 13mm
Bore at slides: 13mm
ProvenancePurchased from William E. Gribbon, Greenfield, Massachusetts, 1977.
Credit LineBoard of Trustees, 1977
Object number01526
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