Single horn, F
Maker
Charles-Joseph Sax
Date1845 ca.
Place MadeBrussels, Belgium, Europe
Serial No.8103
SignedEngraved on bell: C. Sax / Bruxelles 8103MarkingsEngraved on oval mount of crook: fa
DescriptionBrass; two Stoelzel valves of the earlier type with horizontal screw; first valve loop bent over as in the cornet à pistons; with F crook.
Adolphe Sax first learned about valved brass instruments in his father's workshop in Brussels. Charles-Joseph Sax, who took an early interest in the development of valves, preferred the German designs. This orchestral horn, which survives with one crook for the key of F, has two Stoelzel valves. Named after its inventor, Heinrich Stoelzel (1777-1844), this valve type was popular in France, as well as in Germany. Although the two valves are not sufficient to play a fully chromatic scale, players could still do so by simultaneously placing their right hand inside the bell to further modify the pitches.
DimensionsBell diameter: 290 mm
ProvenancePurchased from Tony Bingham, London, England.
Published ReferencesBanks, Margaret Downie. _Celebrating the Saxes: presented by the National Music Museum, Vermillion, South Dakota_. Google Arts & Culture online exhibit (2015), https://g.co/arts/AzyXBvZq59EFGVpw5
Larson, André P. _Beethoven & Berlioz, Paris & Vienna: Musical Treasures from the Age of Revolution & Romance 1789-1848. With essay by John Koster. Exhibition catalog, Washington Pavilion, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, September 12-November 2, 2003_. Vermillion: National Music Museum, 2003. (p 58)
Tritle, Thomas. "Horns in The Shrine to Music Museum." _Horn Call_ (October 1988): 32.
Credit LineBoard of Trustees, 1984
Object number03489
On View
On view
Adolphe Sax & Cie
1846-1854 ca.
1870-1910 ca.
