Alto Orpheon, E-flat
Alternate name(s)
- Alto horn
Maker
Boosey & Company
Date1887
Place MadeLondon, England, Europe
Place DistributedNew York, New York, United States, North America
ModelBlaikley's Compensating System
Serial No.33243 (instrument)
26292 (valves)
SignedEngraved and stamped at bell: ORPHEON / EI ALTO / PATENTED / 17TH JUNE 1879 / NO 216595 / CLASS . A / TRADE MARK (in Trumpet) / DISTIN (in banner) / PATENT / COMPENSATING PISTONS / BOOSEY & CO / MAKERS / 295 REGENT STT / LONDON / 33243 / WM A. POND & CO / SOLE AGENTS FOR THE U.S.A. / NEW YORKMarkingsStamped on second valve case: TRADE MARK (in Trumpet) / DISTIN (in banner) / 26292 / PATENT
Stamped on valve cases and valve caps: 4, 5, 6
DescriptionSilver-plated brass, figure-8 shape with double-coiled upper part, U-shaped conical main tuning slide expanding from inner coil, fixed leadpipe, three compensating Périnet valves (1, ½, 1½), third valve master, compensating loops at first and second valve added if used with third valve, bottom-sprung, alignment by one key on nickel-plated brass pistons, single water key at main tuning slide, wind way 1-2-3 or 1-2-3-1 (3rd valve used).
This instrument is part of an original set of five orpheons apparently commissioned via Alfred Phasey for Gilmore’s Band. They were ordered in February 1887 and finished in March 1887, supplied via William A. Pond & Co. of New York. The set consisted of an E-flat soprano Antoniophone, a B-flat Cornet Antoniophone, a B-flat baritone Antoniophone, and an E-flat Bombardon Antoniophone. The present instrument is listed as “tenor” in the Boosey workshop books, but stamped as “Alto” according to US conventions. According to Boosey & Co. archives, the specific craftsman who made this instrument was Jacob; the valves were made by Holmes. To avoid infringement with Antoine Courtois's Antoniophone, Boosey & Co. used the term "Antoniophone" only internally, and called the same instruments "Orpheon" officially.
The patent referred to in the inscription (US Patent No. 216595, 1879) is David James Blaikley’s compensating system, first patented in Britain on November 14, 1878.
The instrument was obviously altered from high pitch to low pitch by adding length to the main tuning slide.
DimensionsHeight: ca. 445 mm
Tube length: 2009 mm
Bore diameter (initial, minimum, tuning slide, valve slides): 11.8 mm, 10.2 mm, 12.4–13 mm, 11.6 mm
Bell diameter: 175 mm
ProvenancePurchased in1998 from Steve Dillon, Woodbridge, New Jersey.
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. 207, 245-46, 293.
Arnold Myers. “Brasswind Innovation and Output of Boosey & Co. in the Blaikley Era,” Historic Brass Society Journal, Vol. 14, 2002, p. 405.
Credit LineJoe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection, 1999
Object number07311
On View
On view
