This bass ophicleide was made perhaps around 1840 in Paris by the August G. GUICHARD workshop. This important maker would very much influence the development of brass instruments. Hand-made as well as mass-produced brasswinds were produced. Guichard even patented an ophicleide with valves known as the “Ophicléide à piston” –...
Ever seen a flicorno before? We haven’t! This really special combined B-flat & F flicorno is one of a kind! Two flicornos in one!A flicorno is Italian and can be described as a variety of saxhorn and flugelhorn used in military bands. This particular one was made by the Ferdinando...
Here is an extremely unusual and rare item – we’ve never laid eyes on such a thing before. It’s a walking stick instrument. We think it is probably German as there were quite a few makers of ‘Stock Trompeten’ including B. Schott of Mainz, Germany.It’s a walking stick trumpet, or...
The Hirsbrunner or Hirschbrunner family has been making wind instruments for over 200 years. A total of eight generations worked across three companies established in the Swiss towns of Sumiswald, Grünen and Aarau. Christian Hirsbrunner (1748–1815) was the first of 18 members of the family who were involved in the...
This brass post horn was made by the Julius Heinrich ZIMMERMANN (1851-1922) company. Zimmermann was an extremely successful entrepreneur in the manufacture of musical instruments and also publishing. He had branches of his company in St. Petersburg, Moscow, London, Riga and Leipzig.This particular instrument is stamped ‘LEIPZIG’, where he set up his...
This large and quite outlandish instrument is known as a Verdi contrabass trombone. It is rarely seen by audiences nowadays, but maybe we can change that 😉. [Just making the photos was so much fun!]The Verdi contrabass trombone is a member of the trombone family and is the largest form...
A post horn is a valveless cylindrical brass instrument with a cupped mouthpiece. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, stage coaches were used to carry letters and parcels. People were also transported and had to endure extremely bumpy rides and often accidents. Along each route or road, there were stations or ‘stages’ where the stagecoaches stopped.
The postillion was the person who guided the horse-drawn coach while actually mounted on the horse or pair of horses. A coachman would control the horse from the actual vehicle itself.
They blew the post horns to announce their arrival at or departure from postal stations. This meant that everything could be ready for when they arrived, including for example, a change of horses. They went into disuse with the modernisation of postal systems. Yet the post horn remains a symbol of mail systems in many countries, including Germany with the Deutsche Post for example.
