The bassoon features a nickel silver square “sieve-like” perforated guard for the D-key. The contra B-flat bell key is designed to remain open, in contrast to the closed configuration found in earlier Viennese bassoons. Additionally, the boot features three fingerholes, although later, this number would eventually be decreased to two.

We can date the instrument to around 1880.  A brass crook is included with the instrument, although it may not be the original one.

Karl Stecher’s death certificate confirms that he was born in 1833 in Flöhau bei Saaz in Bohemia, a historical region in the west of the Czech Republic. It is understood that he learnt instrument making in Graslitz (Kraslice), Markneukirchen and Munich among other cities. He was a flutist and instrument maker during his time in the military service. This took him to various places, including Czernowitz (now Chernivtsi in Ukraine) where he married his first wife and opened a small workshop. Following the death of his first wife, Stecher relocated to Vienna where he opened a workshop in 1865 and remarried. He established himself as a key supplier to prominent orchestras and bands, as well as the Austrian military. He was registered at the address of the Johann ZIEGLER workshop after the death of Johann ZIEGLER Junior in 1878. This was Lilienbrunngasse 3 where the apparent Ziegler successor Ignaz LUTZ was also registered. It is thought that Stecher maybe took on Ziegler customers and it was rumoured that he was the only Viennese maker to make the “Ziegler flute” model. The business was relocated to Mariahilferstrasse by Stecher, who died from a brain haemorrhage in 1904. It was subsequently run by his son and then his grandson until it was eventually deregistered by his grandson’s widow in 1971.

This Stecher bassoon is in excellent condition, showing no apparent cracks. It represents a remarkable example of a Late Romantic instrument crafted by one of the last remaining makers of the Viennese bassoon. This is a extraordinary opportunity to secure ownership of one of the few Stecher instruments that are confirmed to exist.

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