{Albert}

2-joint oboe.

Nickel silver keywork, ferrules, thumb rest and reed cylinder including top end.

System no.4 oboe with some particularities: C and Bb vents in the front, on axle with one lever for R1; D or C# trill-key for L3, on same axle as half-hole plateau. The ‘butterfly-key’ has a deviant design. 

Keyhead type Heyde-181/7.

Key-holes milled out with countersunk edge.

No inner rim on bell.

Metal lining: reed well, tenon, socket, joint & bell ends.

Very good condition. Right C-key a little loose.

Pitch A = c.450Hz with reed TL 71mm / staple 47mm / tip width 7.2mm.

Instrument speaks easily, with powerful sound.

Romain (1979).

Haine & Meeùs (1986) pp.21–3.

Verdegem (2015) pp.100–3.

Edinburgh, EUCHMI no.2127 E. Albert oboe , also 2-joint oboe, with slightly different keywork style.

This could either be an oboe made by Eugène Albert (1816–1890) or his youngest son Joseph-Eugène Albert (1860–1931), who sometimes used a similar mark 'E. Albert à Bruxelles'.

The keywork layout of left Eb-low B and right C/Bb reminds the Sax MIM oboe 85.003/1.

The relatively wide minimum bore recalls the Boehm-type oboe.

Probably conceived for band or military use hence the high pitch.

De Keyser (1996) Vol.1 pp.125–45 discusses the pitch standards in Belgium in the late 19th century. The pitch of the Brussels Conservatory was about A = 451Hz around the middle of the century. Around 1875 the Diapason Normale A = 435Hz was adopted officially, but apparently the high pitch continued to be used in military and amateur bands. De Keyser (op. cit.) pp.144–5 points out that all Mahillon price lists and catalogues 1911–1930 ask the customers to mention clearly the requested pitch being either 435 or 451Hz (“....soit le Nouveau Diapason.......appelé Normal ou International... de 870 vibrations....soit l’Ancien Diapason...de 902 vibrations.”).