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{The Brussels Musical Instruments Museum Oboe Collection}
Stefaan Verdegem - Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel
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IND ?> Inv. number
2620
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CN/NP ?> Common name / Nominal Pitch
English horn in F
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TS ?> Type or system
12-keyed angled English horn
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MK ?> Maker
Schott
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IN ?> Mark, inscriptions
LES FILS / DE B. SCHOTT / A ANVERS – on TJ and MJ;
No mark on B.
- PL ?> Place of origin [Mainz]
- DM ?> Date of making Between 1824 and 1840.
- MATERIALS Boxwood with ivory mounts, brass keys.
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MEASUREMENTS
Knee socket outward length 69mm.
- Body Length c.704.6mm
- TJ length (body + tenon) c.291mm + n.m.
- MJ length (body +tenon) 265.7mm + n.m.
- B length c.147.9mm (bottom ivory mount missing)
- Acoustic Length c.453mm
- BORE
- Minimal bore 5.6mm
- Reed well diameter 9.6mm
- Bore at end of TJ 12.8mm at end of knee socket
- Bore at top of MJ 12.8mm
- Bore at end of MJ n.m.
- Bore at top of B n.m.
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TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION
Multi-keyed Sellner-system English horn with 12 keys /13 touches (duplicate for F).
Brass keys with round dome flaps type Heyde-181/2, all mounted on woodblocks, except for cross-F on small axle and rods.
On TJ: Schleifklappe (slur key or octave key), D or C# trill for L3, C and Bb for R1, G# for L4;
On MJ: F# for R4, cross-F with duplicate for L4, C-C#-Eb, Left Eb for L4, low B with long lever on back of the instrument for R0, key on bell.
SATK (springs attached to the key).
Raised key rings circular.
Milled out key-holes.
3rd hole doubled with finger cove.
Brass ring for necklace on back of MJ.
Bulb bell with inner rim, no vent-holes.
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FL ?> Faults
Good condition, except for the Bb-lever for R1 broken-off, and bottom ivory ring missing. Joints are stuck. Some pads missing; some little scratches on body. Some springs missing. Others likely original.
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UP ?> Usable Pitch
A = c.442Hz with reed TL 50mm / 27mm / 9.5mm and bocal TL 95mm ø 5.9mm + 2.7mm.
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PC ?> Performance Characteristics
After some instant repair, instrument sounded with a warm powerful sound. Intonation could not be checked accurately.
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PO ?> Previous Ownership
Ex-Snoeck
- FM ?> Further information on maker
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SR ?> Specific literature Reference
Mahillon (R1978) Vol.IV p.361–2.
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GL ?> General literature (about this type of instrument)
Finkelmann (2000) Teil 6/7.
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Comparable instruments
Vermillion: National Music Museum South Dakota (USA): NMM 5897 Schott English horn with silver keys and tuning slide.
Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum Heckel English horn BK-NM-11430-88, showing many similarities.
There are also many similarities to the Stephan Koch E. horn in the Amsterdam De Vries Collection no.25 (1999) p.19. See Verdegem (2008a) on this matter.
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Remarks
Instrument type based on the Viennese ‘Sellner-oboe’ made by S.Koch and others. Unlike the Vermillion Schott E. horn (see above) this instrument has no tuning slide.
The usable pitch seems to be comparable with MIM Schott Oboes 2332 and 3579 .
The cross-F key on small axle and rods might possibly be a later addition. Also could it be a solution for the complicated woodblock turnery, or a solution for a wood turnery failure?
See Verdegem (2008a) and Mahillon (R1978) Vol.IV p.199 on place of origin. The Schott Mainz firm produced wind instruments between 1818 and 1840, and had shops in Mainz, Antwerp (from c.1824), Brussels (from 1833), Paris and London, but the instruments were always made in the Mainz workshop. Important woodwind makers there were Carl Friedrich August Jehring (1798–1837) and his nephew Johann Adam Heckel (1812–1877), explaining the similarity with the Rijksmuseum Heckel English horn BK-NM-11430-88.
It is not unimaginable that this instrument came to Belgium through the agency of Jean-Valentin Bender, who was on good terms with the Schott brothers. Being of German origin himself, he was from 1826 the conductor of the Antwerp Société d’Harmonie and from 1832 the founder and conductor of the famous Belgian military Band of Guides.
{Schott}
