J W Pepper Natural French Horn, c. 1880,Philadelphia Early American Musical Instrument Purveyor Start Price USD 1,699.00 Current Price USD 1,699.00 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price USD 1,800.00 Reserve Price - Start Time Saturday, August 23, 2008 End Time Saturday, August 30, 2008 Location Toledo, OH See more about 'J W Pepper Natural French Horn, c. 1880,Philadelphia' Description In the J W Pepper Self-Instructor for French Horn, published in the 1880s, a copy of which is preserved in the Library of Congress, we are advised that "there are two types of horns in current use in America, those without valves and those with valves." The method goes on to include a hand stopping chart and not a few etudes for the natural horn.While we often point to the French as having been conservative and deliberate in slowly accepting the valve horn, it seems that we Americans have been just as reticent. For auction, now, we present a superb natural horn bearing the name of this early musical firm, doubtless an import bearing Pepper's label. My guess would be a lower German source of manufacture, or possibly Viennese, as the design is congruent with other non-valve horns from those regions of Europe (Pizka is an excellent reference). There was, recent scholarship has shown, an enterprizing man named Mertz who imported German horns (Vogtland) to the US during the 19th century. In any case, it was an instrument whose use was to be truncated by the increasing need for valves. (One sees, from time to time, photos of bands from that era, having one or more natural horn players, generally mixed with valved horns.) The Pepper natural horn is in fine shape, with a conservative repair history, judging from the metal. The first entry branch has been replaced, as the seam had split irrepairably. The slide legs are also trenewed. There is one patch right where you might expect it to be, just up from the bell, where horns collect dings like some people collect porcelain figurines. It is also where the instrument rubs against the player's garments with eventual erosion of the metal. Here, there is an ugly old patch visible. The patch itself was dented and repaired, but still functions and serves as an excellent marker of the history of the horn.Other than these repairs, the horn is in terrific shape for a 120 year old, still exhibiting very fine details of construction. The 11" diameter brass bell exhibits both the gusseted construction and the garland or kranz typical of fine horns from the period. The bore is .439", again typical of the era. The bell interior is devoid of any enamelling. There are no extant crook, case, nor mouthpiece, but all are available from several modern souces that provide historical horn "paraphenalia". The starting price has been set low to reflect this. The sound of the horn, when using crooks borrowed from other horns is delightful and robust but still on the more constrained vocal scale of hand horns. Pitch within the overtone series is very good. It would be a perfect instrument for playing any horn literature commencing about 1760 until today. It seems to be a high pitch instrument, when compared to other natural horns, about A450, but crooks built for this instrument can be made to any standard of pitch. I most often recommend covering all intonation bases for this type of horn by obtaining crooks at A440. Lower Classical pitch at A430 can be obtained by pulling the slide out, and Baroque A415 can be reached by crooking the horn one half step lower that A440. The label is stamped into the horn: In the past, getting good crooks for an old horn was very difficult and costly. Today it is not so great a problem, with interest in the natural horn increasing. Yet typical full crook sets can be very expensive, and may encumber the player with keys in which they may never be called to play, so we have developed some historical and economical crook sets, any of which can be used with this horn. A) The Covent Garden set, still available at $800, comprising a G crook with couplers for F, E, and Eb used singly, and D and C when used in pairs; B) The Belgian set, at $1600, comprising Bb, A, F, and Eb crooks with couplers allowing crooking in all standard keys from Bb to Bb basso. The crook shown in some of the pictures was taken from another horn, and is not included in the auction (too sharp anyway!). Cases for the horn and crooks are now widely available, as are excellent historical mouthpieces copied from Raoux and Courtois with your choice of modern comfortable rims. Players using antique horns often speak of a strong sensation of being a part of a long continuum of players, of stepping back in time to a different era, one of concertos performed in grand salons, and of high living within the patronly support of the aristocracy. I don't think any of us would ever play in quite the same way, with such lofty mental images inspiring us. Please send me any questions you might have. Happy bidding! Place a Bid!