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UHLMANN original 19th century natural horn
£2,400.00
A very fine Leopold Uhlmann 19th-century Viennese natural
horn (hand-horn) with 2 crooks: F and E flat.
This is the actual horn that is illustrated and described in great detail in Horace Fitzpatrick's book (now sadly out of print) 'The Horn & Horn-Playing and the Austro-Bohemian tradition 1680-1830' (OUP). In that book, on pages 142-143, and in Plate XXll(a), Fitzpatrick opines that the horn dates from c.1810, but the inscription on the garland, (mentioned further down this website page), contradicts his assertion, indicating that it must be post-1874. Nevertheless, this still falls into the 'crossover period' when many players were still faithful to the hand horn, before Viennese double-piston valves came into use in Austria, particularly in Vienna.
Fitzpatrick's assessment of the historical significance of this horn is speculative but certainly plausible:
“(Thus) Uhlmann's Orchesterhorn not only marks the very last refinement of the hand-horn but establishes the form to which the double-piston Vienna valve was immediately adaptable. This instrument was the prototype of the Vienna horn which is still used there today.”
Devotees and enthusiasts of the 'Wienerhorn', and of Viennese horn style generally, will know that, as Fitzpatrick asserts, the horn section of the Vienna Philharmonic plays horns that are modelled on the 19th century Uhlmann design with its twin-piston valves.
The horn's superb engraved bell garland/kranz, 4.6 cm in width, bears the post-1874 inscription 'Leopold Uhlmann in Wien K:K:Hof'.
The instrument comes with a 'Ganter' Vienna-style silver plated mouthpiece. Happily, the triple-coil E flat crook plays with a clean 12th harmonic (written G) unlike many double-coil Eb crooks, both French and British made.
A lovely original 19th century hand-horn that
represents the end of an historical era and also plays
beautifully.
The photos can be viewed in greater detail
by opening and saving them.
Halstead Music Ltd acts as an agent only,
accepting no responsibility as a principal.
Red Dragon I.T. Ltd.