Matthew Arbuckle's Courtois Cornet
This is certainly one of my favorite instruments and arguably the one
with the most important history, having belonged to four of the most
famous cornet soloists in the United States. This Courtois cornet
was made in Paris, about 1875 and sold through S. Arthur Chappell,
the London dealer, and Edward Hopkins, the New York dealer to
the most famous band leader in the US at the time, Patrick S.
Gilmore, of Gilmore's Band. Gilmore paid to have it elaborately
engraved, silver plated and trimmed with gold plating. He presented
it to his top cornet soloist at the time: Matthew Arbuckle. This
portrait of Arbuckle clearly shows him holding the same cornet when
it was new. The photo was taken in San Fransisco in late April,
1876 while the Gilmore Band was there on tour. Patrick Gilmore
was the country's top cornet soloist in his own time, so he certainly
appreciated such a fine musical instrument. 1875 was also the year
that Jules Levy, the world's most famous cornet soloist, moved to
New York City and was hired onto Gilmore's Band, joining
Arbuckle in the cornet section. Several years later, after Courtois
introduced the "Arbuckle's Model" cornet, Arbuckle gave or sold this
instrument to Levy. I don't know how extensively it was used by
Levy, but he gave it to Z. Albert Meredith in about 1900 when he
was touring with him. Meredith was another very famous cornet
soloist at that time who went on to build the excellent "Meredith
Open Tone" cornets years later in Ohio. Meredith eventually moved
to Long Beach California, opening a brass instrument repair shop
and continued to make more cornets in smaller numbers than in
Ohio. Meredith still had Arbuckle's cornet when he sold his
business, including the cornet, to Don Heaston who had been his
employee for several years. Mr. Heaston eventually closed the shop
and moved the operation to his ranch in Cucamonga. I met Don in
1976 after he had set up a repair shop at Fullerton High School,
where I came to learn the trade while a high school student. I never
learned of this cornet until about 1990 when Don asked me if I was
interested in buying it. I didn't hesitate in telling him that I would if I
could afford it.
The original silver plating is almost all intact, although, sadly most of
the gold plated trim has worn off. Originally, the gold covered the
valve caps, buttons and stems, all braces, ferrules, pull knobs,
waterkey as well as all of the engraved areas. It was obviously a
very striking instrument. When I received this cornet, it was in this
American made Courtois case supplied by J. Howard Foote who
was the sole Courtois importer in the US in the 1880s and 1890s.
The case contained the original Bb and A shanks although the
Courtois Levy Model mouthpiece and bit are replacements. The
low pitch slide is probably from another cornet since it is not
engraved.
The fifth photo to the left shows another extremely important cornet
that was discovered in 2009 by George Foreman after many years of
obscurity. This is Jules Levy's own Courtois cornet that he is
holding in the last photo and I had the privilege of doing some minor
repairs and preservation work on it. The original silver plated finish
is largely intact. This is the cornet that Jules Levy purchased in
London before moving to New York in 1875. It was an exciting
thing to re-unite the two most important cornets in the United States
of the 1870s that played side by side in Gilmore's Band. George is
also the owner of the original photos of Matthew Arbuckle and Jules
Levy and generously gave permission to display them here as well.
In photos of Arbuckle and Levy from this period, they always have
the A mouthpipe shanks in their cornets. I had always understood
that the Gilmore Band and Sousa's later always played in low pitch
(modern pitch) for the convenience of soloists that wouldn't
otherwise perform with bands. I recently read a quote from
Alessandro Liberati in around 1905 that he played at A=433Hz
which sounded low to me. First I tested several instruments from
that period with original low pitch slides and mouthpieces. Sure
enough, they could be tuned that low with the tuning slide out no
more than 3/8". Only later did it occur to me to try Arbuckle's
cornet with the A shank and high pitch slide in place (as in the photo
above). Once again, it tuned to A=433Hz with the tuning slide out
less than 3/8", making it seem very likely that these two cornet
soloists played at approximately that pitch level in those years. This
tradition was continued into the 20th Century by Liberati and
presumably others.
The overall length with mouthpiece removed is 12 7/16", the bell
diameter is 4 13/16" and the bore size is .449". These are the same
measurements in Levy's own cornet as well. The "Arbuckle's
Model" cornet made later by Courtois appeared to be identical to
"Levy's Model" but had a bore measurement of .459".
with the most important history, having belonged to four of the most
famous cornet soloists in the United States. This Courtois cornet
was made in Paris, about 1875 and sold through S. Arthur Chappell,
the London dealer, and Edward Hopkins, the New York dealer to
the most famous band leader in the US at the time, Patrick S.
Gilmore, of Gilmore's Band. Gilmore paid to have it elaborately
engraved, silver plated and trimmed with gold plating. He presented
it to his top cornet soloist at the time: Matthew Arbuckle. This
portrait of Arbuckle clearly shows him holding the same cornet when
it was new. The photo was taken in San Fransisco in late April,
1876 while the Gilmore Band was there on tour. Patrick Gilmore
was the country's top cornet soloist in his own time, so he certainly
appreciated such a fine musical instrument. 1875 was also the year
that Jules Levy, the world's most famous cornet soloist, moved to
New York City and was hired onto Gilmore's Band, joining
Arbuckle in the cornet section. Several years later, after Courtois
introduced the "Arbuckle's Model" cornet, Arbuckle gave or sold this
instrument to Levy. I don't know how extensively it was used by
Levy, but he gave it to Z. Albert Meredith in about 1900 when he
was touring with him. Meredith was another very famous cornet
soloist at that time who went on to build the excellent "Meredith
Open Tone" cornets years later in Ohio. Meredith eventually moved
to Long Beach California, opening a brass instrument repair shop
and continued to make more cornets in smaller numbers than in
Ohio. Meredith still had Arbuckle's cornet when he sold his
business, including the cornet, to Don Heaston who had been his
employee for several years. Mr. Heaston eventually closed the shop
and moved the operation to his ranch in Cucamonga. I met Don in
1976 after he had set up a repair shop at Fullerton High School,
where I came to learn the trade while a high school student. I never
learned of this cornet until about 1990 when Don asked me if I was
interested in buying it. I didn't hesitate in telling him that I would if I
could afford it.
The original silver plating is almost all intact, although, sadly most of
the gold plated trim has worn off. Originally, the gold covered the
valve caps, buttons and stems, all braces, ferrules, pull knobs,
waterkey as well as all of the engraved areas. It was obviously a
very striking instrument. When I received this cornet, it was in this
American made Courtois case supplied by J. Howard Foote who
was the sole Courtois importer in the US in the 1880s and 1890s.
The case contained the original Bb and A shanks although the
Courtois Levy Model mouthpiece and bit are replacements. The
low pitch slide is probably from another cornet since it is not
engraved.
The fifth photo to the left shows another extremely important cornet
that was discovered in 2009 by George Foreman after many years of
obscurity. This is Jules Levy's own Courtois cornet that he is
holding in the last photo and I had the privilege of doing some minor
repairs and preservation work on it. The original silver plated finish
is largely intact. This is the cornet that Jules Levy purchased in
London before moving to New York in 1875. It was an exciting
thing to re-unite the two most important cornets in the United States
of the 1870s that played side by side in Gilmore's Band. George is
also the owner of the original photos of Matthew Arbuckle and Jules
Levy and generously gave permission to display them here as well.
In photos of Arbuckle and Levy from this period, they always have
the A mouthpipe shanks in their cornets. I had always understood
that the Gilmore Band and Sousa's later always played in low pitch
(modern pitch) for the convenience of soloists that wouldn't
otherwise perform with bands. I recently read a quote from
Alessandro Liberati in around 1905 that he played at A=433Hz
which sounded low to me. First I tested several instruments from
that period with original low pitch slides and mouthpieces. Sure
enough, they could be tuned that low with the tuning slide out no
more than 3/8". Only later did it occur to me to try Arbuckle's
cornet with the A shank and high pitch slide in place (as in the photo
above). Once again, it tuned to A=433Hz with the tuning slide out
less than 3/8", making it seem very likely that these two cornet
soloists played at approximately that pitch level in those years. This
tradition was continued into the 20th Century by Liberati and
presumably others.
The overall length with mouthpiece removed is 12 7/16", the bell
diameter is 4 13/16" and the bore size is .449". These are the same
measurements in Levy's own cornet as well. The "Arbuckle's
Model" cornet made later by Courtois appeared to be identical to
"Levy's Model" but had a bore measurement of .459".
Click on images for larger views
