Orchestral Trumpet in F by W. Brown & Sons
William Brown got his start in the musical instrument
business apprenticing to a flute maker. He was able to start
making cornets by the mid-1830s, just as these instruments
were first gaining popularity. He established his own shop
by 1851, repairing as well as making brass instruments. He
was soon joined by three of his sons. He continued a
speciality with cornets but also gained a reputation building
valve French horns and valve sections to be used in earlier
hand horns. By the time of Brown's death in 1893, the
firm was making orchestral trumpets like this one. In an
interview with Algernon Rose for his book "Talks With
Bandsmen" he mentions the trumpets that he makes. This
trumpet was made some time before 1911 at which time
the shop moved to a new address. The history above
comes from an excellent article: "W. Brown & Sons: A
Nearly Forgotten Name in British Brass Making" by John
Humphries in the Historic Brass Society Journal, Volume
18.
From the 1860s and 1870s in England and France,
trumpets such as this were the most common choice for
use in symphony and opera orchestras for playing much of
the modern repertoire as well as the classical literature.
The timbre was very similar to the older slide and keyed
trumpets and even older models with no mechanism. They
could still be crooked to a variety of keys for ease of
fingering, although the longer the air column, the harder it
was for the player to avoid "clams". This was the primary
reason that by 1900, Bb, C and higher pitched trumpets
were taking the place of these lovely sounding instruments.
This trumpet was recently listed in an online auction, not
surprisingly with an inaccurate description that was in my
favor. As usual in these auctions, I was taking a risk in the
actual condition, original finish, parts etc. I was more that
a little happy when it arrived and the original silver plating
is almost perfect and the mouthpiece and shank are original
to the instrument. Original mouthpipe shanks are often
missing from antique instruments and it is very rare to find
a 19th century trumpet with original mouthpiece. This is
important in understanding the sound that was expected at
the time since the mouthpiece is extremely important to
the character of the sound. The mouthpiece shows signs
of slight modification (enlarging the cup) indicating the
original owner was a serious player. It almost certainly
would have had crooks for Eb, D and C originally, but
those were probably lost with the original case many years
ago. It required some dent removal and two solder joints
were loose.
business apprenticing to a flute maker. He was able to start
making cornets by the mid-1830s, just as these instruments
were first gaining popularity. He established his own shop
by 1851, repairing as well as making brass instruments. He
was soon joined by three of his sons. He continued a
speciality with cornets but also gained a reputation building
valve French horns and valve sections to be used in earlier
hand horns. By the time of Brown's death in 1893, the
firm was making orchestral trumpets like this one. In an
interview with Algernon Rose for his book "Talks With
Bandsmen" he mentions the trumpets that he makes. This
trumpet was made some time before 1911 at which time
the shop moved to a new address. The history above
comes from an excellent article: "W. Brown & Sons: A
Nearly Forgotten Name in British Brass Making" by John
Humphries in the Historic Brass Society Journal, Volume
18.
From the 1860s and 1870s in England and France,
trumpets such as this were the most common choice for
use in symphony and opera orchestras for playing much of
the modern repertoire as well as the classical literature.
The timbre was very similar to the older slide and keyed
trumpets and even older models with no mechanism. They
could still be crooked to a variety of keys for ease of
fingering, although the longer the air column, the harder it
was for the player to avoid "clams". This was the primary
reason that by 1900, Bb, C and higher pitched trumpets
were taking the place of these lovely sounding instruments.
This trumpet was recently listed in an online auction, not
surprisingly with an inaccurate description that was in my
favor. As usual in these auctions, I was taking a risk in the
actual condition, original finish, parts etc. I was more that
a little happy when it arrived and the original silver plating
is almost perfect and the mouthpiece and shank are original
to the instrument. Original mouthpipe shanks are often
missing from antique instruments and it is very rare to find
a 19th century trumpet with original mouthpiece. This is
important in understanding the sound that was expected at
the time since the mouthpiece is extremely important to
the character of the sound. The mouthpiece shows signs
of slight modification (enlarging the cup) indicating the
original owner was a serious player. It almost certainly
would have had crooks for Eb, D and C originally, but
those were probably lost with the original case many years
ago. It required some dent removal and two solder joints
were loose.
In his article, John Humphries discusses the likelihood that Brown purchased parts from other makers
for use in his production. This is typical of smaller makers today as it was then. The first Brown
instrument that I owned was a more modern Bb trumpet that was likely made after WWI. I remember
that at the time I made the assumption that Brown imported it from Europe to sell in London. This was
a very common practice in all countries where the demand was great and the sellers often claimed to be
makers. The evidence it pretty strong that Brown made instruments early on, but it is certainly possible
that later examples were bought for resale. All the tubing in this F trumpet are of metric sizes that were
and are used in Germany. Where Brown claims that the bore of his trumpets were 7/16" (.438") this
actually measures .433" which is exactly 11mm, the closest metric equivalent. The outside diameter of
the tubing and crooks is 12mm. It seems likely that the tubing was made in Germany. Other parts on
this trumpet, such as valve casings and waterkey pin, don't seem to be of metric measurements. The
way that other parts are made, typically don't leave such obvious measurement evidence so it would
only be speculation to guess what other parts might have been sourced from Germany, or indeed the
entire instrument. The overall length with mouthpiece removed is 22 1/2"(571.7mm) and the bell
diameter is 4 5/8"(127.5mm).
This is a very good playing trumpet; the intonation and response are very even throughout in spite of a
relatively small bore. The more famous Courtois orchestral trumpets were 11.5mm(.453") in the bore
and I don't remember being as impressed with the playability, but of course, I didn't have an original
mouthpiece to try it with. I used the Courtois as a model for the replica that I built several years ago and
its playing characteristics were very similar.
for use in his production. This is typical of smaller makers today as it was then. The first Brown
instrument that I owned was a more modern Bb trumpet that was likely made after WWI. I remember
that at the time I made the assumption that Brown imported it from Europe to sell in London. This was
a very common practice in all countries where the demand was great and the sellers often claimed to be
makers. The evidence it pretty strong that Brown made instruments early on, but it is certainly possible
that later examples were bought for resale. All the tubing in this F trumpet are of metric sizes that were
and are used in Germany. Where Brown claims that the bore of his trumpets were 7/16" (.438") this
actually measures .433" which is exactly 11mm, the closest metric equivalent. The outside diameter of
the tubing and crooks is 12mm. It seems likely that the tubing was made in Germany. Other parts on
this trumpet, such as valve casings and waterkey pin, don't seem to be of metric measurements. The
way that other parts are made, typically don't leave such obvious measurement evidence so it would
only be speculation to guess what other parts might have been sourced from Germany, or indeed the
entire instrument. The overall length with mouthpiece removed is 22 1/2"(571.7mm) and the bell
diameter is 4 5/8"(127.5mm).
This is a very good playing trumpet; the intonation and response are very even throughout in spite of a
relatively small bore. The more famous Courtois orchestral trumpets were 11.5mm(.453") in the bore
and I don't remember being as impressed with the playability, but of course, I didn't have an original
mouthpiece to try it with. I used the Courtois as a model for the replica that I built several years ago and
its playing characteristics were very similar.
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