German Trumpet with Berliner Valves
Trumpets such as this are rarely found in collections in the
US, never having been a part of our traditional
instrumentation. Also, my knowledge is very weak on the
history of regions where these were used, but I will do my
best to present it here. Johann Gottfried Moritz, a brass
instrument maker in Berlin from 1808 was intending to
make copies of other early valve instruments in the 1820s.
He realized that making a relatively larger bore through the
valves improved the playability and sound quality. In
collaboration with Wilhelm Wieprecht, an up and coming
musician in the region who later became director of all
bands in Prussia, he designed the short wide piston valves
seen here. These came to be known as "Berliner pumpen"
or "Berliner valves". The most important instruments to
come from this partnership were the flugelhorn and bass
tuba, the latter having no precedent in proportions. These
were later made (and patented) in Paris by Adolphe Sax
and became better known in western Europe, Britain and
the US as Saxhorns. Herbert Heyde, of the New York
Metropolitan Museum of Art and the leading expert on
European brass instruments, has told me that this trumpet
was most likely made in about 1860 in Markneukirchen.
The flower and leaf decoration engraved on the bell garland
is typical of makers in that city.
This trumpet is in high pitch G (A=approx. 452Hz) and
when I first acquired it I assumed that G trumpets were
used in orchestras and not bands, military or otherwise. I
have since been told by experts including Sabine Klaus and
Herbert Heyde that these were intended for military band
use. Unlike orchestral trumpets, this band trumpet
probably didn't have crooks to change keys, but certainly
could have been crooked to F or Eb if needed. The last
photo below shows the condition of this trumpet as I
received it, held together with cellophane tape. It had been
taken apart for repairs and unfortunately was dipped in a
strong acid, etching the entire instrument. This is a
common practice in repair shops that don't seem to
understand the damage done by this treatment. In spite of
this and prior abuse, it came together nicely and even plays
pretty well with thick oil on the valves. One might think
that the nickel silver patch on the side of the bell is a repair
but when I took it off, I could see original scraper marks
underneath, which were from the original manufacturing
process. It looked like the main tuning slide had been
installed crooked, but it was, indeed originally at this angle
to clear the bell as it is pulled. The straight section of the
mouthpipe is not original, appearing to have been damaged
and repaired repeatedly and eventually replaced. I made a
new section using my best judgement as to what the original
might have been. The mouthpiece shown is not original,
but is the only one that I had that fits and works well
acoustically. It also plays well with a large modern trumpet
mouthpiece. The overall length of this trumpet is 14 3/8",
the bell rim diameter is 5 1/8" and the bore measures .424".
US, never having been a part of our traditional
instrumentation. Also, my knowledge is very weak on the
history of regions where these were used, but I will do my
best to present it here. Johann Gottfried Moritz, a brass
instrument maker in Berlin from 1808 was intending to
make copies of other early valve instruments in the 1820s.
He realized that making a relatively larger bore through the
valves improved the playability and sound quality. In
collaboration with Wilhelm Wieprecht, an up and coming
musician in the region who later became director of all
bands in Prussia, he designed the short wide piston valves
seen here. These came to be known as "Berliner pumpen"
or "Berliner valves". The most important instruments to
come from this partnership were the flugelhorn and bass
tuba, the latter having no precedent in proportions. These
were later made (and patented) in Paris by Adolphe Sax
and became better known in western Europe, Britain and
the US as Saxhorns. Herbert Heyde, of the New York
Metropolitan Museum of Art and the leading expert on
European brass instruments, has told me that this trumpet
was most likely made in about 1860 in Markneukirchen.
The flower and leaf decoration engraved on the bell garland
is typical of makers in that city.
This trumpet is in high pitch G (A=approx. 452Hz) and
when I first acquired it I assumed that G trumpets were
used in orchestras and not bands, military or otherwise. I
have since been told by experts including Sabine Klaus and
Herbert Heyde that these were intended for military band
use. Unlike orchestral trumpets, this band trumpet
probably didn't have crooks to change keys, but certainly
could have been crooked to F or Eb if needed. The last
photo below shows the condition of this trumpet as I
received it, held together with cellophane tape. It had been
taken apart for repairs and unfortunately was dipped in a
strong acid, etching the entire instrument. This is a
common practice in repair shops that don't seem to
understand the damage done by this treatment. In spite of
this and prior abuse, it came together nicely and even plays
pretty well with thick oil on the valves. One might think
that the nickel silver patch on the side of the bell is a repair
but when I took it off, I could see original scraper marks
underneath, which were from the original manufacturing
process. It looked like the main tuning slide had been
installed crooked, but it was, indeed originally at this angle
to clear the bell as it is pulled. The straight section of the
mouthpipe is not original, appearing to have been damaged
and repaired repeatedly and eventually replaced. I made a
new section using my best judgement as to what the original
might have been. The mouthpiece shown is not original,
but is the only one that I had that fits and works well
acoustically. It also plays well with a large modern trumpet
mouthpiece. The overall length of this trumpet is 14 3/8",
the bell rim diameter is 5 1/8" and the bore measures .424".
Click on images for larger views.