Brass Instruments
Cornetti
NEW
- EMS Serpent
Sackbuts
Natural
Horns
Trumpets
price
list
Cornetti
Monk
instruments
The late Christopher Monk's legacy to early music was the invention and development
of the resin cornetto and the workshops now under the management of Jeremy
West and Keith Rogers continue to produce some of the best and most widely
played cornetti in the world. Available are:
A) leather covered ebony resin cornettino c'-d"', cornetto g-d"'
(also available at high pitch a=466) and lysarden C-c'''.
• wooden cornetti in g in a variety of models and tone woods (also at
a=440 or a=466)
B) mute cornetts in sycamore (range f-a''') or maple/fruitwood in 2 pieces
(range g-a'').
• Serpents in sycamore bound with leather after Baudouin (D or C) with
a variety of keys, and a military serpent in C with 3 keys after Petty.
Moeck
cornetti & serpents
Moeck produce a wide range of cornetti made in pearwood, including a curved
cornett with ivory mouthpiece, a mute cornett with brass mouthpiece and a
mute cornett with integral mouthpiece. Illustrated are:
R73 curved cornett
R71 straight cornett
Serpents
EMS
Harding serpent
Our grateful thanks go to David Harding for approaching us and encouraging
us to continue the production of his unique keyless tenor serpent in C.
Based on a surviving French serpent of about 1750, it is constructed in
two halves by moulding to close tolerances both inside and out. The synthetic
material used for the mouldings closely resembles hardwood in both density
and working properties but is not subject to splitting and warping and is
unaffected by moisture. It is also shock resistant. The exterior of each
instrument is given a textured coating which has a visual resemblance to
the black leather covering of original serpents.
The crook is made from seamless brass tube and is provided with the traditional
thread binding to ensure a leak-tight fit with the body of the instrument.
The serpent is pitched in a=440 with the standard crook and descends to
C'. An optional crook at a=415 is also available. The mouthpiece is turned
from an imitation ivory substitute.
A
brief history..
The keyless serpent appears to have been the result of efforts made at the
end of the 16th century aimed at providing the long established cornett
family with a suitable bass instrument. This objective was never fully realized
as for most of its life, the keyless serpent was used as an isolated instrument
with choristers in church, and by the time it moved out into the world and
had some keys added, the higher pitched members of the cornett family had
long become obsolete.
The keyed serpent found itself in the company of military bandsmen or in
small church bands, with violins, cellos, and woodwind instruments. France
found most work for the keyless serpent where it supported the male voices
in Gregorian chant and generally strengthened the bass line in all manner
of church music. The standard of playing was variable; in his ‘Musical
Tours in Europe’ (1770) Charles Burney describes the serpent as “..in
general overblown, and too powerful for the voices it accompanies; otherwise
it mixes with them better than the organ, as it can augment or diminish
a sound with more delicacy..”. Where good players were available the
serpent received more attention and was given parts in more varied work.
The limitations of the serpent were inescapable; its later developments,
the bass-horn, Russian bassoon and ophicleide were all eventually swept
aside together with their parent by valved brass instruments, which were
easier to play, and had better intonation and evenness of tone throughout
their registers.
As a somewhat eccentric survival from a bygone age, the keyless serpent
remains a highly entertaining and very decorative animal to have in the
house and can be a remarkably sensitive musical instrument in capable hands.
Moeck
R76
keyed serpent
All Moeck historical instruments are supplied in cases.
Sackbuts
Rath
Sackbuts
Michael Rath is an émigré from London (Paxman Horns) who joined
us as a tenant several years ago. He started in a very modest way with only
one employee and only the minimum equipment but he put a lot of effort into
making a very special orchestral trombone which was developed with the aid
of Mark Nightingale, leading trombone with the London Symphony Orchestra.
This trombone was a triumph and so significantly better than anything else
on the market that the series and particularly Mick Rath were immediately
propelled into the world wide limelight.
Historical trombones and a series of sackbuts were the natural progression.
We persuaded Mick to produce a series of sackbuts based on museum originals,
the tenor in F after Drewelwetz, the alto in Bb after Nagl, the bass after
Ehe. They are competitively priced and work like a dream. Players acknowledge
that they are significantly better than anything else on the market. We have
recently provided a set to Chethams, and Trinity College of Music.
Tomes
Sackbuts
A fine range of hand made sackbuts from the English maker Frank Tomes.
Available are an alto sackbut in Eb, tenor sackbut in Bb or A after Neuschel,
and bass sackbut in F with optional Eb tuning slide. All sackbuts have a choice
of round or flat stays.
Natural
Horns
Rath
natural horns
The Rath natural horn has been developed in consultation with Tony Halstead
who was the principal horn in the LSO and is also universally regarded as
the world's leading exponent of the natural horn. He has played principal
horn in the Hanover Band and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. The
horns were developed not as seriously accurate historic replicas but as good
playing instruments and as such they come highly recommended. Ideally suitable
for Franz Joseph Haydn 1732-1809.
Trumpets
Rath
trumpets
The Rath natural trumpet is after Johann Leonard Ehe 1746. It comes in D/C
but other crooks are available, and it is also made in a variety of pitches.
Finke
trumpets
Helmut Finke is our best recommendation for inexpensive early brass instruments.
All hand horns, trumpets and sackbutts are modelled on museum originals but
decoration is kept to a minimum.
Available:
• a fanfare trumpet in d (illustrated)
• a Bb natural horn with full set of crooks available for c alto to
C bass copied from a museum original.
• a tenor sackbutt in Bb (also available are an alto in Eb and bass
in F)