Basket 
Login
BOOSEY & CO 'Sotone' hand horn/sauterelle horn with F crook
£650.00
A fine Boosey & Co 'Sotone' silver
plated hand horn conversion / piston
horn with unplated brass F and
A crooks, a detachable valve section
('sauterelle'), and valve-
replacement tubes for hand horn
playing.
Engraved on the exterior bell flare is
B&Co (floral motif) Sotone (registered)
R.M.S.M. 9
and on the garland is:
Boosey & Co Ltd TRADE MARK
Boosey Makers London
132163
'RMSM 9' shows that the horn was number 9 in
the former collection of the Royal Military School of Music.
Made in 1928-1929, it is a good example of the type of
‘French’ horn that British players were using in the first third
of the 20th century, prior to Sir Thomas Beecham's
insistence that the horns of the LPO (which he founded in
1932) should use Alexander double horns. There followed a
transitional period in British horn playing until the early
1950s, during which several players remained faithful to the
French single F instrument, most notably Aubrey Brain and
the BBC Symphony Orchestra's horn section, and of course
his son Dennis Brain.
The horn’s mid-section tubing’s inner diameter is 11.00mm,
the typical French horn ‘bore’ of the period. The
cosmetic/visual condition of the instrument can accurately
be described as ‘good but not excellent', owing to a few
'acoustically non-invasive' dings, some slightly untidy solder
work where minor repairs have been done, and several
quite large areas where the silver plate has worn away.
The detachable piston valves are in good
shape although rather leaky if not oiled regularly;
the horn plays even better as a hand horn, with a
surprising ‘freedom of blow’, a clear, focussed sound,
and no obvious 'wolf' or 'rollers' (particularly on
the 'G' 12th harmonic of both crooks).
It is also worth mentioning that the valve section's tuning
slides are short enough to permit playing with the A crook
when fully pushed in.
With the 3rd piston held down, of course the horn is in F:
Farquharson Cousins used to reminisce that, during the UK
'era of the piston horn', the customary way of playing e.g.
Beethoven's 2nd Symphony was to use the A crook
throughout, but with the 3 pistons' tuning slides extended to
their 'F' positions. One then played 'horn in D' for
movements 1, 3 and 4, using valves 1+2 while still holding
down the 3rd valve.
For the 2nd mvt, (in E initially) the 2 + 3 combination was
used, crooking the horn in E, until the notated change to 'A'
crook, from which point no valves were used, and the
crook's open harmonics facilitated the notorious high
arpeggios.
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.