"Baritone, nominal pitch: C - B♭"

Baritone, nominal pitch: C - B♭ | Auguste Courtois | Post 1862

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Four Stölzel valves. The tuning-slide can be pulled to change from C to Bb, and is graduated. Lent by A. Myers.

Baritone saxhorn

Auguste Courtois

Paris

Europe

France

Western Europe

Instrument Data

Instrument Information

Title

Baritone, nominal pitch: C - B♭

Alternative Title

Saxhorn baryton.

Accession Number

3352

Collection

MIMEd

Date Information

Date Made

Post 1862

Period

19th century; 1860s; 1870s

Gallery Information

Gallery

Wolfson Gallery

Case

Brasswind case 4

Maker Information

Maker Name

Auguste Courtois

Maker Biography

Brother of Antoine Courtois and member of the Courtois family of instrument makers. Little information survives on Augustine’s contribution to his family’s firm apart from letters protesting the patents of Adolphe Sax in the mid-19th century.

Made In

City

Paris

Country

France

Description

Technical Description

Technical description: Brass. Windway runs mouthpipe - 4 - m.t.s. - 1 - 2 - 3 - bell. The main tuning-slide is long enough to lower pitch to B♭ and is graduated at positions for B♮ and B♭. Music card-holder fitting, no water-key. The bore expands very rapidly just beyond the valves.The bore profile approaches that of a euphonium and the instrument may have been intended to be used as a bass saxhorn, possibly in a marching band.

Valve type: 4 Stölzel valves with spring inside hollow stem; alignment by unequal lugs on spring anchor plate.

Signature / Marks: Inscribed on bell "AUGTE. COURTOIS AINE / BREVETÉ S.G.D.G / PARIS"; on lower side of valve casings "548"; on inner main tuning-slide adjacent to graduations "SI" and "SIB".
Decorative features: Mother of pearl touchpieces.

Usable pitch: Diapason Normale, plays c 20 cents below A⁴ = 440 Hz.

Performance characteristics: Good response; tuning fairly good when in C, but flat fifth natural note of open tube when slide drawn for B♭, closer to D♭⁴ than D⁴.

Serial number: 548.

Overall size: 763; bell 219.
Sounding length: minimum 2490; with slide pulled to graduation for Bb 2733.
Bore: mouthpipe at c 35mm from mouthpiece receiver (minimum bore) 11.6; 4th valve piston 14.7, 4th valve tuning slide 15.0; m.t.s. at c 418mm from mouthpiece receiver, tuning slide bore 15.7; m.t.s. (without slide pulled) at c 760mm from mouthpiece receiver, tuning slide bore 15.7; centre of valve cluster at c 1098mm from mouthpiece receiver (without slide pulled), v.t.s. bore (1,2,3) 15.7; 1245mm from bell end, c 15.8; c 1156mm from bell end, 22.3. B = 0.46 (in C).
Dia of mouthpiece receiver: m.r.t. 12.2 11.7.

Purchased by lender with, probably formerly used with and possibly supplied by manufacturer with mouthpiece (3353).

Illustration references: World Wide Web picture at http://www.music.ed.ac.uk/euchmi/

Provenance

on loan to the Collection.

Classification