Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung

(Common Musical Newspaper) 

November 1817

Important Improvements for the Horn. 

The natural horn is said to be a wonderful instrument with its full and strong as well as soft and graceful tune. But in comparison to other wind instruments it is less praiseworthy because it is even not possible to play a diatonic scale without stopped tones. The following tone are natural but even some of them are not pure. 



For purity of the imperfect tones as well as the missing tones, there was the technique of stopping tones. However, it was never possible that the sound of the natural tones and the stopped tones was the same. Only a small number of solo virtuosi play every tone in good quality from This is information known to every horn player or horn interested. But now information will be given that will be interesting for every friend of music. 

This unsatisfying fact of stopped tones is solved currently by keys. The security of tone was higher but the quality did not improve. 

H. Stoelzel has now found the solution after long thinking about the problem and after studying permanently. He has found the right way like other mechanics in a  simple and direct way. He just added two airtight valves with two springs which are to be moved simply and easily by two fingers of the right hand, like keys on the piano. This invention makes the chromatical scale from the deepest to the highest tone possible in the same good quality. Furthermore, there is no need to change the cooks. Everything is now possible to play without any difficulties. 

The outcome is know easy to imagine if you think of the simple and similar horn passages in concerti. Wonderful effects and new will be parts such as the following in the deep register with one and the same good tone quality 
  

I wish H. Stoelzel many orders for his valve horn and , in deed, every music direction, every concert hall and theatre, every military music and every orchestra ought to buy some of this new horns. Not only the joy of the audience and the horn players will be certain but also trumpets and trombones could be improved by this new mechanism. There will be wonderful possibilities for composers to realize new ideas. 

Incidentally, this invention by Mr. Stoelzel is already proved by competent judges and applauded highly (see the essay by music director Bierey in Breslau, 1817/11/18). Mr. Stoelzel got a reward for this invention by the king, too. 

Leipzig.

Friedrich Schneider.

The report was translated to give the gist of the essay by Schneider. For further information and original text, see the German pages.