Books › Ayars, Contributions to the Art of Music in America by the Music Industries of Boston (1937) — the Squier, Farley, Rettberg, Rockwell and Elias Howe matter, 1937 › scan 251
Scan 251
Ayars, Contributions to the Art of Music in America by the Music Industries of Boston (1937) — the Squier, Farley, Rettberg, Rockwell and Elias Howe matter, 1937
22 lines. Read by computer on 27 September 2026. Printed page 225. See the scan on archive.org.
1Rhode Island. For nearly fifty years Mr. Hall used a gold plated E-flat keyed bugle, an exact replica of the solid gold one presented to him by the Lowell, Massachusetts, Brass Band. This had twelve keys and one rotary valve to extend the tone.8
3A silver E-flat cornet, bell over the shoulder with three rotary valves, Boston style of action, and a slide trombone alto in E-flat9 made by D. C. Hall & Co. were exhibited in 1902. A complete set of instruments with echo attachments, made by Mr. Hall's firm according to his design, was used by Hall's Boston Brass Band in their concert tours. When the echo attachments were used the audience generally supposed that there was an extra band behind the stage. The set of echo instruments loaned from the collection of Mr. D. S. Pillsbury for Chickering & Sons' Exhibition in 1902 was stated by the catalogue to be the only complete set known to be in existence. With the exception of the trombone which had three valves, these instruments were made with four valves, rotary action. They consisted of
5B-flat Tenor made of copper with echo attachment.
6B-flat Baritone Trombone made of copper with echo attachment.
7B-flat Bass Euphonium made of copper with echo attachment.
8B-flat Baritone Euphonium made of copper with echo attachment.
9E-flat Alto made of copper with echo attachment.
10F Ballad or French Horn made of German silver with copper echo attachment. It could be changed to G and C.
11C Trumpet made of brass with copper echo attachment.
13A B-flat cornet with piston box valve, by Hall & Quinby, called in the exhibit catalogue a very rare brass instrument, and a B-flat Tenor Trombone, "three valve piston box valve," B. F. Quinby patent of 1872 were also shown.10 The Quinby Bros. were noted as makers of all kinds of fine brass band instruments.11
15The firm of B. F. Richardson made fine cornets and trumpets and also trombones, but did not do much business in the larger instruments.12 From 1866-1878, Richardson & Lehnert made an unusual contribution through their manufacture of Chinese and Turkish cymbals and also gongs, all instruments which previously
178 Historical Musical Exhibition Under the Auspices of Chickering & Sons, Horticultural Hall, Boston, January 11th to 26th 1902, Catalogue of, p. 46.
189 Formerly slide trombones were used in different keys, viz: Sop. E-flat, B-flat, alto E-flat, tenor C, B-flat, bass B-flat, and BB-flat. Most of these old slides had handles for extending to the lower notes.
1910 The writer has been unable to learn anything of the whereabouts of the instruments loaned for the Exhibition of Chickering & Sons from the D. S. Pillsbury Collection. It is to be hoped that this Collection is still intact, since the catalogue described it in 1902 as the most valuable collection of brass instruments in the world.
2011 See page 268 for more detailed information.
2112 Statement of Thomas M. Carter.
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