The project is original research into the manufacture, design and production of brasswind instruments in Britain, based on a detailed comparison of surviving instruments, archival records, and contemporary published sources.

Request for Information

• Besson (serial number below 192569)
• C. Boosé
• Boosey & Sons
• Boosey & Co
• Boosey & Hawkes (bell serial number below 192569)
• H. Distin (British period of work only)
• Distin & Co
• Köhler
• Rudall Carte

Arnold Myers, University of Edinburgh

Publications

• Bradley Strauchen-Scherer and Arnold Myers, `A Manufacturer's Museum: The Collection of Boosey & Hawkes'. In Florence Gétreau, ed., Musique - Images - Instruments: Revue Française d'Organologie et d'Iconographie Musicale 9, 2007 (ISBN 978-2-271-06527-8), pp.146-164.
• Paul Lewis, Arnold Myers and Raymond Parks, `French Horns and Cornophones: Catalogue of the Collection Volume 2 Part H Fascicle vi.' Edinburgh: EUCHMI, 2006. ISBN-10 0 907635 53 9, ISBN-13 978-907635-53-6. 76pp.
• Arnold Myers and Raymond Parks, `Bugles, Cornetts and Ophicleides: Catalogue of the Collection Volume 2 Part H Fascicle vii.' Edinburgh: EUCHMI, 2006. ISBN 0 907635 54 7, ISBN-13 978-907635-54-3. 64pp.
• Arnold Myers and Niles Eldredge, `The Brasswind Production of Madame Besson's London Factory'. = Galpin Society Journal (ISSN 0072-0127) LIX, 2006, pp.43-76.
• Arnold Myers and Raymond Parks, `Small Mouthpieces for Brasswind: Catalogue of the Collection Volume 2 Part H Fascicle iv, 2nd edition.' Edinburgh: EUCHMI, 2005. ISBN 0 907635 51 0.
• Arnold Myers, `Un modele experimental de piston conçu par Blaikley'. Larigot (ISSN 1145-2048), No. 35, Juin 2005, pp.14-16.
• Arnold Myers and Raymond Parks, `Large Mouthpieces for Brasswind: Catalogue of the Collection Volume 2 Part H Fascicle v, 2nd edition.' Edinburgh: EUCHMI, 2004. ISBN 0 907635 50 2.
• Lance Whitehead and Arnold Myers, `The Kohler Family of Brasswind Instrument Makers. Historic Brass Society Journal (ISSN 1045-4616), 2004, 16 [due 2005].
• Kelly J. White and Arnold Myers, `Woodwind Instruments of Boosey & Company'. Galpin Society Journal (ISSN 0072-0127), LVII, 2004, pp.62-80, 208-214.
• Arnold Myers. `Brasswind Manufacturing of Boosey & Hawkes 1930-1954.' Historic Brass Society Journal (ISSN 1045-4616), 2003, 15 pp.55-72.
• Arnold Myers. `Brasswind Innovation and Output of Boosey & Co in the Blaikley Era.' Historic Brass Society Journal (ISSN 1045-4616), 2002, 14 pp.391-423.
• Arnold Myers, The Mystery of the Missing Saxhorn: invited paper, International Symposium on Musical Acoustics, Mexico City, 9-13 December 2002, [Preprints CD].
• Arnold Myers, `Organology: a Position Paper'. Historic Brass Society Journal (ISSN 1045-4616), 2000, 12 pp.viii-xi.
• Arnold Myers, `Trombone Designs in the Transition from Early Models to Modern'. In Monika Lustig, ed., Bericht über das 19 Musikinstrumentenbau-Symposium: Posaunen und Trompeten - Geschichte, Akustik, Spieltechnik; Michaelstein, 20-22 November 1998. (Michaelsteiner Konferenzberichte, Band 60). Blankenburg, Harz: Kloster Michaelstein, 2000. ISBN 3-89512-116-9, pp.39-52.
• Arnold Myers and Raymond Parks, `Post-horns, Cornets and Ballad Horns: Catalogue of the Collection Volume 2 Part H Fascicle viii.' Edinburgh: EUCHMI, 2000. ISBN 0 907635 43 1.
• Arnold Myers and Raymond Parks, `Althorns, Tenor Horns and Baritones: Catalogue of the Collection Volume 2 Part H Fascicle ix.' Edinburgh: EUCHMI, 2000. ISBN 0 907635 44 X.
• Arnold Myers and Raymond Parks, `Euphoniums and Tubas: Catalogue of the Collection Volume 2 Part H Fascicle x.' Edinburgh: EUCHMI, 2000. ISBN 0 907635 45 8.
• Arnold Myers, `Instruments and Instrumentation of British Brass Bands.' Chapter 4 in `The British Brass Band: a Musical and Social History', edited by Trevor Herbert. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000, ISBN 0 19 8166998 2, pp.155-186.
• Arnold Myers and Raymond Parks, `Trumpets and Trombones: Catalogue of the Collection Volume 2 Part H Fascicle iii, 2nd edition.' Edinburgh: EUCHMI, 1998. ISBN 0 907635 37 7.
• Arnold Myers, `The Development of Technology and Manufacture since 1800', in Trevor Herbert and John Wallace, eds, Cambridge Companion to Brass Instruments Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997, ISBN 0 521 56343 7, pp.115-130.
• David B. Sharp, Arnold Myers and D. Murray Campbell, `Using Pulse Reflectometry to Compare the Evolution of the Cornet and the Trumpet in the 19th and 20th Centuries' In Proceedings of the International Symposium on Musical Acoustics, Edinburgh, 19-22 August 1997: Proceedings of the Institute of Acoustics, 1997, 19 (5), ISBN 1 901656 04 7, pp.541-548.
• Frank Tomes and Arnold Myers, `Rudall Carte's Patent Conical Bore Brasswind and Webster Trumpets.' Historic Brass Society Journal (ISSN 1045-4616), 1995, 7 pp.107-122.

  Papers read

  • Brass Instruments: The Origins of the Species. Musical Acoustics Network meeting, University of Bradford, 7 June 2006.
  • Technical Development of Brass Instruments. Invited lecture, University of Durham, 12 November 2004.
  • Henry John Distin (1819-1903). A Centenary Critical Evaluation: Was He the Very Model of a Major Manufacturer ?. Conference on Musical Instruments, Oxford, London and Edinburgh, 7 August 2003. (with L.P. Farrar).
  • The Mystery of the Missing Saxhorn: invited paper, International Symposium on Musical Acoustics, Mexico City, 10 December 2002.
  • How Brass Instruments were Invented: American Musical Instrument Society, Boston, 20 June 2002.
  • Unnatural Selection of Brasswinds: Survival of the Fittest ?: Postgraduate seminar, University of Edinburgh, 18 October 2001.
  • Unnatural Selection of Brasswinds: Survival of the Fittest ?: 3rd Music in 19th-century Britain Conference, London, 18 July 2001.
  • Brass Band Contests. Guest lecture, Welsh College of Music & Drama, Cardiff, 19 March 2001.
  • Instruments of the British Brass Band. Guest lecture, Welsh College of Music & Drama, Cardiff, 19 March 2001.
  • Instrument Classification and Museum Misinformation: CIMCIM Conference, Melbourne, 12 October 1998.
  • Arnold Myers (with Frank Tomes), British Designs for Conical Bore Cornets: The Galpin Society and the Historic Brass Society Joint Symposium on Musical Instrument History, Edinburgh, 1994.

  Data and Reference Information

  • Journal of surviving Boosé, Boosey, and Boosey & Hawkes brass instruments, with archival and catalogue data
  • List of surviving Köhler brass instruments
  • Journal of surviving Rudall Carte brass instruments, with archival and catalogue data

  Link to EUCHMI Welcome Page

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  This page updated: 10 January 2008

  Contact: Dr Arnold Myers