Hofmaster/Greer

This is a magnificent copy made by Dr. Lowell Greer of a baroque orchestral horn by John Christopher Hofmaster, London. It is constructed to be played with the bell held to the player’s left while a mirror-image companion horn would be held with the bell the right. It was fashionable in the baroque period for two players to play with their bells facing one another (see ilustration from an eighteenth century horn tutor, below). The horn is complete with corpus, 2 master crooks (baroque and modern pitch), 5 couplers, and various tuning bits.

Lowell Greer, PhD, DMA, DD, is a master builder of brass instruments. His honors include Fellow of the Geyer Guild and Grand Master of the American Hunting Horn Society. He is a former faculty member at the University of Michigan, Cincinnati College Conservatory, University of Windsor, Oakland University, School of Perfection/ Mexico City, the Carl Neilsen Academy Hultgren Chair for Horn. His teaching experience includes forty-one years of private teaching of university, graduate, and high school level students, eighty-one former students hold posts in 37 professional orchestras, 35 universities, and chamber ensembles. He is currently the holder of the Hultgren Chair, which partially subsidizes the tuition costs of horn lessons. His playing experience includes Detroit Symphony, Mexico City Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony, Toledo Symphony, Waukesha Symphony, Antwerp Philharmonic, Early Music Orchestras in San Francisco, Washington DC, New York City, Boston, Ann Arbor, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Lameque, Cologne, Frankfurt, Toulouse, Chicago, and other locations.

John Christopher Hofmaster (? - 1764) is believed to be of German descent. The earliest documentation of his presence in London is as a ratepayer in Piccadilly in 1751, although he is presumed to have been established earlier elsewhere. By 1763 he was sharing his premises with George Henry Rodenbostel (? - 1789), who continued the business after the death of Hofmaster in 1764. It is also believed that Rodenbostel mariied a daughter of Hofmaster in 1776. It is thought that Hofmaster was responsible for introducing the first horns with tuning crooks into England.

Label :	MADE BY L. GREER TOLEDO
Model:	Hofmaster
Serial Number:	none
Date of Manufacture:	2003
Key(s):	G, F, E, E♭, D, C, B, B♭ (A=440 or 415)
Valves:	none
Bore:	1.11 cm (I.D. of crook tenon)
Bell Flare:	garland
Bell Throat:	5.5 cm.
Bell Diameter:	25.8
Base Metal:	yellow brass with nickel-silver trim
Finish:	unlacquered
. (click on photos for larger view)

This is a magnificent copy made by Dr. Lowell Greer of a baroque orchestral horn by John Christopher Hofmaster, London. It is constructed to be played with the bell held to the player’s left while a mirror-image companion horn would be held with the bell the right. It was fashionable in the baroque period for two players to play with their bells facing one another (see ilustration from an eighteenth century horn tutor, below). The horn is complete with corpus, 2 master crooks (baroque and modern pitch), 5 couplers, and various tuning bits. Lowell Greer, PhD, DMA, DD, is a master builder of brass instruments. His honors include Fellow of the Geyer Guild and Grand Master of the American Hunting Horn Society. He is a former faculty member at the University of Michigan, Cincinnati College Conservatory, University of Windsor, Oakland University, School of Perfection/ Mexico City, the Carl Neilsen Academy Hultgren Chair for Horn. His teaching experience includes forty-one years of private teaching of university, graduate, and high school level students, eighty-one former students hold posts in 37 professional orchestras, 35 universities, and chamber ensembles. He is currently the holder of the Hultgren Chair, which partially subsidizes the tuition costs of horn lessons. His playing experience includes Detroit Symphony, Mexico City Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony, Toledo Symphony, Waukesha Symphony, Antwerp Philharmonic, Early Music Orchestras in San Francisco, Washington DC, New York City, Boston, Ann Arbor, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Lameque, Cologne, Frankfurt, Toulouse, Chicago, and other locations. John Christopher Hofmaster (? - 1764) is believed to be of German descent. The earliest documentation of his presence in London is as a ratepayer in Piccadilly in 1751, although he is presumed to have been established earlier elsewhere. By 1763 he was sharing his premises with George Henry Rodenbostel (? - 1789), who continued the business after the death of Hofmaster in 1764. It is also believed that Rodenbostel mariied a daughter of Hofmaster in 1776. It is thought that Hofmaster was responsible for introducing the first horns with tuning crooks into England.