Heinrich Stölzel

Heinrich Stolzel ( born September 7, 1777 Snow Mountain, † February 16, 1844 in Berlin) was a German musician.

Life

Stolzel was born the son of a town musician. He learned to play many instruments, among other things, harp, violin, trumpet and horn. In 1800, William I Prince of Pless hired him as hautboist. Under this designation at that time played a military musician. In this employment he played horn.

During this time he also dedicated himself to the development of the horn, which was then still played as Inventionshorn. To extend the range of this instrument, which consisted only of the natural tones as well as from those that could be achieved by the "plug", he experimented with valves, with whose help he redirect the air in intervening tubes, these extend it and a deeper was able to achieve sound. Already in 1814 could be played on one of his valve instruments.

After he whose patent rights acquired by Friedrich Blühmel, who had independently developed by him a chromatic instrument by means of valves, his instrument on 12 April 1818 filed for 10 years for a patent.

The Concertino for three horns and a chromatic valved horn created by the composer and horn player Georg Abraham Schneider: In the same year, on October 16, 1818 the first factory valve horn was premiered.

Starting from Stölzels valve horn, which was initially equipped only with two valves, were further developed to three valves that were installed with other brass instruments and the whole family of instruments to completely new technology brought in the orchestras. Until approximately 1860, the chromatic horn prevailed in all orchestras.