Farkas and the Art of Marketing II

In the comments to my recent post on the Reynolds Pottag Model horn I quoted what Farkas said was his goal in designing the Farkas Model horn. Farkas wanted to

…take the good qualities of each of the various famous horns I owned at the time and eliminate the bad qualities (I knew what they were); then add the right bore and taper for the best blowing horns and the added comfort in the hands, which none of them seemed to give any consideration to. It was actually a hybrid horn that had all the good qualities of the Alexander, the Kruspe, the Geyer, the Schmidt, and several others.

This is from page 121 of the Nancy Jordan Fako book on Farkas. In the period he started working with Holton he actually played on a Geyer and a Conn 8D in the CSO. His initial contract with Holton, quoted in part on page 123 of the Fako book, allowed him to play any horn he wished if needed for a specific musical context but that he would “endorse the said Holton Double French Horn and will diligently promote the sale of such instrument whenever possible.” Having some background in advertising, as noted in part I, again served him well. He worked with Holton closely for the rest of his life.

I like how the contract specifically says he will “diligently promote” the new instrument. In a larger sense we all need to diligently promote the horn. Encourage someone to play horn, encourage your students and colleagues to join the IHS; there is much we all can do to diligently promote the horn.