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Not long ago over on Facebook there were a series of comments on a photo of a roughly 1950s high school horn section along the lines of “what is that odd horn?”
It was a horn of this design, another example of which may be found on the cover of the Anton Horner Primary Studies, published in 1939.
This most interesting single F horn is by A. K. Hüttl. Note that the main slide is on “top” and the valve section is placed lower than we see today. Also note the big loop in the main tuning slide. This is not an E-flat crook, it is actually the F tuning slide. Why they did this I am not sure but it does make for a striking look and the horn with valve section set this way is pretty comfortable to hold.
As to Huttl the brass instrument maker, according to Horn-U-Copia, Hüttl was of Graslitz, Czech Rep.
Anton Konrad Huttl started his company in 1877. The company advertised in 1913 that they had the largest most modern factory in Austria-Hungary and Germany.
In 1945, the company was Nationalized, and they relocated in South Wales. Huttl, had a factory one in Canada that closed down in the 1970s. Those horns, said Western Germany presumably Baiersdorf, Germany.
Three more Hüttl horns may be seen at Horn-U-Copia.
Going back to the horn at hand, it plays but is pretty borderline. So it sits on display in my office, an interesting horn I do hope to hang onto for a while.
UPDATE: See this article for more on this horn
