As Horn Matters author Bruce Hembd and I were both students at Eastman at the same time, we both had contact with a specific model of horn, made by Alexander in (mostly) the 1970s for Milan Yancich, one of the two teachers at Eastman at the time. The model was the Heldenhorn, which was a Geyer style instrument in a time that it was very difficult to buy instruments of this type.
It was a great choice of name! A hero’s horn! But read on to the end for a somewhat shocking detail on the example that Yancich personally used.
The current production Heldenhorn
Since 2017 Alexander has been producing the Model 1106 Heldenhorn. It is inspired by the originals which Yancich had made.
This model is our newest double horn in the range of our instruments. A double horn in a similar design was built as early as the 1970s. The idea for this early model arose from discussions with the American horn player Milan Yancich (1921 – 2007, horn player, i.a. Chicago Symphony and Cleveland Orchestra; teacher, i.a. Eastman School of Music). For this model essential elements of the Geyer construction method were adopted and transferred to our K-model (model 1103). In total, a good dozen of these horns were made and they became known as the “Heldenhorn”.
As Yancich played one and a couple other students owned them (thinking specifically of our friends Beth and Arthur), I had no idea the original horns are so rare. Looking into it now, elsewhere I have seen the number given of 20-30 being produced. Still, a very small run of the original.
As Alexander further explains in their website, the basis of the current version “is the 1103 K-model. The body and the taper of the leadpipe and bell are identical for both horns.” They further explain that “the main difference between these models is the layout of the F horn. The tight bends in the F branch of the 1103 have been opened out,” as would be expected in a true Geyer style horn.
Testing out an original Heldenhorn
That brings me to now. I’ve had a chance to give a good test to this original horn, which presently has a Rauch R1 leadpipe on it.
As to positives, wow! This horn has a great sound. The bell throat of the hand-hammered bell is on the large side of medium for sure; produces a big sound like a Geyer. I also have not found a bad note, of the type that tend to exist on some Geyers; the high A and high Bb are as solid as you could want. Slurs are really nice, low range very solid. I feel very accurate and secure playing it. It has recently rebuilt valves, which feel really nice.
In terms of kind of neutral things, if you have small hands, this horn might feel a little big. It’s also clearly had some repair, as would be expected for a horn that is around 50 years old. It is also a tad heavy, but weight is within reason.
As to negatives, I hate to be super specific, but the big one is intonation. I think you could certainly get used to it too, as pitch is relatively flexible on this horn, but it is not as dialed in for intonation as the horns you could buy new now.
Still, wow, I do really like this horn. It’s got such a great sound, a classic look, and maybe nostalgia for my time at Eastman is part of it too.
Yancich on the Heldenhorn
Milan Yancich wrote an extremely interesting autobiographical book, An Orchestra Musician’s Odyssey. It still can be ordered new from Wind Music.
Owning a copy of the book, I’m thinking that certainly he must talk about developing the Heldenhorn? But, actually, it is only mentioned one time in a story related to Max Hess (1878-1975). For more background, there’s a nice short bio of Hess in the Wikipedia; but, briefly, he was a big name horn player of the past, a Gumpert student in Leipzig, first horn on the premiere of Mahler 5, Principal Horn in Boston and Cincinnati, etc. That much info is key to understanding the story that follows.
Yancich first visited Hess when he was 88 and living alone in a brownstone building in Boston.
We capped the evening off with fine brandy and cigars. I was to visit with Hess a number of times after that first memorable meeting with him. I looked upon him as a “Down and out” lonely man. His wife was in a nursing home. At one point he offered to give me his Schmidt horn. It was a horn that he had designed himself, and it was built to his specifications by Schmidt. I was thrilled by his offer but I refused to accept it unless I paid him. It was obvious, so I thought, that he was in mediocre financial circumstances. He pressed me to take the horn and in the end he accepted my two-hundred dollar check.
Later that same day I met with Harry Shapiro, the second horn player of the Boston Symphony and told him about the Hess horn and about how fortunate I was to have the instrument. When I mentioned about Hess’s willingness to give me the horn and that I turned down his magnanimous offer, Shapiro exclaimed in astonishment, “Don’t you know Hess is a millionaire!” Despite a lost opportunity for a free instrument no harm was done.
I had Geyer make some necessary repairs on the horn. Because of intonation problems I returned to my Alexander Helden horn. Through experimentation I discovered that the bell of Hess’s horn was a perfect fit for my Alexander instrument and the resulting tone quality was superb. I only have to take my horn out of my case to know that Hess and his memory is with me every day.
What? So, it would seem that Yancich took the bell from the Schmidt horn that Hess used during his career and put it onto his personal Heldenhorn! I can’t imagine anyone doing that today (although I can imagine how valuable the Hess Schmidt horn might have been now). It speaks to the troubles people had in tracking down a good horn back then.
Which may also be part of why he didn’t talk about it in the book further. It could be inferred that ultimately Yancich didn’t feel the project worked out, if he ultimately replaced the bell on his own Heldenhorn with a vintage Schmidt bell.
Still, I get a sense that he was simply ahead of his time. Yancich had a really good idea, but the market was not then looking for Geyer style horns — which dominate the high-end market now.
The instrument that was used by Yancich is in the collection at Eastman now. Certainly, an original Heldenhorn is one to treasure, and I’m looking forward to someday trying one of the new ones as well.
