Willy Köstler (<1946)

This is a forward-facing Alto Horn in E♭, manufactured by Willy Köstler in Graslitz, Böhmen (Bohemia). The German inscription of the town name provides a vital clue for dating the instrument, indicating it was manufactured prior to 1946. After the events of World War II, the region became part of Czechoslovakia, and the town of Graslitz was officially renamed Kraslice.

Structurally, the instrument arrived in relatively good condition, though it required some immediate attention upon arrival. A poorly fitting mouthpiece had been forced into the receiver and became severely jammed, requiring careful extraction to avoid damaging the leadpipe. Once the original mouthpiece was pulled out and replaced with a properly fitting alternative, the horn proved to play quite well. Acoustically, it does suffer from some notable intonation issues—a stubborn characteristic that seems to be a common theme among all the forward-facing horns of this specific type in my collection.