Egid Glassl

This unique instrument is believed to be a Flugelhorn in C, manufactured by Egid Glassl. Its exact acoustic layout presents an interesting challenge: when using a standard trumpet mouthpiece, the horn actually plays in the key of C♯ (or D♭). However, a previous caretaker conjured up a highly creative solution to this problem, fashioning a custom tuning bit equipped with an adapter for a French horn mouthpiece—which they even permanently soldered into place—to successfully bring the instrument down into C. I have experimented with various cornet bits that almost fit, allowing the horn to play in C using a standard cornet mouthpiece instead. Given that C flugelhorns historically enjoyed quite some popularity in Germany and Bohemia, it is safe to assume that C was indeed the original pitch intended by the maker.

Structurally, the instrument shows some honest dents and a large crack in the first valve slide, but apart from these flaws, the horn remains in good overall condition and is fully playable.