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looking for information on H. Pinder English Horn.

I have recently gotten a old English horn and am having a lot of trouble finding out anything about it. the logo stamped into the upper body is a crown with "H. PINDER" stamped beneath it, and "DRESDEN" stamped beneath that. So far I have managed to find that H. Pinder was a woodwind maker in Dresden Germany in the early to late 1800's, other than that, however, I have not been able to find anything on the maker or the instrument itself.

Any information or help of any kind would be much appreciated, thank you in advance!
 
Hi there. Welcome to the WF.

First up, could you please upload some photos. Pics, especially of the stamping would help a lot!

Do you read German? I did a quick search on the German Google site and came up with a reference to the company on the Markneukirchen Musik Instrument Museum Forum:

Geboren wurde Heinrich Franz Eduard Pinder am 30.08.1857 in Adorf. 1886 übersiedelte er nach Dresden und übernahm dort die Firma von Gottlieb Ludwig Zencker, welche bereits 1823 gegründet wurde. Diese führte er bis zu seinem Tod am 09.12.1913 in Dresden. Danach führte seine Witwe die Firma weiter, bis 1929 Theodor Poppe die Firma übernahm.
Heinrich Franz Eduard Pinder war Holzblasinstrumentenmacher. In Dresden hatte er sogar den Titel eines Hof-Holzblasinstrumentenmachers inne.

BTW, the umlauts are lost on English computers.


  • Born Heinrich Franz Eduard Pinder on August 30, 1857 in Adorf
  • Moved to Dresden and there took over the company Gottlieb Ludwig Zencker, which had been founded in 1823
  • Pinder continued to run this company until his death on September 12, 1913, in Dresden.
  • Afterwards, his widow continue to run the company, until 1929, when Theodor Poppe took it over.
  • Heinrich Franz Eduard Pinder was a woodwind instrument maker.
  • In Dresden he even had the title of a Woodwind Instrument Maker for Governmental Ministries**. (?)

** Ben, could you check this for me, I'm not convinced that I have this translation very accurate. I'm not sure how you would really say this in English. Thanks!!

Once we have some photos to work with, I'm sure there are a number of us here who can help you out...helen
 
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I will get some photos up shortly, I have to load them from my phone. As for the Markneukirchen Musik Instrument Museum Forum, I do read some German, and this is the location that I found what little information I do have from. Sadly, so far this is ALL of the information I have been able to find, aside from Ancestory.com having rough birth and death records for Mr. Heinrich Franz Eduard Pinder.
 
Yes, I do speak and read some German, I had come across this forum earlier and is where what little information I do have has come from. Your translation of the information there is at least as accurate as mine, but thank you for looking. This and ancestory.com having brief birth and death records for Mr. Heinrich Pinder is sadly all I have been able to find so far.

I will get some photos up as soon as I get a chance.
 
20160121_115514.jpg20160121_115504_009.jpg20160121_115453.jpg20160121_115434.jpg
photos of the instrument, case and stamp on the horn.
 

Well, I am not a double reed expert, but here's my comment: First, it appears to be a nicely made horn, most probably cocobolo or rosewood, not grenadilla. This has Boehm system keying, but not full conservatory, and it is also is lacking some of the linkages and trill keys that are included on modern ring-key systems. Strangely, considering that it is "stripped down", it does have automatic octave key linkages. So the bottom line is that while it might be quite a nice instrument (only a player could comment on that), it really could not be used by a serious player or student since it is missing some of the alternate fingerings and trills that are normal today.
 
From what i have been able to find, both from reading online and from speaking with a local repairman who specializes in double reed instruments, is that during the time that Heinrich Pinder was alive and making horns, the construction of English horns in Germany, Dresden being the central hub for woodwind manufacturing in Germany, was very different from how it was being done in Paris and London. What I don't know is how it was done in Dresden vs how it was done in London or Paris. Also, I am unfamiliar with how the key system developed over time in any of the major cities. As for right now, the local repairman did not attempt to repair it, due to a lack of experience with this key system, I haven't yet been to see the double reed specialist in Houston i spoke to about it. I haven't spent any real time playing double reed instruments, mostly clarinet, bass clarinet, percussion and strings, but I am going to try to get some time to sit down with it today and see if there are any issues with it, and hopefully figure out this Boehm key system. thank you for that information Kymarto.
 
I will see if I can get my tech to look at this thread. He is an English horn player from Switzerland. He, like Pinder, is trained as a woodwind instrument maker. He did his training in Switzerland in the early 1980s.
 
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