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WA Stowasser tidbit

pete

Brassica Oleracea
Staff member
Administrator
https://forum.saxontheweb.net/archive/index.php/t-74642.html

Adds another location in Italy where horns were produced: Bolzano. I think the more interesting thing is the quote: "Leonildo Desidera and sons was a prized factory from Verona during the fascist era which took over the well-known Stowasser." That's between 1922 and 1943. I dunno if that means that WA Stowasser stopped making saxophones in 1922, but that would explain why a company (Stowasser) that was big enough to roll out contrabass saxophones has so few surviving horns.

Some of the Desidera horns are pretty freaky looking. I'll start uploading a few to my website ... eventually.
 
I have a couple of Pustophon clarinets, one is an Oehler system and the other a Boehm. These were the result 0f a collaboration between Stowasser and Puchner. The quality and workmanship are astoundingly good. The Boehm is my everyday instrument and in terms of tuning and tone I'd consider it one of the best clarinets I've ever played. I'm not sure of the age, but I think these date from the 1950's.
 
Thanks for sparking my memory on Pustophon. Here's a good question: is it a collaboration with Stowasser J (i.e. the tárogató guy, whose company is still around) or WA Stowasser?

I did see your thread on the Clarinet BB. Quoting the guy that responded:
"Püchner and Stowasser were master craftsmen from widespread Bohemian- German instrument- making families (one Stowasser worked in Budapest and was engaged in re- inventing the tárogató, one Püchner, a cousin of the beforementioned, after the war founded the Nauheim workshop renowned to this day especially for their bassoons). After being expelled from Tchechoslovakia after the war, P. and S. in the 1950ies worked for Hans Kreul in Tübingen ..."

The post never says WA or J. It's sorta implied that it's WA.

Another quote from an ebay ad:
"The Püstophon brand came about in Tübingen, Germany in the middle 1900's as a join project of two master clarinet makers at Kreul, maker of high-end woodwinds in Germany to this day. The name "Püstophon" itself is a mixing of the names of the two makers: Püchner (founder of the well-known firm, maker of the world's finest bassoons and German-style clarinets) and Stowasser (well-known today for making fine tárogatós)."

So, that's J. Grr.
 
I'm not sure which Stowasser was involved in the Pustophon production, but the reference above sort of points to J. Perhaps we'll never know. I might contact Stowasser directly and see if they can throw some light on the subject. I'll let you know if anything comes up.
 
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