Cornopean. A valved brass instrument widely used in Britain in the 1840s.
The cornopean is characterised by three Stölzel valves and a wide mouthpiece
receiver with cylindrical crooks; many cornopeans also have a single key on
the bellpipe for trills (the ‘clapper key’). The word was also often used as a
synonym for ‘cornet’ or ‘cornet à pistons’, the instrument of French origin
which has a narrow mouthpiece receiver and a distinct taper through each
crook. This less cylindrical model was developed into the Besson and Courtois
instruments which were widely copied and became the standard brass band
instrument, displacing the cornopean in the 1850s. No patent was taken out for
the cornopean, and its inventor and date of origin are not known. It was
possibly introduced by a member of the Pace family, probably soon before, or
soon after the introduction of the cornet à pistons in France. Possibly the
earliest extant cornopean is that by Richard Garrett of London, made between
1826 and 1834, in the National Music Museum, University of South Dakota,
Vermillion, inventory number 438 (Klaus 2006).
The cornopean (like the cornet) was most commonly pitched in 4½-ft B♭,
with crooks for lower tonalities and was capable of sustaining the melodic lead
in a band. The cornopean bore profile is closer to that of a B♭ trumpet than a
cornet, but its mouthpiece has a deep conical cup shape which is
indistinguishable from a keyed bugle mouthpiece. The cornopean with its
wide mouthpiece receiver is almost exclusively British, though there are a few
French examples, some made for the British market. The term was also used
later in the century by instrument makers in model names such as ‘Albion
Cornopean’ and ‘Macfarlane’s Patent Cornopean’.
(Klaus 2006; Myers 2012)
Arnold Myers
References
Klaus, S.K. ,‘Henry Courtenay (1820-1881) of Alton: His Life, His
Cornopean, and Further Thoughts on the “Clapper Shake Key”'. Galpin
Society Journal, 59, 2006, pp. 101-115, 248-251.
Myers, A., ‘How Different are Cornets and Trumpets?’. Historic Brass Society
Journal, 24, 2012, pp.113-128.