bigaggietrumpet

Ok, there are actually two parts to this question. 1) I was reading the other day, Clive Cussler's "Raise the Titanic". Excellent book. In it, he references to a Graham Farley, who was supposedly a solo cornetist onboard the Titanic, and that he played a presentation grade Boosey and Hawkes cornet made around 1911 or so. Would anyone happen to know if this is actually valid information?

2) I know Boosey and Hawkes was a real company. Anyone know if they were ever any good? Personal experience?

laurie

Gday
I dont know of the connection with the Titanic so cant answer that. There is a picture of a Boosey & Hawkes "Presentation" cornet at www.cornetsite.nl.
Click on cornets, then click on "B"It takes a while to load.
Were Boosey&Hawkes cornets any good? My word they were! They were the mainstay of British,Australian and NewZealand brass bands for many years. I learnt to play on them and currently own a rather nice "Imperial" model Bb, and an Eb Soprano.. During my time in Brass bands I also played on Boosey flugel horns and Soprano cornets (Imperials and Soveriegns) They were all very fine instruments.

Cheers
Laurie
NSW Australia

trumpetmike

Impossible - Boosey & Hawkes only came into existence in 1934. Before that they were two different companies - Boosey & Co. and Hawkes & Son. Both of these made instruments, so it is perfectly possibly that it was made by one of these companies.

The top end Boosey & Hawkes trumpets were very well regarded over here (UK). Used in a variety of situations from orchestra to big bands. I have an old Hawkes & Son Clippertone Bb/A (in fact I have two) which is just fantastic when taken up above the stave. Such a light sound, very easy to play delicately.

More recently (can't recall the dates, but I think it was around 1970ish) Boosey & Hawkes took over Besson and was found producing the Besson Sovereign instruments, primarily used in the British Brass Band scene.
There was also the B&H 400 - which was originally the Boosey & Hawkes student line, but they sold that off to another maker, along with the name. The quality was not great to start with and got worse. After a long battle The Music Group (the group that owned Boosey & Hawkes at the time) finally put a stop to them using that name a couple of years ago.

bigaggietrumpet

Interesting. He probably meant Boosey & Co., or just didn't know enough to know the difference.

By top end, what models are you referring to?

trickg

A friend of mine recently aquired a Boosey & Hawkes Sovereign cornet - he says it looks and plays like a dream, and since he is a long time brass band veteran, he'd know.