Posted by Klaus on July 29, 2001 at 17:43:54:
In Reply to: Peckhorn posted by Ben Garrison on July 29, 2001 at 16:48:01:
"peckhorn" is really a misspelling of "beg horn".
Which was the constant outcry from the kids of underpaid immigrant parents. These poor kids had seen a ladder of social climbing in being offered to fill out the afterbeatish harmony parts behind the bourgeois kids playing the leads on pets, bones, and bars. With the very elite kids, out of the Pepper, King, Conn, York, and Holton billionaire families, laying the foundation on their amongster basses.
Of course these poor kids would beg for real horns, French horns, when they had played, at least attempted to play, the peckhorns.
This is the very thruth (in one sense or another).
The short, and very boring, thruth is, that Peckhorns are altohorns in F or Eb. Probably named after some instrument maker, whot found that he had reinvented this conical alto brass instrument.
Euphonionists can praise themselves happy, that a Brit "reinventor" of the euphonium did not succeed in having his name sticking with this instrument. His planned route into the eternal hall of fame was to call his product the "Hell horn". The substantial SA subsection of the Brit brass instruments market might have been a significant factor in the de-selection of that model/brand name.
Klaus
(this above excerpt from my PhD dissertation to be promoted from "Das Institut der Forschung merkwürdige Blechfänomene" (The Institute for the Research of Odd Brass Phenomenons) can be used and distributed freely as long as the name of this highly honoured institute is credited)