A trip to Mr. Hurd
Tuesday August 21 2007
Well, my wife and I drove the extra 90 miles north of Seattle to visit the home of Mr. Peter Hurd, where he took the time to lay out all of his English Horns that were NOT… in the shop. It was a great time! He had a couple of Malernes (a stencil instrument commonly finished by Laubin) along with a couple of Gordets (finished by Ben Storch) and a couple of Kreuls. Then he had a couple other names I didn’t know, his English Horn (a Loree Z series from around 1910(?)) and the Loree English Horn that I previously blogged about. Unfortunately, many of the horns were leaking and out of adjustment, but I did get a good sense of what I liked and what I didn’t like.
I didn’t like his Malernes. They felt stuffy, and not resonant in the way that I am looking for. Peter chalked it up to them being out of adjustment, but I could still tell enough about them that I didn’t like them. I DID… like his beautiful old Loree Horn, which had a LOT… of ring in the sound. It was great! I felt like I could play all day on it. I also enjoyed one of his Kreuls, which had a low Bb key on it! It was VERY… resonant, in adjustment, and had a very dark tone. It felt like when you played it the earth shook, and I felt like I could do a lot. The real question mark in the batch was the GG Loree English Horn that I previously blogged about. The thumb octave key pad was sticking, and when I first played it, I struggled to get much sound out of it. I quickly got frustrated with it and put it down, moving to others on the table that were more user friendly. After playing all of them though, I went back to the GG Loree and pressed real hard (to make the keys seal enough) and THERE… IT WAS…!!! The big, resonant, colorful Loree sound! I looked at Peter, and he just looked unphased. I said “Are you sure you want to sell this?” and he just nodded. So, guess what? I bought it!
He gave me a name of a man in Vancouver, Washington who does a flat rate overhaul of $600 which includes a full replacement of pads, springs, and adjustment, so I’m planning on taking the horn to him. the Loree itself was $3000, so a great English horn for $3600! What a steal! And a Hiniker Bocal! (We went through several, and picked out the one which worked best with it.)
The Kreul is still there, and is selling for $6700, which was just too much for my budget. It is a very nice horn, and will make someone very happy. It’s very very resonant, but after playing enough instruments, I clearly felt the “Loree flexibility” in the horn, a flexibility which allows a wider range of color changes and tonal flexibility. So, I’m very proud of the horn.
Meanwhile, he also showed me an oboe he bought with the English Horn as a set, which is something like an SS, also from 80 years ago. I played it and it was very VERY… resonant. It had a beautiful, sweet sound with a full midrange of overtones. It certainly also has a younger, livelier tone to it, for which Mr. Hurd suggested we name it “Vincent”. So we brokered a deal: $5000 for the both of them. The oboe needs some major repairs (3 cracks, 2 through the toneholes, for which Mr. Hurd has so generously offered to pay for) and a lot of pads replaced, but I’m sure this horn will be in fantastic condition by the time I get it fixed up. Who knows!? Maybe the blog name will change to Vincenttheoboe.wordpress.com!
I do anticipate I will have to spend about $1000 total to get them both fixed up but I am pleased with both purchases.
And yes, I strongly recommend anyone who is interested in various types of horns and oboes to take the extra drive to meet this man. He’s very enjoyable, and his wife is also quite a kind and hospitable woman.
Jillian
Aug 22, 2007
Congrats on the new additions to your family! 
Aug 22, 2007
Cooper and his lovely wife’s visit to my shop was an ABSOLUTE and complete delight in every respect. Cooper is one of the most personable and affable souls you may ever encounter. And I am thrilled to find another oboist who genuinely appreciates the classic pre-war Loree instruments…
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