The piccolo heckelphone is very similar to the normal heckelphone, but is characterised by its significantly small size. In addition, it is made from one piece, with only the bell removable. Furthermore, it has a significantly wider, conical bore and significantly larger tone holes. The joint is similar to the oboe, but much smaller. The piccolo heckelphone is in F and has a tonal range of E4 to A6. An instrument that is very similar to the piccolo heckelphone is the Heckel musette. The instrument is in F and has a range from F4 to G6 and sounds slightly softer than the piccolo heckelphone. The last piccolo heckelphone produced was built in 1955.
Piccolo Heckelphone
Construction
Use in Music
A great enthusiast of the piccolo heckelphone was Richard Strauss, who used it in some of his works. He used it, among others, in the performance of the Second Brandenburg Concerto by Johann Sebastian Bach in the last movement instead of the F-trumpet, which he considered insufficient. In the 20th century, the piccolo heckelphone was only produced until 1955. During this period, only 14 instruments were built, of which only eight were ever sold.