O.J.'s Trumpet Page Artists and personalities

Gustav Heim

  Gustav Heim
Gustav F. Heim (1879 - 1933)
Gustav F. Heim was born on May 8, 1879 in the small town Schleusingen in Thüringen, Germany. He began the study of music at an early age under his fathers guidiance. In 1893 he entered the Music School in Schleusingen. After 4 years in this school, he entered into military service as a cornet and flugelhorn soloist. His regiment was the 95th Regiment of  Hildburghausen, Thüringen.

Gustav Heim died at the Cornell Medical Centre, on October 30, 1933.

Moved to USA
In 1904, at the request of his brother who lived in St. Louis, Missouri, Gustav Heim came to the United States. In St. Louis, he was engaged to play first trumpet with the Choral Symphony Society. Soon after that, Heim was engaged to play first trumpet with the World's Fair Orchestra which was conducted by different leaders, among them Karl Komzack, Walter Damrosch, and Van der Strucken of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

Symphony orchestral trumpeter
Among the visitors at the Fair in St. Louis was Fritz Scheel, conductor of the Philadelphia Symphony  Orchestra. When Scheel heard Heim's playing he engaged him to play first trumpet in the Philadelphia Orchestra. Heim held this position for two years (1905 - 1907). In 1914 Karl Muck was conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Heim was hired to play first trumpet. There was a strike in 1919 in the Orchestra. After the strike George Mager was the first trumpet and Heim left. In Boston Heim also organized his Boston Philharmonic Band, which played  engagements in the area, with himself as cornet soloist. Heim remained in Boston until 1920, when he moved to Detroit for one season. In 1921, he went to play for a period with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, before joining the New York Symphony Orchestra under Walter Damrosch, remaining there until the merge of  the two orchestras in 1928.

Gustav Heim was principal trumpet with the following orchestras:

Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra 1904-1905.
The Philadelphia Orchestra 1905-1906.
Boston Symphony Orchestra 1906-1920. (*
Detroit Symphony Orchestra 1920-1921.
Philharmonic Society of New York 1921-1923.
The Cleveland Orchestra 1923-1924.
New York Symphony Society 1925-1928

(* Principal trumpet from 1914 to 1920. He left Boston at the time of a strike and joined the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

Teacher
Heim had a studio in midtown Manhattan. A famous student of Heim was William Vacchiano. David Anderson (student of Vacchiano), said the following:
Vacchiano told me on more than one occasion, "Gustav Heim made me a great trumpet player overnight."  It seems that before Vacchiano encountered Heim, he (Vacchiano) played mediumish mouthpieces, and it was Heim who turned him on to the huge mouthpieces that came to be associated with Vacchiano during the largest part of his career.  It was because of the influence of Heim, along with a natural curiosity regarding mouthpieces, that Vacchiano was always altering his student's mouthpieces by scraping on them with a 3 sided reamer. I don't know of anyone who ever continued playing a mpce that Vacchiano ever altered.  I still have several, which I keep for no other reason than sentiment.

Another famous player, Harry Glantz, was also a student of Heim. On one incident (see ITG Journal, February 1996, page 14) Heim was rude to him (due to Glantz being a jew) and Glantz probably left his studio after this episode.

Frank Holton
The Frank Holton Company of Elkhorn, Wisconsin, is the oldest continually operating wind instrument company in the United States. Formerly the first trombonist in John Phillip Sousa's band, Frank Holton opened an instrument shop in Chicago in 1898. In 1917, Holton moved his company to Elkorn. In a booklet from 1921, we find several of the most prominent brass players of that time, cornet soloists Herbert L. Clarke and Frank Simon, trombonist Arthur Pryor and trumpeters Edward Llewellyn (first trumpet with Chicago Symphony Orchestra) and Gustav Heim.

On page 14 in the booklet is a picture of Heim, then Solo Trumpet with New York Philharmonic Orhcestra:
Gustav Heim

Gustav Heim also endorsed a trumpet, the Holton Revelation Trumpet:
Heim endorsing a trumpet

The Frank Holton Company  produced cornet and trumpet mouthpieces called Holton Heim. Miles Davis started out on a Heim mouthpiece. In his latest year, Davis used a copy of the Heim made by Giardinelli.

Recordings
Gustav Heim is heard on records made by both the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Karl Muck, and the New York Symphony Orchestra under Walter Damrosch.

A recording with Gustav Heim can be found in Edward Tarr's 4th edition of  "Die Trompete": Otto Fuchs: Fantasie über Webers letzen Gedanken - Gustav Heim with Edison Concert Band, recorded in 1913.

Here is a list of recordings, Heim did as a soloist (mostly on cornet):
*) The Waldhorn Quartette was made up of the horn quartet and the principal trumpet of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Reviews of performances, a list of their repertoire, and a biographical sketch of each player is included (Amy Larkey).

Links
Sources:

* David Anderson (message on TPIN)
* Edward H. Tarr "Die Trompete" 4. edition 2005
* Glenn Bridges: Pioneers in Brass
* A trip through the Holton Factory (booklet from 1920)
* Amy Larkey: "Gustav Heim and the Waldhorn Quartette." (page 34-41).
* Derek Reaban on Trumpet Herald
* Barbara Perkel, librarian at Boston Symphony Orchestra
o.j.2007-2009