Walter Holy playing a Steinkopf-Finke trumpet

Walter Holy, the pioneer of the Baroque trumpet, died quietly on March 7, 2006, in Cologne. He was 84.

He was born on August 15, 1921 in Osnabrück. After studies at the conservatory there, he played first trumpet in various orchestras (Herford 1945, Bielefeld 1945-50, Frankfurt am Main 1950-51, and Hanover 1951-56) before accepting a position in 1956 as assistant first and third trumpeter in the Symphony Orchestra of the West German Radio (WDR), Cologne. He held this position until his retirement in 1983. From 1968 to 1974 he had a teaching position at the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen.

Walter Holy is best known for his pioneer work as first trumpeter of the Cappella Coloniensis from 1960 to 1983. As such he was the first in the twentieth century to play successfully on the valveless Baroque trumpet. This instrument, as first developed by Otto Steinkopf and Helmut Finke, was built in a coiled shape after the instrument held by Gottfried Reiche in a famous portrait of 1727, and had three vent holes. Today such instruments are built in the traditional long folded shape, but the vent holes have survived.

In the 1960s, Holy performed extensively on the newly-discovered instrument and made many pioneering recordings, including Bach’s Second Brandenburg Concerto and various cantatas, as well as Leopold Mozart’s concerto. He also was an inspiring mentor to a host of younger players, among them Pieter Dolk (Holland), Michael Laird (England), and the undersigned (USA/Switzerland).

In being the first to master this difficult instrument, Holy learned the advantage of playing valve trumpets with as little mouthpiece pressure as possible. After his retirement, he continued to teach privately. He liked to show beginners how their valve trumpets function without the valves, by the addition of extra lengths of garden-hose tubing to make “Baroque trumpets” out of their Bb instruments.

Holy is survived by five children. A fitting tribute was formulated by them: “Despite many blows from fate, he never lost his joy for life and for music. He set an example for his children, his pupils, and for all who lived and worked with him.”

Websites:
Walter Holy - tribute page with photos and sound samples, from OJ's trumpet page
Johann Altenburg competition (314k PDF) from ITG Journal, May 1996 - includes account of Holy being presented with the Johann Ernst Altenburg Award by ITG's European Section.