John Bayley, the “Improved Acoustic Cornet”, and the “Handelian Trumpet"

John Bayley, a British cornet soloist and conductor who worked in the United States and British Columbia, partnered with instrument maker Benjamin F. Richardson in Boston to produce cornets with novel designs. Subsequently he worked with John Augustus Köhler in London who manufactured his “Improved Acoustic Cornet” and “Improved Acoustic Handelian Trumpet”. This article reviews Bayley's cornet and trumpet models as made in Boston and London, drawing on contemporary documents and the study of extant examples in America and Europe. It discusses the acoustically significant features of these instruments and their relationship to the modern cornet and trumpet.