Luxembourg 31 March 2000

Two new stamp issues

Two new issues were presented on 31 March 2000 by the Luxembourg post.

Definitive

In conjunction with a change in postal rates that takes effect on April 1st, 2000, the Luxembourg postal services issued a new value in the definitive series showing the portrait of H.R.H. Grand Duke Jean.
The drawing and engraving are by the Swiss artist Pierre Schopfer. The stamp is printed in Bern, Switzerland in steel engraving and offset.
Value: 9 Fr.
Size: 24 x 29 mm.

Musical instruments

A series of four stamps depict musical instruments. The stamps were printed in two-tone photogravure by Hélio-Courvoisier in Switzerland.
The modern horn (3 Fr.) with its soft tones is represented by as many as four instruments in many modern symphony orchestras. It is a development of the hunting horn introduced as an orchestral instrument at the beginning of the 18th century.
The saxophone (12 Fr.) is classed as a woodwind instrument, even though it is made of metal. It has a single reed like the clarinet. Adolphe Sax, from Dunant in Belgium, first made the instrument in 1840. It has 20 sound holes covered by keys, which can be opened in-groups, using a lever mechanism, with the first three fingers of each hand.
The violin (21 Fr.) or fiddle as it has been popularly called, emerged in the early 16th century in Italy and had its origin in medieval instruments that were also played with a bow. The basic construction of the violin has hardly changed since the 17th century.
The invention of the piano (30 Fr.) is attributed to Bartolomeo Cristofori, a Florentine instrument maker who, in 1710, built the first pianos with a hammer mechanism. This technique allowed the player for the first time to play loudly or quietly by striking the keys heavily or more lightly. The two most common types of pianos nowadays are the grand piano with a horizontal case resting on legs, and the smaller upright piano with its strings arranged vertically.
Values: 3, 12, 21 and 30 Fr.
Size: 24 x 29,1 mm.

More information

Stamps Luxembourg
Postage Stamps 2000
Luxembourg 9 May 2000
Luxembourg September 2000
Luxembourg issues March 2000
New 1999 Issues of Luxembourg