Ernst Albert Couturier (September 30, 1869 in Poughkeepsie – February 28, 1950 in Wingdale) was best known as a cornet player who toured as a "virtuoso" performer on the concert programs of bands of the day.

Couturier suffered a mental breakdown and died on February 28, 1950, in the Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center in Wingdale, New York.

[2] At age 17,[1] he was able to play Herbert L. Clarke's Variations on Carnival of Venice, which is noted as a virtuoso piece with seemingly insurmountable technical difficulties, and developed a six octave range.

In 1906, he toured Europe where he also demonstrated multiphonics,[1] the production of more than one note at the same time on an airophone, which according to The American History and Encyclopedia of Music is not possible on cornet.

[2] In 1918 the firm moved from New York City to La Porte, Indiana where the bulk of the instruments bearing the company name were made.

Couturier company was known for the unique shape of the valve tubing, which, in its original and purest form did not support any tuning slide for fine pitch adjustment.

Slides, when present, continued a conical progression by varying the wall thickness in order to achieve a movable cylindrical exterior.

[2] The Couturier cornet was typically available in a Bb/A model with a rotary valve[7] for selecting the key of the horn while other makers of the era such as H.N.

[10] Couturier and the company received numerous patents for conical bore instruments, a phonograph, the A/B-flat "quick change valve", and a mute design.