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More About the French Horn

Compared to the other brass instruments commonly found in the orchestra, the typical range of the horn is set an octave higher in its harmonic series, facilitated by its smallmouthpiece. In this range, the "partials" -- notes available in a given valve combination simply by changing the frequency of the lip buzz -- are closer together than on other brass instruments, making it very prone to playing wrong notes, even among professional players, due to not having just the proper lip tension. Its conical bore is largely responsible for its characteristic tone, often described as "mellow". The typical playing range of a horn differs from its written range by a fifth down, and extends from the B-natural below the bass clef (it is possible to play low B flat with embouchure tricks) to the F at the top of the treble clef. Although this is the standard range found in classical repertoire, some players can play many notes beyond this range, both lower and higher.



Early horns were much simpler than modern horns. These early horns were brass tubes wound a few times and had a flared opening (the "bell"). These early "hunting" horns were originally played on a hunt, often while mounted. Change of pitch was effected entirely by the lips (the horn not being equipped with valves until the 19th century).

The horn (or, more often, pairs of horns) often invoked the idea of the hunt, or, beginning in the later baroque, to determine the character of the key being played or to represent nobility, royalty, or divinity.


In orchestras before the invention of valves, horns sat with the horns in higher keys sitting on the outside, and those in lower keys on the inside. Thus, the 1st and 3rd horn would be the "1st horn" of their key, and the same would apply to the 2nd and 4th horns. For this reason, in modern music, 1st and 3rd horn parts are often similar, as are 2nd and 4th.



Types of Horns

Natural horn


Single Horn

Single horns use a single set of tubes connected to the valves. This allows for simplicity of use and a much lighter weight. They are, however limited by intervals and tone of having only one key in the horn is in, F or B-flat. The solution was the development of the double horn. Today, single horns are used mainly by "high" horn players (1st and 3rd horns) or by students, as they are sometimes cheaper and lighter than double horns. Also, single horns are sometimes used by performers of jazz.

Double Horn

Despite the introduction of valves, the single F horn proved difficult for use in the highest range, where the partials grew closer and closer, making accuracy a great challenge. An early solution was simply to use a horn of higher pitch -- usually B-flat. The use of the F versus the B-flat horn were a hotbed of debate between horn players of the late nineteenth century, until the German horn maker Kruspe produced a prototype of the "double horn" in 1897.


In the words of Reginald Morley-Pegge, the invention of the double horn "revolutionized horn playing technique almost as much as did the invention of the valve." [Morley-Pegge, "Orchestral," 195]



Compensating Double Horn


Vienna horn

The Vienna horn is a special horn used primarily in Vienna, Austria. Instead of using rotary valves or piston valves, it uses thePumpenvalve. Much like the Natural horn, this horn uses a system of crooks to change key. And because of its longer bell flare, is known for the rich legato sound quality.

Marching Horn

The marching horn is a single horn in B flat, the same key as the B flat side of the double horn, or F alto. (Many marching bands however use derivative of the trumpet called the mellophone, which can only be played by a french horn player with an adapter to allow the french horn mouthpiece to fit in the mellophone's trumpet mouthpiece reciever) The tubing of the instrument has been reconfigured to have a foreward-facing bell and vertical piston valves. Although some consider it to have an inferior tone to concert horns, it is used in formation marching for several reasons. The most often mentioned reasons are lower weight, better projection, and a less cumbersome playing position, similar to that of a trumpet, or marching baritone.

Wagner tuba

The Wagner tuba is a rare brass instrument that is essentially a modified horn. Invented for Richard Wagner specifically for his work Der Ring des Nibelungen, it has since been written for by various composers. It uses a horn mouthpiece and is available in tenor B-flat and bass F.




The horn is most often used as an orchestral instrument, with its singular tone being employed by composers to achieve specific effects. Leopold Mozart, for example, used horns to signify the hunt, as in his Jagdsinfonie (hunting symphony). Once the technique of hand-stopping had been developed, allowing fully chromatic playing, composers began to write seriously for the horn.Telemannwrote much for the horn, and it features prominently in the work of Handel and in Bach's Brandenburg Concerti. Gustav Mahler made great use of the horn's uniquely haunting and distant sound in his symphonies, notably the famous Nachtmusik (night music) section of his Symphony No. 7.

Many composers have written just one or a few notable works which have become established as favourites in the horn repertoire; this includes Poulenc (Elegie) and Saint-Saëns (Concertpiece for horn and orchestra, op. 94 and Romance). Others, particularlyMozart, whose father Leopold and friend and patron Ignaz Leitgeb were both noted horn players, wrote extensively for the instrument including concerti and other solo works. Mozart's A Musical Joke satirises the limitations of contemporary horn playing, including the risk of selecting the wrong crook by mistake. By the end of the 18th Century the horn was sufficiently established as a solo instrument that the hornist Giovanni Punto became an international celebrity, touring Europe and inspiring works by composers as significant as Beethoven[1].

The development of the valve horn was exploited by romantic composers such as Strauss, Bruckner and Mahler. Strauss's Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche (Till Eulenspiegel's merry pranks) contains one of the best known horn solos from this period.Wagner exploited the horn to such an extent that a special variant, the Wagner tuba, was developed for his Der Ring des Nibelungen, and this was later exploited also by Bruckner, Mahler, Schoenberg and others.

English horn music had something of a renaissance in the mid 20th Century when Dennis Brain inspired works such as Britten'sSerenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings and other works from contemporary composers such as Michael Tippett. Peter Maxwell Davies has been commissioned to write a horn piece to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Brain's death.

Much of the repertoire is not scored as featured parts for the orchestral players, especially the principal horn, who is usually the second-highest paid member of the orchestra after the leader, and it is common for leading horn players to move from principal positions in the great orchestras to distinguished solo careers, a path followed by Brain and many since.

Wikipedia:Text of the GNU Free Documentation License

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