What is the French horn, the history of the French horn, interesting facts

Musical Instrument: French Horn

Imagine a medieval royal hunt, with a pack of dogs, horses and, of course, special hunting signal horns. To make the sound louder and stronger, these instruments were refined and made longer. Over time, they reached such a size that it was impossible to play normally, let alone move with them, so the masters had the idea to turn the phone in several turns. So, in fact, there was a horn, which translated means "forest horn". If you straighten it, you get a pipe about five meters long.

Read the history of the horn and a lot of interesting facts about this musical instrument on our page.

Sound

Many music lovers believe that the horn timbre is one of the most beautiful in the orchestra, its rich voice turns a simple melody into a force that can soothe the emotional excitement or improve the mood of the listener. The sound of the French horn is very powerful, and when the full horn band plays, it pierces the sound of the entire symphony orchestra.

Interestingly, in different registers and dynamics, the hue of the horn sound can vary from coarse and assertive to bright and melodious - this allows only one instrument to convey the entire spectrum of emotions.

The sound is extracted by vibrating the lips in the mouthpiece cup, and then converted by vibrations of the air column in the instrument.

Horn range 4 octaves, but extracting sounds in a high register is very difficult. French horn is a transposing instrument, the musical text for it is written in treble and bass clefs. Composers used to write parts for natural French horns in their works, without signs at the key, therefore modern hornists constantly have to transpose notes in different tones.

A photo:

Interesting Facts:

• Did you know that this method of playing, when the French horn was turned upside down, was not established immediately? This innovation made it easier to control the pitch, which expanded its range.
• Alpine horn, which is the ancestor of the horn, is used in our time. Although it belongs to brass wind instruments, it is traditionally made of wood (fir).
• On some modern models of horn horn removable for easy carrying tools.
• One type of horn is a Viennese one, using a pump mechanism close to that on a pipe.
• In the Guinness Book of Records in 2007, the French horn was one of the two most complex musical instruments. The second was the oboe.

• The first known debut at the French horn was in the opera by Zh.B. Lully "Princess Elida"
• Horn players during the game press the valves with the fingers of his left hand. At this time, the right hand not only holds the tool, which may seem from the side, but also adjusts the hole in the socket. This technique affects the timbre and a bit the pitch.
• In works for a symphony orchestra, usually 2 or 4 horn players are occupied, sometimes 8. But Richard Strauss in his "Alpine Symphony" took as many as 20 horns!
• The largest horn ensemble of 85 musicians gathered and performed in 2007 in Wisconsin, USA
• The main tube in the instrument is 3.5-4 meters, but if you take into account the valve mechanism, you get all 7 meters.
• French horn in English: french horn, which means French horn, and in German: waldhorn - forest horn. In 1971, the International Society of French Hornists decided that the instrument would henceforth be called "horn".

Design

The French horn is a member of the brass instrument family. It consists of a mouthpiece and a very long, narrow and predominantly spiral tube of conic section, which ends with a wide socket. The horn mechanism consists of 3-5 gates that change the length of the instrument and the pitch of the sound.

Horn weight about 2 kg.

1. leadpipe;
2. main cron settings;
3. connecting tube;
4. connecting cuff;
5. predrastrub;
6. connecting ring;
7. trumpet
8. valve with valves;
9. crowns;
10. hook for the finger.

The main producers of horns are: Alexander (Germany), Holton (USA), Hans Hoyer (Germany), Conn (USA), Paxman (Britain), Yamaha (Japan).

How to choose a horn for a child

The horn, in sound, is a very interesting musical instrument, and quite a few children would like to learn how to play it. What parents should know if their child expresses such a desire. Firstly, the optimal age for the start of classes on the horn is 9-12 years old; it is during this period that the child ends up forming an organism, including the teeth. It should be noted if your child has breathing problems or there is such a disease as asthma - training on the horn is the best medicine. Do not be surprised, but the training of a novice baker almost always begins with a block flute, this is an obligatory stage at which the basics of musical notation are comprehended, and the proper breathing is set. Secondly, in order for your child not to lose his desire to play music, and to facilitate his studies, classes should be started on a good instrument, with a pleasant timbre, soft and light mechanics.

Firms that produce horn now are many, but the main and best are: Alexander (Germany), Holton (USA), Schmid (Germany), Conn (USA), Paxman (Britain), Yamaha (Japan). Each company has special student models.

Application and Repertoire

French horn is a very important instrument in a symphony orchestra. Purpose of the horn part: hears, fanfare and solo moments, but perhaps the most common application of the sound of the horn, as a harmonic filling somewhere between the bass line and the melody. This use of this instrument is one of the key techniques used by novice composers, as it sounds beautiful and is an ideal way to tie the sound of an entire orchestra together.

In the brass or military bands, the role of the horn is mostly more modest - accompanying.

The French horn is a significant instrument not only in symphonic and wind instruments, but also in a chamber orchestra, and also in great demand in various instrumental ensembles: trios, quartets, quintets, and others.

The composers immediately liked the soft, noble and somewhat "foggy" sound of the horn, so it was often used as a solo instrument. P.I. In his works, Tchaikovsky loved to entrust the melody to the horn, for example, the most famous solo in the second part of the fifth symphony. L.V. Beethoven, G. Mahler, R. Wagner, B. Britten, M. Glinka, D. Shostakovich, A. Khachaturian. S. Prokofiev - most of the greatest composers did not bypass the horn with attention, entrusting her with solo phrases in their masterpieces.

It should be noted that the horn is very popular among Hollywood composers. In many films we can hear the horn sound, for example, in the Star Wars epic fantasy saga of D. Lucas.

Popular works:

V. A. Mozart - Concerto for French Horn and Orchestra No. 4 in E Flat Major (listen)

R. M. Glier - Concerto for Horn and Orchestra (listen)

Carl Maria von Weber - Concertino for French Horn and Orchestra (listen)

Story

The use of a horn-like musical instrument has been lost in centuries or even millennia. And the most ancient specimens were made of shells, wood, animal horns, bones, ceramics and later metal. They were used for religious rituals, hunting and war around the world. Assyrians and the ancient peoples of Mexico used sea shells for ceremonies, for example, they called the gods of rain. The Jews had a sacred signaling instrument, the shofar, made from the horns of antelopes, goats, and rams. It was used to convene the people and warnings of a war or other big event. It is also known that the Etruscans made a curved horn from terracotta and brought it to central Italy 2700 years ago.

The first tools of bronze (copper) appeared in ancient Rome and called the root and butsina. They were used in the Roman legions and the navy for various signals.

In the Middle Ages, the signal horn became very popular, it was an integral part of tournaments, hunts, and wars. In his work, he was used by watchmen, shepherds, firefighters, etc. In many houses, the sound of a horn informed residents about the beginning of the meal. They were made with different materials: ivory, metals, animal horns, etc.

At the end of the 17th century, a round horn (French horn) appears in the music at the court of Louis XIV, and Jean Baptiste Lully soon adds such musical instruments to the orchestra. At first, the horn was "natural", i.e. The number of notes to be extracted is possible only by a natural (overtone) scale, and the artist needed a different instrument, a little shorter or longer, to switch to a different key. Around 1750, French horn player Anton Joseph Hampel invented crowns, individual bent tubes of different lengths that were inserted into the French horn and changed the height of the scale. The last major change to the instrument was the invention of the valve in 1813, and the horn became chromatic. Now the hornists were able to extract any notes without changing the instrument or crowns, and perform solo parts in the orchestra.

Three hundred years have passed since the French horn has taken a firm place in the world musical culture and is one of the most important instruments in various genres of instrumental music. The poetic nature of the sound, its beautiful timbre, always brought to the composers such heartfelt musical thoughts that, when performed on this instrument, do not leave a single music lover indifferent.