The Mechanical and Musical Development of the Horn

The horn, in its German design, is called French to distinguish itself from
the English horn, which is actually French.

Ingrid Gross
Term Paper
Music History II, Honors
Miescke
 Throughout music history, there have been constant changes amongst instruments in

order to achieve a particular goal. Whether this was to produce a particular sound or simply

make a musician’s life easier, instruments underwent many developmental changes. One of those

instruments was the horn. Arguably, the horn may have had the most developmental changes

known to music history. This can be seen all the way back into Antiquity, through Baroque and

Classical, and through to modern day. All of its developments can categorize into three different

phases: its simplest form, its first musical contributions with added complexity, and its final

mechanical and musical developments. The horn had a huge effect on music during its

development, and with every adjustment and tweak, the horn became more valuable and

versatile, and composers would come to love having in their ensembles.

The French Horn, or Horn in F, as it is known today originated from a simple, animal

horn. This is the beginning of the first phase – the horn in its simplest form. These horns were

used in various instances that were associated with rather brutish and rough activities and roles:

“the hunter, the forester, the night watchman.”1 These horns were used primarily to signal others

in the previously listed ways. During the Antiquity period, there were two specific instruments

that are similar to the horn with their musical potential, and act as the first few steps in the horn’s

overall development. There was the Scandinavian luur, and the Roman buccina. The luur was

essentially a long bronze tube with no flared bell, but it did have a flat disk on the end. The

buccina was constructed in a different way, but essentially achieved the same purpose of

signaling. This particular horn “encircled the body and was blown with the bell pointing over the

shoulder, one of the player’s hands grasping the mouthpiece and the other holding the wooden

1
Morely-Pegge, R. The French Horn. London: Ernest Benn Limited, 1960, pp. 8.
crosspiece.”2

The Scandanavian luur (pictured left), and the Roman buccina (pictured right)

Take notice of the difference in craftsmanship and how the horn was adapted for easier

use between the two figures above. Not only this, but once this compact form was discovered, it

opened up a new door of possibilities in regards to length of the instrument, as well as its musical

potential. There was no real musical purpose to them at this point in history, but it is here where

the beginning of the process can be pinpointed.

Once it is around the latter part of the sixteenth century, there is this split in the horn

world. There still remained the hunting horn, “finding its ultimate expression in fanfares,”3 but

then there is another branch that follows the steps of the coeval trumpet, which was declared by

the Ancients as “worthy of the lips of angels.”4 It is a wonder where the trumpet ego first started

to form. This side of horn technique would become the orchestral horn, in which it would be

found in works by J.S. Bach and other like-composers. Composers at this point started to realize

that the horn could “blend with wind, strings and voices, binding an orchestral or chamber

texture together with the middle-register.”5

2
Morely-Pegge, pp. 9
3
Ibid., pp. 71
4
Ibid, pp. 8
5
Humphries, J. The Early Horn: A Practical Guide. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
 It is during the Baroque era that the horn is first officially used in an orchestra, and the

composer that used the horn was none other than Johann Sebastian Bach [1685 – 1750]. In 1713,

he “included the instrument in his Weimar cantata, ‘Was mir behagt’ (BWV 208).”6, and later

used the horn again in his Brandenburg Concerto no. 1 (BWV 1046). As time went by, Bach

started to write for horns more often, and the horn itself starts to gain a more important role in

the orchestra, so much so that Bach began to write rather difficult parts for the horn.

J.S. Bach’s War Gott nicht mit uns diese Zeit, BWV 14. Excerpt taken from IMSLP.

Notice in this small excerpt above the difficult obbligato part written for Horn in Bb alto.

Not only does it look technically difficult, but the line actually ascends to the eighteenth

harmonic in the harmonic series in measure two. This demonstrates just how far of a jump the

horn took starting out as a simple animal horn, to a musical instrument.

Near the end of the eighteenth century, the horn really starts to take off in terms of

musicality, technique, and usefulness as the classical era starts to make an appearance. This is

where the beginning of phase two can be seen – where the horn really starts to achieve its

“personality that gave it its unique position in the orchestra.”7 Arguably, one of the greatest

techniques discovered and developed during this time period involves the use of the hand in the

bell. At this point in history, the horn has developed into what is known as the natural horn,

6
Humphries, J. pp. 8
7
Morely-Pegge, pp. 71
which is similar to a modern horn, but does not have any valves. In addition, this kind of horn

relied almost entirely on the harmonic series, as briefly mentioned earlier.

The Harmonic Series. Image taken from International Electrotechnical Commission.

The image above is a visual representation of the harmonic series, which can be defined

as a “sequence of sounds,”8 to put it simply. In regards to playing an instrument, the harmonic

series is the sequence of notes a brass instrument can play without adjusting the length of the

instrument. So, when playing the natural horn, these were the only notes it was able to sound.

However, this is when the hand technique came into play. At this time, horn players started to

learn that they could actually alter the pitches of their horn by using their hand in the bell. This

had an “effect of changing the length of the instrument.”9 With this new technique, horn players

could now play some of the notes in between the harmonic series! This was done either by

bending the pitch, or stopping the horn. Stopping the horn refers to a technique in which the hand

is cupped inside the bell, and the note produced can be altered by semitones. This was a very

important milestone in the development of the horn, because it made the horn that much more

valuable and useable in a musical and orchestral setting. For example, Wolfgang Mozart’s [1756

– 1791] four horn concerti are prime evidence of this new development. Written for the natural

horn, these concerti utilize the techniques discovered during this period.

8
http://www.electropedia.org
9
http://www.musebreak.org
 Fast forwarding to a bit later in the horn’s timeline, the creation of Crooks appears.

Crooks are various pieces of metal tubing (all varying in size) that attached to the natural horn,

and they essentially change the key that the horn is in.

Various types of horn crooks. Image taken from http://www.hornguys.com.

The image above shows some of the different kinds of crooks that a horn player could use

to change the harmonic series the horn could play. The bigger the crook, the longer the tubing,

therefore, the lower the horn is pitched, and vice versa with shorter crooks. This especially came

in handy in the orchestral setting, since horns could now play in more keys. Since changing

crooks wasn’t always the quickest maneuver, especially during concert, often times there would

be different crooks within the horn section itself, so that the horns could play more notes.

Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 31 – Horn Signal, Horns 1 – 4. Excerpt taken from https://www.hornsociety.org.
 In the above excerpt of Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 31 – Horn Signal movement two,

Adagio, take notice of the differences between the four horn parts. More specifically, look at the

keys in which the horns are playing in. Horn one and two are pitched in D, whereas horn three

and four are in G. This would prove that by dividing up the section, they would be able to play

more notes in their lines without having to worry about crook adjustments. Contrary to the above

excerpt, however, orchestras actually used to have horn sections made up of only two

individuals. Normally, one horn player specialized in higher parts, “cor alto,” and the other

specialized in lower parts, “cor basse.”10 Once they figured out that different players could use

different crooks, they started employing four horns for the section, which can be seen in the

virtuosic above example. This standard of having four horns in a section has stuck around

through modern day..

The third phase of the horn’s timeline overlaps a bit with phase two, and this particular

phase focuses on a huge debate between horn players. The invention of the valve horn was just

starting to come into the horn world, and this sparked much musical controversy between valve

horns and hand horns (natural horns).

Around the year 1815, the Industrial Revolution allowed for some experimentation

amongst instrument makers. These makers started to add a valve or two to the horn, and this was

meant to make the horn player’s life easier by replacing the use of crooks. However, “[t]hese

early valves were sluggish,” but the player “could change their instrument’s pitch just by pushing

a lever or button”11 instead of using crooks or their hand. Referring back to this debate between

valve and hand, some horn players were quite reluctant to use these valves. “France was

10
Humphries, J. pp. 11
11
http://www.musebreak.org
particularly slow to change over…English players also showed considerable reluctance to

change, and while some German players adapted to it very quickly, its dominance was far from

total for some time.”12 France’s main issue with valve horns was that the valves could not even

out tone color. They believed that by using valves, the horn “would lose its character and the true

qualities of its natural and stopped sounds.”13Regardless, valves began to gain popularity, so they

had to figure out how to play stopped notes on the valve horn without losing its “indefinable

charm.”14 Joseph Meifred, a French specialist of the natural horn who studied at the Paris

Conservatory in 1833, suggested ways to stop notes on the valve horn, and these ways are almost

identical to how it is done today. In sheet music, composers would begin to specify how to stop

the horn.

Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique, Horn Three. Excerpt taken from IMSLP.

This excerpt is from the fifth movement of Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique. In

this third horn part, the original manuscript would have had bouche avec les cylindres written

above the notes, which translates to “stopped with the valves.” This particular excerpt has been

modified to comply with modern day horn players, who would play this con sordino (with mute).

With the creation of the valve, this was a new way of notating what the composer wanted while

diminishing any confusion as to which form of stopped horn it was.

12
Humphries, J. pp. 16
13
Ibid., pp. 18
14
Ibid.
 In Germany, as mentioned previously, the debate had supporters on either side. As a

whole Germany adopted the valve horn to use in orchestra, but there were still some who wanted

to stick with the natural horn. Johannes Brahms, a German composer, is an example of this

regression, because he “wrote almost all of his horn parts for the natural instrument.”15With time,

German horn players started to “overcome the undeniable loss of beauty in tone which had

followed the introduction of valves,”16 and started to come to the realization that valves were not

a hindrance at all. Friedrich Gumbert, a famous horn player in Germany, once stated: “If one has

a dull, rough and fuzzy tone on the valve horn, one will do no better on the natural horn…If one

desires a colourful, mixed effect, in which stopped sounds can be advantageous, like the mutes of

string instruments, so then the valves on the horn are no hindrance, because one can make just as

much use of the hand on the valve horn as on the natural horn.”17 Gumbert is saying that the

valves were just another technique in need of mastering, and though they may not sound

identical to natural horns, it is still very possible to get a desirable sound.

England also had supporters on both sides of this huge debate, but eventually did favor

the valve horn because of military needs. According to Humphries, the valve horn was much

preferable by bandmasters in the army, “because properly arranged horn parts do much to make a

military band sound well, and the difficulties of the simple horn used to take as many years to

master as the present duration of a soldier’s service.”18 Essentially, the valve horn was

chromatic, and made this music a lot easier to play than on the natural horn, so England favored

the valve horn.

15
Humphries, J. pp. 21
16
Ibid.
17
Ibid.
18
Ibid.
 Even though there were still horn players who clung to the natural horn, the latest

compositions that were being written essentially “forced them into accepting these more versatile

instruments,”19 and soon enough the valves were adjusted and improved in quality and speed,

and we now have the instrument that horn players today are familiar with. While the hand in the

bell does not have the same intention as it did, it still assists in tuning and stopped techniques.

One of these chromatic compositions included Robert Schumann’s Adagio und Allegro for horn

and piano (op. 70).

Robert Schumann’s Adagio und Allegro, for horn and piano. Excerpt taken from IMSLP.

Take note of the chromaticism in this small horn excerpt. It would be quite difficult to

play this on the natural horn in comparison to the valve horn, where just by pressing a button, the

note can be sounded, and the player does not have to rely on stopping techniques or crooks to be

able to play this line. This piece, composed in 1849, is a great example “of the treatment of the

horn as a fully chromatic instrument over the entire range.”20 This really demonstrates just how

far the horn had come in its mechanical and musical development, because now the horn was

incredibly versatile and vital to the orchestra.

The modern day French Horn is very similar to this last horn, just with a few tweaks and

adjustments, like the addition of the trigger to assist with playing in the stratospheric high range,

as well as the basement-like low range. With the addition of the trigger, a fourth valve, the horn

19
http://musebreak.org
20
Morely-Pegge, pp 72
is then considered a Double Horn, which means it has extra tubing tuned in F and Bb. There is

even such thing as a Triple Horn, but these are not nearly as popular or practical for the common

horn player. This now four-octave instrument is the standard horn to play in modern orchestras,

unless it is a Baroque orchestra that plays old compositions. The horn is arguably one of the most

important instruments in an ensemble, since it has such a unique sound quality that modern

composers and directors love, and it is specific to only the horn.

The French Horn has made absolutely remarkable and tremendous development

throughout music history. What started out as a simple animal horn meant to signal during hunts,

turned into this convolutedly wrapped brass instrument that is one of the most important assets to

an orchestra. As the horn made mechanical developments, it also grew in musical importance

because of its growing versatility. With almost every adjustment to the horn, there was an added

musical element that contributed to what we know as the modern orchestra and other ensembles.

We must now beg the question, what is the future of the horn? What sorts of inventions and

adjustments does the future have in store for this instrument? Judging by its past, it can be

assumed that the horn will only continue to grow in importance.

 BIBLIOGRAPHY

International Electrotechnical Commission. “Acoustics and electroacoustics.”

http://www.electropedia.org. Accessed November 11, 2017.

The Horn Guys. “Natural Horns.” http://www.hornguys.com/fhornnatural.php. Accessed

November 11, 2017.

Horn Society. Symphonie Fantastique. https://www.hornsociety.org/haydn/haydn31. Accessed

November 11, 2017.

Hunt, P. A. “The Evolution of An Instrument: The French Horn.” http//:www.musebreak.org.

Published on Aug 11, 2013. Accessed November 11, 2017.

Humphries, J. The Early Horn: A Practical Guide. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge

University Press, 2000.

IMSLP. Adagio und Allegro. Accessed November 11, 2017.

IMSLP. War Gott nicht mit uns diese Zeit. Accessed November 11, 2017.

Morely-Pegge, R. The French Horn. London: Ernest Benn Limited, 1960