From this article you will learn about what a horn is. This instrument is actively used in symphony and wind bands.
Definition
What is a horn? This is a brass wind mouthpiece sounding in a tenor register. The word "horn" dates back to the German Waldohom, which means "forest horn." The instrument really descended from a hunting signal horn and entered the orchestra in the middle of the 18th century. Until the 1930s, the horn had no additional valves and was a natural instrument with a limited sound scale. Beethoven also used the so-called “natural” horn. Later, through various adaptations, it was significantly improved.
Appearance
A description of the appearance of the instrument will help you understand what a horn is. It is a metal pipe about twelve pounds long. A mouthpiece-shaped tip and three special valves are located on the instrument. The musician changes the horn sound by vibrating his lips on the mouthpiece and moving the valves with his left hand. He usually places his right hand in the socket of the instrument to give the timbre additional colors and shades.
Sound features
What is a horn these days? It is actively used in brass and symphony orchestras, as well as solo and ensemble instruments. The French horn is usually used in the Fa formation (in F), and in a brass band - in the E-Flat system (in Es). The range of the wind instrument is all the sounds of the chromatic scale from the "s" controctave to the "fa" of the second octave. The horn's timbre is bright and light on the fort, melodious and soft on the piano, in the lower case it is somewhat rude. The instrument conveys a solemn and sad mood.
When playing the horn, it is good to extract long notes (including the organ point) and melodies for a wide breath. Moreover, the amount of air consumed is relatively small. The French horn, the photograph of which you can see in this article, is very suitable for performing symphonic works.
Techniques for Changing Sound
The horn sound can be changed using special tricks. To make the instrument make “closed” sounds, its bell is closed by hand. In this position, quiet sounds acquire a gentle and muffled timbre, while loud ones become hoarse and growling. To extract “stalled” sounds from the instrument, a fist like a pear is introduced into the bell of a horn. From this, the sound rises by a half tone, the sounds on the piano become tense and anxious and ringing, at the fort they acquire a growling, hoarse timbre. Both methods were used in antiquity to give “natural” horn chromatisms. If you play the instrument with the bell up, this will make the horn sound louder and give the music a pathetic character.
Artworks for French Horn
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote four concerts for the horn. In addition, special works for her were written by Reinhold Glier and Richard Strauss. At Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, in a concert for piano and orchestra No. 1, in the first bars you can hear a horn. The second part of the fifth symphony of the great composer is practically a solo on this wind instrument. In the first symphony by Gustav Mahler (in the first part, from the 32nd measure), the horn instrument also sounds.
Famous horn players
At different times, such musicians as the Austrian Joseph Ignaz Leytgeb, Brain Dennis from Great Britain, Baumann German and Peter Damm from Germany, Baborak Radek from the Czech Republic were famous for the art of playing the horn. The talented horn players were Russians: Usov Anton Ivanovich, Buyanovsky Mikhail Nikolaevich and his son Buyanovsky Vitaly Mikhailovich, Polekh Valery Vladimirovich and Demin Anatoly Sergeyevich. These great performers knew what a horn was and what magnificent works could be performed on it.