A Brief History of the Horn and Its Literature

Dr. Johnny L Pherigo

This summary is necessarily brief. For a more complete history of the development of the horn, its
literature, and prominent hornists consult the New Grove, Horn by Tuckwell, The French Horn by
Morley Pegge, and the Horn and Horn-Playing by Fitzpatrick. There are also numerous sources
online of variable quality.
In ancient times people blew on animal horns and conch shells as signaling and ceremonial
instruments. The biblical trumpets that allegedly blew down the walls of Jericho were almost
certainly not trumpets as we know them but horns, probably the shofar or rams horn used in
Jewish religious ceremonies. The Romans made a kind of horn, the buccina, and the ancient
Danes used a type of horn called the lur in religious ceremonies.

Conch shells depicted in Hindu ceremony

Jewish shofar or rams horn

Hunting horn made from cow horn; c. 1800 Kentucky

Dr. Johnny L Pherigo

History of the Horn

Roman Buccina

Danish lur, made of bronze

By the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century the French were making a long, single hooped
horn in what we would call Dabout sixteen feet longfor use in the hunt (venerie). These
instruments were played on horseback, and a sophisticated system of calls was developed to signal
the various stages of the hunt over long distances. The great length of the French hunting horn
allowed players to sound many different pitches of the harmonic series. Because the only people
allowed to participate in these hunts were the aristocracy and their attendants, the horn quickly
became associated with royalty.

French Hunting Horn

French Hunting Horn on the mount

The English also had their hunting horn, but it was a much shorter, straight instrument capable of
only one or at most two pitches. The English called the French version of the hunting horn the
French Horn, a term used only in English-speaking countries that has persisted to the present
day. There is some evidence of horns being used in pastoral or hunting scenes in French and
Italian opera during the seventeenth century, but there is no evidence of the horn being used as an
integral part of the orchestra until the early eighteenth century.

2010. All rights reserved.

Dr. Johnny L Pherigo

English Hunting Horn

History of the Horn

Modern Day hunt using the English hunting horn

In 1680 a young nobleman from Bohemia (current Czech Republic) named Count von Sporck
traveled to Paris as part of a Grand Tour of Europe, the sort of trip young noblemen would take
to complete their education, build future political alliances, and perhaps identify a potential spouse
with the right family connections and an acceptable dowry. Von Sporck heard the French hunting
horns and was so taken with the sound of the instruments that he had two of his servants trained to
play them. Upon returning to Bohemia with their newly-acquired skill as well as the instruments,
these two men became the founders of a Central European school of horn playing that would be
the leading edge of the horns development as a musical, as opposed to a hunting, instrument.
Around 1705 the horn began use as an integral part of the orchestra, the earliest extant example
being from Kaisers opera Ottavia in Hanover. Hndel was one of the court composers in Hanover
at this time, so he must have been familiar with the horn. Around the same time we see evidence
of the use of crooks on horns. Crooks are extra pieces of tubing that can be added to the horn to
change the lengthand hence the keyof the horn. By using crooks to change the key of the
valve-less horn the same instrument could be used for pieces in
different keys, a much more economical solution than a different
instrument for each key. The performing style at this time was bells
in the air without the hand inserted into the bell.
In the 1720s we see for the first time the composition of important
solo and orchestral music featuring the horn; e.g., Bachs
Brandenburg Concerto No. 1, Hndels Water Music, and concertos
for one and two horns by Vivaldi and Telemann. The only pitches
available to the players were the notes of the harmonic series for that
length of horn. Consequently, Baroque music for horn tends to be
written in the third and fourth octaves of the harmonic series, which
requires very high register playing. Fortunately, the soprano register
playing was compatible with Baroque treble/bass polarity.
Baroque Period Horn

2010. All rights reserved.

Dr. Johnny L Pherigo

History of the Horn

Around 1750 a German hornist named Hampel discovered that by inserting his hand various
amounts in the bell he could change pitch and produce notes not on the natural harmonic series.
This technique made the horn a diatonic instrument in the middle register and fully chromatic in
the upper register. Hampels discovery coincided with changing musical style and made possible
the development of advanced solo technique
and the composition of horn concertos by
Mozart (4), Haydn (2), and Rosetti, as well
as sonatas by Beethoven and Danzi. The
nomenclature now assigned to this type of
horn is the natural horn, to distinguish it
from the modern valve horn. The hand
technique worked best in the keys of F, E, Eflat, and D, and most natural horn solo
works are in one of these keys, with players
eventually settling on the F horn as the most
effective key for natural horn technique,
adding crooks for other keys as needed.
Classical Period Natural Horn with full set of crooks
The valve was patented in 1814 by Blumel and Sttzel.
Its acceptance on horn was slower than on trumpet,
especially in France, because hand horn playing had
developed into a sophisticated and refined art form.
Domnich, Duvernoy, Dauprat, and Gallay all wrote
important methods for natural horn, with Dauprats being
the most important. (Berlioz owned a copy of Dauprats
1824 horn method, and it significantly influenced
Berlioz writing for horn.) The early valve horns were in
effect natural horns with valve assemblies added, and the
early valves were mechanically inferior. Since the valve
assembly was usually added to the basic horn in F, this
became the default key of the new valve horn.
Natural horn with a three-valve
detachable valve assembly
The new valve horn proved to be superior to the natural horn in producing the loud dynamics and
low register demanded of Romantic era composers, and by the 1850s the valve horn was dominant
and the natural horn was falling into disuse. The mechanics of the valves improved, and the bell
size increased for greater dynamic power. Prominent composers for the valve horn in the
nineteenth century include Schumann (Adagio & Allegro and Concertstck for Four Horns), Franz
Strauss (father of Richard), Richard Strauss (two concertos), and Saint-Saens (Morceau du
Concert). Saint-Saens wrote two romances for natural horn, and Schubert wrote for natural horn
for most of his orchestral and solo music (Auf dem Strom [horn, soprano, piano] & Octet).

2010. All rights reserved.

Dr. Johnny L Pherigo

History of the Horn

By the latter part of the nineteenth century the physical demands of the orchestral music motivated
hornists to look for relief, which many found by using a shorter valve horn pitched in B-flat. Then
as now, composers and conductors were not sympathetic
to the difficulties of the players and generally disliked
the B-flat horn because of its inferior tone to the F horn.
Around 1900 the horn maker Kruspe developed a horn
with two sets of valve slides, a single bell and
mouthpipe, that could be used as either a horn in F or a
horn in B-flat. Thus was born the double horn in F/Bflat. In order to hide the despised (by conductors) B-flat
slides from view Kruspe put the shorter B-flat horn
slides underneath the longer F horn slides. This
configuration made the B-flat horn slides more difficult
for the players to access but won the (unknowing)
acceptance of conductors.
Kruspe design F/B-flat double horn.
Hans Hoyer
Over one hundred years later the double horn in F/B-flat remains the primary type of horn used in
music, with only minor changes to Kruspes design. Important twentieth century composers for
horn include Britten (Serenade), Hindemith (2 sonatas & 1 concerto), Jacob, Musgrave, Williams,
Schuller, Carter, and others.

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