The Horn – natural, omnitonic and valved instrument

Historical instruments

Horns originally “only” played the notes of the harmonic series, which was sufficient for many of the magnificent works of music history that needed the instrument. Today, we are used to having horns with valves.

In the period from 1750 to 1900, different solutions were found and tried out in order to allow the horn to play more notes than the harmonic series. Stopping the bell of the instrument with the hand was one possibility, keys were tried such as were used on woodwind instruments, and valves of all types with all manner of function were constructed. Historical performance practice is today interested in these transitional instruments again. It can be inspiring for musicians to play the music of the time on replicas of the instruments for which it was composed (see the following video).

From the hunting horn to the valve horn – interview with Daniel Allenbach

Should we use our hand in the bell of the horn to produce notes other than the harmonic series, or change key by means of different tuning crooks? The omnitonic horn makes both possible. The horn has a varied history, without any straightforward chronology in its development. The instruments used in the Baroque, and the horn for which Mozart and the other Classical composers wrote their solo concertos, chamber music and orchestral parts, were fundamentally different from the valve horn commonly in use today.

Le Cor Chaussier

One of these transitional instruments was developed in the 1880s by the horn player Henri Chaussier, together with the Millereau company in Paris. What at first glance looks like a natural horn is in fact a so-called omnitonic horn, on which the notes in between the harmonic series are still achieved by means of stopping the bell, while the valves are used to shift the overall pitch (which until then had been achieved by means of crooks, and which took more time). Both playing techniques can also be combined on this horn. The result is in any case a rich palette of sound colours (see the following video). (more...)

Video: the «Cor Chaussier»

Conservation: May we play historical instruments again today?

Yes? Then we risk ruining them, like most instruments of their time.
No? But then they’re lost to us as music instruments anyway.

Historical musical instruments are a dilemma. If we still play them (or start playing them again), their parts will suffer wear and tear and will have to be replaced. At some point, nothing of it will be “original” any more, or the instrument will become unplayable. But if we stop playing the original instruments, they simply become historical objects that offer proof of their history, but have lost their sound – which was their reason for existing in the first place.

This dilemma – to play or to conserve – applies to all museum objects with moving parts. Fundamentally, the dilemma can’t be solved. Wind instruments are especially endangered because of the moist breath of the player. The metal corrodes from the inside, and the wood can crack.

A research project of the HKB, conducted in collaboration with ETH Zurich and the Swiss National Museum, has now studied corrosion inside brass instruments. It was able to demonstrate that an instrument does not dry for weeks after being played (see the video below). The moisture activates the corrosion process primarily during the time when it’s not being played. A small fan can help to alleviate this.
(to the research project ...)

Restored horns for historical performance practice

The HKB and the Klingendes Museum Bern own several horns that can be loaned out for historical performance projects. For more information, please contact mail@fresh-wind.ch.

Examples:

Cor Chaussier by Rainer Egger, Basel, 2016, replica after Millereau (more...)
Cor vocal in C/Bb by François Millereau, Paris ca 1870, 3 valves, silver-plated, with original case
Horn in F by Raoux-Millereau, Paris late 19^th century, 3 valves
Horn by Jacques Couturier, Lyon ca 1870, 10 crooks, 3 valves
Horn in F by Couesnon & Cie, Paris 1922, 3 valves, système ascendant
Valve horn in F by August Knopf, Markneukirchen, system called Prager

Restored horns: Cor vocal in C/Bb by François Millereau

Horn by Jacques Couturier, Lyon ca 1870, 10 crooks, 3 valves