Horn

A horn is a brass instrument with a conical bore.

A natural horn has no valves, and can only play a series of overtones, which are near the harmonic series. The player can adjust the pitch of the note by placing their hand in the bell. In 19th century technique, notes near the 7th and 11th harmonics were often written and could be finagled with different hand placements. Even a C major scale in the lower octave could be negotiated. There was no avoiding an certain unevenness of tone, however.

To satiate the modulatory desires of classical composers, horns were soon made with a system of interchangeable crooks which, when inserted, would give a variety of keys. But this only encouraged the composers, and soon they were writing parts for two pairs of horns in different keys. Instrument builders tried in many ways to combine multiple keys into a single horn, settling finally on the rotary valve system prevalent in horns today.

Valves

On a valved horn, there are three valves which the fingers of the left hand operates. The first valve causes the effective tube length to lengthen enough to lower the fundamental by a whole step (200¢). The second valve does the same, only by a half step (100¢), and the third, a minor third (300¢). In combinations these valves can lower the fundamental by up to a tritone.

A double horn, on the other hand, has a thumb valve which switches between two keys, usually Bb and F. It does this by adding/subtracting an initial length of tubing and also (usually) with different lengths of tubes for the valves.

Microtonal playing

Horns are naturally microtonal since they play overtones. Harmonics relatively low in the harmonic series (such as 7, 11 and 13) can thus be played quite easily. Usually, players make hand adjustments to get their harmonic-series notes closer to equal temperament.

So-called double horns (F horns with a Bb valve), go extremely sharp in the higher non-Bb-valve partials; the valve is used to get the upper register in tune. This means that these kinds of horns actually have a huge variety of intonation in the upper register through various combinations of valves. More than other brass instruments which are typically designed to have in-tune partials, and thus don't need that extra valve for tuning their high ranges.

John Eaton has this useful tip from an interview in NewMusicBox: tune the F side a quartertone lower than the Bb side!

Extended valve systems

George Secor especially has done some thinking about valve systems extended to alternate EDOs. See the bottom of this page. No cases of actual horns built yet.

Microtonal repertoire

• György Ligeti's Hamburg Concerto "for horn & chamber orchestra with 4 obbligato natural horns"
• Epilogue (1985) from Les Espaces Acoustiques by Gerard Grisey is for orchestra with 4 solo horns, in a (crystallized) harmonic-series paradigm
• Horn by Larry Polansky, score featured in Xenharmonikon 14
• Joseph Pehrson's Harmonic Etude for solo horn, Nature's Harmony for two horns
• Jeff Morris' Etude for Horn
• Richard Burdick's opus 102 Planetary Ripples (1996) for 16 similar instruments, on a harmonic series up to the 27th partial
• Robert Hasegawa: the clear architecture of the nerves (2000)
• Bozza, Eugène (1905-1991) Dix-Huit Etudes en forme d'Improvisation pour Cor (1961) microtonal writing on ¼ and ¾ tones
• Grabois, Daniel (1964-) Quarter Tone Manual for French Horn (2010) These etudes were written for gradually practicing microtonal notation.
• Kotulan, Jaroslav (1937-) 28 Moderne etüden für waldhorn, heft 2 (1995)
• Matosinhos, Ricardo - 12 Jazzy Etudes for Horn (2010) two of these etudes use quarter tones
• Salonen, Esa-Pekka (1958-) Concert Étude for solo horn in F (2000)
• Thompson, Timothy F. (1953-) Extended Techniques for the Horn An Historial Overview With pratical performance Applications (1997)
• Adam Hoey, A Breaking Spine (2023) for solo horn and 3 cellos

See also

• Michael Hugh Dixon a.k.a. the Brass Whisperer

Further reading

• Secor, George D. "An Approach to the Construction of Microtonal Valved Brass Instruments - The French Horn", Xenharmonikôn vol. 5, spring 1976, pp. 1-3.
• Whaley, David Robert. The Microtonal Capability of the Horn. D.M.A. thesis, University of Illinois, 1975, 154 pages. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor MI, 1975.
• Heim, David Bruce. Practical Tuning, Temperament and Conditioning for Hornists and Other Wind Instrumentalists: Understanding and attaining intonational flexibility in musical performance. Master thesis, University of Tulsa, 1990.