What is a French horn and how is it played?

The French horn is a musical instrument that comes from the hunting signal horn. She began her orchestral activity only in the second half of the 18th century. Today we will consider this unusual wind instrument, characterize its timbre, tell about the history of its origin and the rules of the game.

The French horn is one of the most distinctive representatives of wind instruments. Literally translated, its name means "forest horn". Indeed, it was the signal horn that was its prototype. The French horn was introduced to the orchestra around the middle of the 18th century.

The tool is made of pure copper. It has a rather intricate twisted shape.

The timbre of the French horn is rich in colors, it is melodious and soft. Its sounding harmoniously merges with the timbre of wood and string instruments. The performing possibilities of the French horn are great - it plays from a gentle pianissimo to a strong forte. The range of the instrument is approximately 3.5 octaves.

The French horn looks like a metal tube about 12 feet long. The wind instrument has a mouthpiece-like tip, as well as 3 valves. By creating vibration with the lips on the mouthpiece, moving the left hand over the valve, the musician produces sounds. At the same time, he places his right hand in the socket of the instrument. This allows you to give it brighter shades and colors.

The instrument is popular as part of the orchestra, it organically fits into chamber ensembles. The French horn can play both festive and funeral music with equal success. A modern orchestra usually includes 4 French horns, less often their number is 6 or 8. The instrument is used both as a group and for performing solo parts.

The word "French horn" is of German origin. As already noted, in the exact translation from this language waldhorn means "forest horn". The history of the wind instrument dates back to ancient times, it goes back at least a thousand years. The horn is considered the predecessor of the modern French horn; even the ancient Roman warriors made it from bronze and was widely used as a signal instrument. It is known that the great commander Alexander the Great always carried such a horn with him to give sound signals during hostilities. Of course, then there was no question of playing music on it.

For the manufacture of the signal horn, only natural materials were used, so their operational life was short. They were found to be unsuitable for everyday use. To extend the service life, the craftsmen decided to make the horn out of metal, and for better sounding, it was decided to give it the natural shape of animal horns without noticeable distortions. Such horns produced a strong and powerful sound that spread far across the surrounding area.

Such "forest horns" were most popular in the middle of the 17th century in France. A new stage in the development of the French horn is associated with Bohemia - it was there that at the end of the 18th century the French horn began to be used as an instrument for extracting a melody. Even a specialized school was opened here, whose students were trained to play French horns.

One of them, the musician A. Hampl from Dresden, suggested inserting a rag swab into the horn of the French horn. In this way, he was able to change the sound of this unique instrument, making it slightly higher. After a while, he also found that instead of a tampon, you can use the performer's hand - it was this playing technique that soon quickly spread among French horn players.

Already in the first half of the 18th century, French horns were in demand in wind symphony and chamber orchestras. The premiere of the instrument took place at the screening of the opera Princess Elis by J. Lully. She made a resounding success, and soon the French horn was again in the spotlight.

In the early years of the 19th century, a three-valve mechanism was developed. He became the latest and most promising modification of this instrument. The composer Wagner became one of the "pioneers" of playing the updated French horn. And by the 70s of the XIX century, this model, which received the definition of "chromatic" in the musical environment, finally ousted the natural from the musical sphere.

In the 20th century, another additional valve was introduced into the French horn design. This helped to achieve an increased pitch and greatly expand the sonic possibilities of the game. Today, the features of sound production on the wind horn are studied in music schools in solfeggio and the history of music. In 2007, the instrument, together with the oboe, was included in the Guinness Book of Records as one of the most complex wind instruments.

Today the French horn is widely used in orchestras. It sounds both as an ensemble and as a solo instrument. It is included in the composition mainly in the Fa system, as part of a large brass band - in E-flat. The range includes the main sounds of the chromatic audio range from C in the controctave to F in the second octave.

The timbre of the French horn is quite rich on the forte, but already on the piano it becomes soft and melodic, and as it approaches the lower register, the sound acquires a rough color.

This instrument perfectly conveys both sad and festive mood. Playing on it allows you to extract elongated notes, as well as melodies for wide breathing. Despite this, the volume of consumed air is comparatively small.

The French horn is a very complex musical instrument. Its design includes valves, pipes and a mouthpiece. They all require proper care and additional accessories. Only in this case you will be able to preserve the melodic sound of this unique instrument for many years.

After each lesson and game session, it is necessary to remove moisture from the inside of the French horn, otherwise it will lead to corrosion. Most instruments have a dedicated fluid drain valve for this. In addition, each time it is necessary to remove the valve crowns in order to remove water from there.

All tuning kings, key mounts, and valves should be lubricated weekly to prevent slick and sticking keys. Every few months, the French horn needs a comprehensive cleaning, as a rule, for this they use a special soap for copper musical instruments or any other cleaning agent with a similar effect. The tools are washed with flexible brushes, they allow cleaning even in the most inaccessible areas of the curved body.

Depending on the type of coating for polishing and cleaning the French horn, compositions for gold, silver and lacquer surfaces are used. After each game session, you need to erase your fingerprints with a special napkin, as they contain acids and fats that have an adverse effect on the structure of the coating metal and its color.

You need to store the French horn in a special case. The case will protect it from moisture, dirt and mechanical damage. Compliance with these simple rules will allow you to preserve the integrity of the French horn itself and all its components, prevent color changes and tarnishing, and protect moving elements from premature wear.

The sound of the French horn can be varied using special techniques. So that the horn makes "closed" sounds, it is necessary to cover the bell with your hand. Such sound production gives a muffled, but at the same time gentle timbre.

To extract stuck sounds, a fist is inserted into the horn of a wind instrument - it acts as a pear. This raises the sound by about half a tone. At the same time, the sounds on the fort become hoarse and growling, and on the piano they acquire ringing notes, a tensely disturbing color. Both of these methods have often been used in the past to give the natural French horn a set of chromaticisms.

There is even a separate method of sound production, called "bell up". It allows you to get the maximum sounding power, while the performer's free hand is used as a mute. This approach dramatically changes the sound of the instrument, on the bass it takes on a mystical and ominous color.

The French horn belongs to the group of transposed musical instruments in order. That is why in the treble clef her part is recorded higher by a fifth, and in the basic one by a fifth lower than the real sound. In this case, the alteration signs are placed directly in front of the note, and not as is customary with the key.

The French horn was highly regarded by composers. So, Mozart wrote as many as 4 concertos for this wind instrument. The authors of the melody for it were Richard Strauss and Reingold Glier. In Tchaikovsky's "Concerto No. 1" for piano and orchestra, this unique instrument sounds already in the very first measures. And the second part of the famous "Symphony No. 5" by this composer is a deep solo on this unique instrument. The French horn is also heard in the "First Symphony" by G. Mahler.

At various times, such famous musicians as the Englishmen Joseph Leitgeb and Brain Dennis, the Germans Baumann Hermann and Peter Damme, the Czech Baborak Radek became famous for their playing the French horn. There were many talented musicians among our compatriots - Anton Ivanovich Usov, Buyanovsky Mikhail, as well as his son Buyanovsky Vitaly. Polekh Valery and Demin Anatoly became famous throughout the country.

These great composers and performers were well acquainted with the French horn and understood what wonderful and profound works can be performed on it.