French Horns

The warm, soft brassy voice of the Horn is suited to providing beautiful harmony, agile runs or a lyrical melody.

Early designs were awkward to play as the player had to replace sections of tubing between phrases or change instruments in order to play in the correct key.  However, during the 18th century, Bohemian Horn players discovered that by placing their hand inside the bell of the instrument, they could alter the pitch of the note and eventually a complete method of producing all the notes within its range was developed.

The modern French Horn has 3 rotary finger valves and one thumb valve and is capable of producing all the notes in a more mechanical way, although Horn players still use their fists inside the bell in the same way as their predecessors.

Notable Horn works include Mozart's four and Strauss' two Horn Concertos.

Approximate Range	3 octaves
Length	518cm