 Yamaha tenor horn in E♭ | |
| Brass instrument | |
|---|---|
| Other names | en: alto horn (American), tenor horn (British),de: Althorn,fr: saxhorn alto orpichote,nl: althoorn oralto,it: flicorno contralto orgenios,fi: alttotorvi,sv: althorn,es: onoben (Spain) orsaxor or charcheta (Mexico) |
| Classification | |
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 423.232 (Valvedaerophone sounded by lip vibration) |
| Playing range | |
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| Related instruments | |
TheTenor horn (British English;Alto horn inAmerican English,Althorn inGermany; occasionally referred to asE♭ horn) is abrass instrument in thesaxhorn family and is usually pitched in E♭. It has abore that is mostly conical, like theflugelhorn andeuphonium,[2] and normally uses a deep, cornet-likemouthpiece.
It is most commonly used inBritish brass bands, and Mexicanbanda music whereas theFrench horn tends to take the corresponding parts inconcert bands andorchestras. However, the tenor horn has occasionally been used as an alternative to the French horn in concert bands.
The tenor horn is avalved brass instrument (in E♭) which has a predominantly conicalbore like that of theeuphonium andflugelhorn. It uses a deep funnel- or cup-shapedmouthpiece. The tenor horn's conical bore and deep mouthpiece produce a mellow, rounded tone that is often used as a middle voice, supporting the melodies of thetrumpets, cornets, orflugelhorns, and fills the gap above the lower tenor and bass instruments (thetrombone,baritone horn, euphonium, andtuba). Its valves are typically, though not exclusively, piston valves.
The tenor horn has been made and is made in various shapes: the most common in the United States and the UK, and in most other parts of the world, is a sort of mini-tuba shape, with thebell pointing upward, which may help the voice blend before reaching the audience. In contrast, the solo horn (found mainly in Europe) looks like (and indeed effectivelyis) an enlarged flugelhorn, with thebell pointing forward, projecting more toward the audience.[citation needed] Another older and lesser-known variant has the bell facing backward (for militarymarching bands that preceded the soldiers, thus helping them hear better and keep better time in marching). Still another variant has a detachable bell, easily rotated to point in the direction of the player's choice.
The standard bell-up horn comes in two basic shapes - one with the beginning of the bell looping over the top of the valves and the other looping below the valves.
These types are the most frequently encountered in the United States and UK. Only the standard upright instrument is seen in UK brass bands.
Within the British brass band, the tenor horn section usually plays part of the alto and tenor lines in the middle of the band, with the Solo Horn player having occasional solo passages. Historically, the tenor horn has gained little recognition as a solo instrument in its own right, but in recent years this has been gradually changing. The instrument's timbre, with a relatively soft attack and mellow sound, aids it in its ability to blend into the overall band sound, along with the other members of the saxhorn family. Modern tenor horn manufacturers aim to create instruments with improved power and projection, whilst preserving their characteristic mellow tone. Among these, models made by Besson, Yamaha, and Geneva have been particularly successful.
The nominal range of the tenor horn (expressed inconcert pitch) is from the A anoctave and aminor third belowmiddle C to the E♭ an octave and a minor third above middle C (A2 to E♭5 inscientific pitch notation). Experienced players can reach at least amajor third higher than this. Additionally, as the tenor horn is awhole-bore brass instrument, most players can play somepedal tones, thefundamentals (firstpartials) of (at least) the shorter tubing lengths.
Tenor horn parts are written in thetreble clef. The tenor horn is an E♭transposing instrument written amajor sixth aboveconcert pitch: the tenor horn notation formiddle C represents the E♭ below middle C in concert pitch (E♭3 in scientific pitch notation).
The instrument known today as the tenor/alto horn was developed in the 1840s by the Belgian instrument makerAdolphe Sax who, among other instrument design activities, designed two similar families of valved brass instruments, thesaxhorn and thesaxotromba. The surviving E♭ alto instruments by Sax all have inner diameters[3] described in the saxotromba patent[citation needed]. In this patent the soprano voice (descant) is tuned in E♭ and thence descending through B♭ (contralto) to E♭ (alto). The next family member below the alto saxotromba was described as a baritone in B♭. Ascending from baritone, logically the next E♭ family member above it is a tenor. The inconsistency spread across multiple descriptions and patents over decades apparently is the source of confusion as regards the namestenor vs.alto horn.
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The modern instrument has a larger diameter and now resembles Sax's specification of the saxhorn more than it does that of the saxotromba.
A great deal of interesting historical technical information on the saxhorn is found in the "Saxhorn" entry ofGrove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Vol. 4 (1909).
In the 1970s,King Musical Instruments produced a variation on the tenor/alto horn, called the "altonium". This instrument was keyed in F, and it utilized the same mouthpiece as the French horn.[4] From their 1971 catalog, King Instruments produced two models of the altonium: numbers 1147 and 1148. The 1147 was a straight model, and the 1148 was a bell forward model.[5]
In the US, the alto horn is colloquially known as the "peck horn", supposedly because these instruments were employed in band music to "peck away at" theoff-beats.[6][7] This name is mentioned inThe Music Man, and a French horn-patterned peck horn can be seen in the scene where Professor Hill is explaining the Think System as applied toBeethoven's Minuet in G and a small boy asks him how to play it.
The tenor horn is very rarely included in thesymphony orchestra, where its place is taken by theFrench horn. Instead, it is a fixture ofBritish brass bands, where it often plays a role similar to that of the orchestral horn in the symphony orchestra. The tenor horn has also been used inconcert bands as a replacement for the French horn. In the past, many publishers included parts in both Eb (for the tenor horn) and F (for the French horn). These parts were the same, just transposed into the pitch of the given instrument. Some publishers still follow this practice.
AlthoughGustav Mahler orchestrated hisSeventh Symphony to include one "tenorhorn in B♭", that instrument is more akin to thebaritone horn, which is a fourth lower.
Partial list of solo repertoire:
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