 Yamaha tenor horn in E♭ | |
| Brass instrument | |
|---|---|
| Other names | alto horn, peck horn (American English);German: Althorn;French: saxhorn alto,saxhorn ténor,pichote;Italian: flicorno contralto,genis;Spanish: trompa alto,onnoven;saxor,charcheta (Mexico) |
| Classification | |
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 423.232 (Valved lip-reedaerophone with moderatelyconical bore) |
| Playing range | |
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| Related instruments | |
Thetenor horn (British English;alto horn inAmerican English, sometimesE♭ horn) is abrass instrument in thesaxhorn family pitched in E♭ with three piston valves. It has abore that is moderately conical, like thecornet andbaritone, and normally uses a deep funnel-shapedmouthpiece. In Europe it is known as theAlthorn and has rotary valves and an oval shape.
It is most commonly used to play inner harmonies and off-beats inBritish brass bands and Mexicanbanda music, readingtransposingtreble clef, whereas thehorn dominates inconcert bands andorchestras. In the late 20th century it began to be considered as a serious solo voice, and has amassed a repertoire of contemporaryconcertos and other solo works.
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The tenor horn found in British-style brass bands was derived from the Frenchsaxhorn ténor, a mid-voiced member of the family ofsaxhorns invented in the 1840s by the Paris-based instrument makerAdolphe Sax. Bore measurements of historical instruments by Sax all have inner diameters described in hissaxotromba patent, which describes a separate family of instruments with narrower bore, although only the E♭ténor and B♭baryton were ever built.[2] The earliest 19th century models were made with Berlin valves.[3]
The saxhorns became standard in bands in Britain and the United States due largely to theDistin family, who helped popularise brass bands, promoting and performing widely on Sax's brass instruments. By 1850 Distin & Co. was manufacturing them in London, and in New York and Pennsylvania by the 1870s after the London business was purchased byBoosey & Co.[4] Distin dropped the namesaxhorn early on, adopting the names tenor horn, baritone horn and euphonium instead, names still used for the modern instruments common in bands.[5][6]
InPrussia, early valved instruments with similar pitch and bore profile derived from bugles, calledAlthorns, were already in use by the late 1820s.[7]Initially built like a largeflugelhorn with a forward-pointing bell, these were common in central and eastern Europe. The Althorn was also built in a circular "Waldhorn" form, and the upright "tuba-form" similar to Sax's saxhorn family.[8] Later, rotary valves were adopted, and the modern instrument's oval upright form was developed by the Austro-Hungarian makerVáclav František Červený in the 1870s, based on hisKaiser family of instruments.[9]
During theAmerican Civil War in the 1860s, "over-the-shoulder" (OTS) saxhorns, including an E♭ tenor horn size, were built in large numbers in the United States.[10][11] These were made formilitary bands, with the bell pointing backwards over the player's shoulder, so that soldiers marching behind the band could more easily hear the music.[12] After the war, the bands and their music remained popular, and manufacturing demand for bugles and saxhorns remained strong.[13] InNew Orleans in the early 20th century, the tenor horn was used inDixieland jazz bands, including those ofPapa Jack Laine.[14]
In mid-19th century Mexico, small brass and wind bands known asbandas became popular in rural and urban areas. Different regions adopted instruments from the military bands of European colonists, and music from German immigrants, particularly along the Pacific coast. By the time of theMexican Revolution (1910–20),Sinaloanbandas populares (popular bands) had standardized on using the tenor horn in the ensemble, along with trumpets, trombones, and tubas orsousaphones.[15]
The alto horn became colloquially known as the "peck horn" in America, as the player "pecks away at" theoff-beats that were often assigned to the instrument in marches and band arrangements.[16][14] This name is mentioned in the 1957 Broadway musical,The Music Man.[17]In the 1970s,King produced an instrument called the "altonium", keyed in F with a French horn mouthpiece.[18] In their 1971 catalog, King produced two models: the 1147 upright model, and 1148 with the bell angled forward.[19] Soon after, these alto horns were entirely replaced with bell-forward forms of themellophone in Americanmarching bands anddrum and bugle corps.[16]
The modern tenor horn, found inBritish brass bands, is pitched in E♭ and changed little from the mid-19th century Frenchsaxhorn ténor.[20] It has an upward-pointingbell and three Périnet piston valves.[21] Thebore is moderately conical, like that of thecornet orbaritone horn, but not as wide as that of theflugelhorn oreuphonium.[22] The conical bore dampens the higher frequency partials to produce a mellow, roundedtimbre compared to instruments with acylindrical bore at the same pitch.[23][24]
Modern manufacturers, tracking the late 20th century trend of increased bore sizes in band and orchestra brass instruments, build tenor horns with more power and projection than earlier instruments.[25] They are built mainly by Besson and Yamaha, as well as Willson, Eastman Winds,Amati, and Geneva.[26]
In the 20th century, E♭ alto horns were built for American bands by many makers, includingOlds,King,Conn, andYork. Many of these have the bell angled to face forwards, and are sometimes called thealtonium after models with that name built by King.[16]
In Central and Eastern Europe, the instrument has rotary valves, and is called theAlthorn. It usually has an oval upright form, similar to the larger B♭Tenorhorn.[8] These are made by Miraphone,Červený, and others.[27]
The tenor horn uses a smallmouthpiece, usually with a deep funnel-shaped cup similar to an orchestral horn mouthpiece. The rim diameter, ranging from 18 to 19.5 millimetres (0.71 to 0.77 in),[28] is wider than an orchestral horn mouthpiece, and about halfway between cornet and baritone mouthpieces.[16]
The standard instrumentation of the British brass band has three tenor horn parts: solo, first, and second. The section usually plays as part of the alto and tenor lines in the middle of the band, with the solo horn part having occasional solo passages. Historically, the tenor horn has gained little recognition as a solo instrument in its own right. This has been gradually improving since the late 20th century.[14] The instrument's timbre, with a relatively soft attack and mellow sound, aids it in its ability to blend into the overall band sound.[16]
The nominal range of the tenor horn (expressed inconcert pitch) is fromA2 anoctave and aminor third belowmiddle C to E♭5 an octave and a minor third above middle C, although experienced players can reach higher than this.[1] Since the tenor horn is awhole-bore brass instrument, thefundamental pitches, orpedal tones, are available from E♭2 to as low as A1 but are seldom called for.[29]
Tenor horn parts are written intreble clef as atransposing instrument in E♭ amajor sixth aboveconcert pitch. The tenor horn's writtenmiddle C (C4) sounds the E♭3 below middle C.[30]
The tenor horn as a serious solo instrument was first entertained in the 1970s by Gordon Higginbottom, a horn player withBlack Dyke Mills. Brass band composers began writing pieces for him, culminating in his 1978 performance ofEric Ball'sSeptember Fantasy in theRoyal Albert Hall. In 1996 Sheona White, horn player in theYorkshire Building Society Band, won the BBC Radio 2 Young Musician Award.[14] She has since made recordings of most of the band solo repertoire, including the tenor horn concerto byDerek Bourgeois, and newly commissioned works in 2023 for tenor horn and string orchestra.[31]
Welsh tenor horn soloist Owen Farr, professor of tenor horn at theRoyal Northern College of Music, has tutored several young musicians, including the German hornist Anabel Voigt, who has recorded arrangements (including theStraussHorn Concerto No. 2) and new works for tenor horn with piano, strings, and brass band.[32][33] Flemish tenor horn virtuoso Tim De Maeseneer has commissioned and recorded concertos for tenor horn byJan van der Roost,Thierry Deleruyelle, andEdward Gregson.[34]
In jazz, tenor horn is sometimes used by trumpeters as a doubling instrument, and was played byHumphrey Lyttelton andMercer Ellington. British jazz musician and composerDjango Bates performs mainly on tenor horn.[14] The English singer and painterKate Westbrook also plays tenor horn, collaborating and recording with her husbandMike Westbrook's various ensembles includingThe Orckestra (1977–78) and The Village Band since the early 2000s.[35]
The tenor horn has not appeared in thesymphony orchestra, where its place is taken by theFrench horn.[14] It is a fixture of brass bands in Britain and the Commonwealth, and sometimes used inconcert bands as a replacement for the French horn.[29]The tenor horn is also used inbanda music in Mexico and Latin America, where it is called thesaxor orcharcheta.[15]
In chamber music, the standard quartet in British brass bands is two cornets, tenor horn, and euphonium. In Russia, the brass quartet in the late 19th century was two cornets, althorn, and tenorhorn (baritone), although Russian and Soviet composers after 1890 often substituted a trombone for the lowest part.[14] In Germany, modernposaunenchor ensembles include bugle family instruments—flugelhorn, tenor horn, euphonium—alongside trumpets and trombones.[36] In Scandanavia, an E♭ althorn is used in brass ensemble music, such as the Finnishtorviseitsikko septet, including early works byJean Sibelius.[37]
The first solo piece specifically for a tenor horn wasPaul Hindemith'sSonate für Althorn in Es und Klavier" (1943), written as part of his endeavour to produce asonata for every instrument.[16][38] In the 1970s, pieces appeared as part of Higginbottom's work to popularise the instrument, includingEric Ball'sSeptember Fantasy (1977).[14] British composerPhilip Sparke has written solos with band accompaniment, includingMasquerade (1985),Aria (2003), andCapricorno (2009).[39]Derek Bourgeois wrote two solo works with piano accompaniment,A Hornting We Will Go (1997) and a sonata (2011).[40]
Concertos for tenor horn have been written since the late 20th century. These includeGareth Wood'sConcertino (1989), and concertos by Derek Bourgeois (2003),[40]Elgar Howarth (2004),[41]Idin Samimi Mofakham (Rajaz, 2013),[42] Jan De Maeseneer (Birth of Time Echoes, 2019),[43] Jeffrey Kaufman (Essay, 2023),[31]Jan Van der Roost (2024),Thierry Deleruyelle (Horngold, 2024), andEdward Gregson (Three Gods, 2024).[34]
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