# Alphorn

The alphorn (German: Alphorn, Alpenhorn; French: cor des Alpes; Italian: corno alpino) is a traditional lip-reed wind instrument. It consists of a very long straight wooden natural horn, with a length of 3 to 4 metres (9.8 to 13 feet), a conical bore and a wooden cup-shaped mouthpiece. Traditionally the alphorn was made in one piece from the trunk of a pine. Modern alphorns are usually made in three detachable sections for easier transport and handling, carved from blocks of spruce. The alphorn is used by rural communities in the Alps. Similar wooden horns were used for communication in most mountainous regions of Europe, from the Alps to the Carpathians.

## History

The alphorn may have developed from instruments like the lituus, a similarly shaped Etruscan instrument of classical antiquity, although there is little documented evidence of a continuous connection between them. A 2nd century Roman mosaic, found in Boscéaz near Orbe in Switzerland, depicts a shepherd using a similar straight horn. The use of long signal horns in mountainous areas throughout Europe and Asia may indicate a long history of cultural cross-influences regarding their construction and usage.
The first documented use of the German word Alphorn is in a payment recorded in the 1527 accounts ledger of Saint Urban's Abbey in Pfaffnau. Swiss naturalist Conrad Gessner used the words lituum alpinum for the first known detailed description of the alphorn, in his De raris et admirandis herbis (1555); in his time, the word lituus was used for several other wind instruments, like the horn, crumhorn, or cornett. In the early 17th century, music scholar Michael Praetorius in his treatise Syntagma Musicum (1614-1620) depicts an alphorn-like instrument he called a Hölzern Trummet ("wooden trumpet"), noting they are used by Vogtlandian and Swiss shepherds.
From the 17th to 19th century, alphorns were used in rural areas of the Alps, for signalling between high pastures across the valleys and to communities on the valley floor. The alphorn sounds can carry for several kilometres, and were even used to collect together dispersed herds. Although use by herdsmen had waned by the early 19th century, a revival of interest in the musical qualities of the instrument followed by the end of the century, and the alphorn became important in Swiss tourism, and inspired Romantic composers such as Beethoven and Gustav Mahler to add alphorn, or traditional alphorn melodies, to their pieces.

## Construction and qualities

The alphorn is carved from solid softwood, usually pine or spruce. Traditionally, the alphorn maker would find a tree growing on a slope and bent at the base providing the curved shape for the bell. The long trunk would be cut in half longways, the bore hollowed out, then glued and bound back together with outer layers of stripped bark. Modern instruments are made in several sections for more convenient handling and transport, each turned and bored from solid blocks of spruce. An integrated cup-shaped mouthpiece was traditionally carved into the narrow end, while modern instruments have a separate removable mouthpiece carved from hard wood.
An alphorn made at Rigi-Kulm, Schwyz, and now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, measures 8 feet (2.4 m) in length and has a straight tube. The Swiss alphorn varies in shape according to the locality, being curved near the bell in the Bernese Oberland.
The alphorn is a simple tube with no lateral openings or means of adjusting the pitch, so only the notes of the natural harmonic series are available. As with other natural labrosones, some of the notes do not correspond to the Western equal tempered chromatic scale, particularly the 7th and 11th partials.
Accomplished alphornists can command a range of nearly three octaves, consisting of the 2nd through the 16th partials. The availability of the higher tones is due in part to the relatively small diameter of the bore of the mouthpiece and tubing in relation to the overall length of the horn.
The well-known "Ranz des Vaches" (score; audio) is a traditional Swiss melody often heard on the alphorn. The song describes the time of bringing the cows to the high country at milk making time. Rossini introduced the "Ranz des Vaches" into his masterpiece William Tell, along with many other melodies scattered throughout the opera in vocal and instrumental parts that are well-suited to the alphorn. Brahms wrote to Clara Schumann that the inspiration for the dramatic entry of the horn in the introduction to the last movement of his First Symphony was an alphorn melody he heard while vacationing in the Rigi area of Switzerland. For Clara's birthday in 1868 Brahms sent her a greeting that was to be sung with the melody.

## Repertoire

Among music composed for the alphorn:
* Concerto Grosso No. 1 (2013) for four alphorns and orchestra by Georg Friedrich Haas
* Sinfonia pastorale for corno pastoriccio in G (alphorn) and string orchestra (1755) by Leopold Mozart
* Concerto for alphorn and orchestra (1970) by Jean Daetwyler
* Concerto No. 2 for alphorn (with flute, string orchestra and percussion) (1983) by Daetwyler
* Dialogue with Nature for alphorn, flute, and orchestra by Daetwyler
* Super Alpen King for three alphorns and orchestra by Ghislain Muller (2001) VSP orkestra / Arkady Shilkloper, Renaud Leipp
* Concertino rustico (1977) by Ferenc Farkas
* Begegnung for three alphorns and concert band, by Kurt Gable.
* Säumerweg-Blues (audio played by Kurt Ott) among many compositions by Hans-Jürg Sommer, Alphorn Musik
* Messe for alphorn and choir by Franz Schüssele Alphorn-Center
* Erbauliche Studie für 12 Alphörner in Abwesenheit von Bergen by Mathias Rüegg (1998)
* Wolf Music: Tapio for alphorn and echoing instruments (2003) by R. Murray Schafer
* Le Berger fantaisiste for three alphorns and orchestra by Ghislain Muller, Arkady Shilkloper, Renaud Leipp, Serge Haessler, VSP orkestra (2001)
* Bob Downes & The Alphorn Brothers (2015) by Bob Downes Open Music (CD rec. 2004)
* Concerto for alphorn in F and orchestra by Daniel Schnyder (2004)
* Matterhorn (a prelude for alphorn and wind orchestra) by Robert Litton (2013)
* Alpine Trail for alphorn and orchestra by Arkady Shilkloper
* Alpine Sketch" for alphorn and big band by Arkady Shilkloper
* Lai nair for alphorn and contrabass by John Wolf Brennan (2015)
* Der Bergschuh for alphorn and marching band by Daniel Schnyder
* Crested Butte Mountain for alphorn and wind band (or brass sextet, strings, or horn septet) by Arkady Shilkloper
* Robin for alphorn and wind band (big band) by Arkady Shilkloper
* Fanfare for four alphorns by Arkady Shilkloper
* Tanz der Kuhe by Carlo Brunner/Lisa Stoll

## In popular culture

* The alphorn is prominently featured in advertisements for Ricola cough drops, which are manufactured in Laufen, Switzerland
* Brief scene in Rammstein's "Dicke Titten".
* The "Horn Top Hop" level in the video game Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze features the Hootz enemies playing alphorns in time with the level's background music.
* An alphorn is heard in the song "Viver Senza Tei", Switzerland's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1989, performed by Furbaz.