The Washington times., 1935-11-30

that horn players were ordered
in order not to lose any financi
Primitive man, wishing to signal
with q sound that would carry
farther than the human voice,
learned to blow upon the hollow
horns and tuSkS of cattle, rams,
or elephants. The Shofar persists
to this day in the Hebrew relig-
aous services.
Roman and Greek armies used
metal horns; the ancient Morse.
men developed signal horns, and
the knights of the Middle Ages
carried bugleS called ELEPHANTS.
From this ancestry came the fox
hunters horn and the coach horn.
It was found that in lengthen-
ing the horn, more tones could be
produced with facility. For con-
Venience, it was made in a cir
cular form so as to be easily car
ried over the shoulder. Elaborate
series of calls were arranged to
cover different situations pertain
ing to the hunt.
Add "COlOr"
Conductors of the early Eight
eenth century, wishing to add
color to the orchestra turned to
the hunters horn for military
and hunting effects. In placing
the hand in the bell to muffle
the tone, it was found that the
pitch of the instrument might be
raised or lowered between open
or bugle tones. -,
A system of playing the hand
horn came into vogue which
called for careful training and
agility of the lips and a forcing
or humoring of tones in order
to approximate q chromatic scale.
Early composers, knowing the un-
certainty of accurate intonatlon
usually scored parts for the horns
using the open or bugle tones: =,
The French horn is q conlcaI
bore brass tube from twelve to
sixteen feet il length. A regula-
tion bugle in the same pltcn
would have exactly onehalf the
length of tubing. However 1t Will
be noticed that the higher open
tones lie closer together.
Thus it is that the French horn
contains the same length OF tub
ing that a bass tuba an octave
lower would have. The French
horn in reality then, is playing
always in a high register Wnere
the open tones are quite close to-
gether.
The ordinary alto or mello-
phone which plays the same part
as the French horn in the band,
has one-half the length OF tub
ing and is thus playing in the
natural register Of the instru-
ment. It will be noticed that the
. ouen tones Of the alto horn start
with C below the treble clet, con-
tinuing upward to G, c, E, hlgn
G, BIB and C.
The French horn in reality
built an octave lower, starts with
a low C on the fifth space be-
low the treble clef, continuing
upward to G third space below,
C first line below.
It will be seen that the open
tones are much closer in the
commonly used range than on
the alto horn.
The open tones on the French
horn, starting with C below the
treble clef, continue upward to
E, G, BIB, c, D, E, F, G first
space above, Alb, BIB, B, and C..
The high F and Alb are both a
trifle sharp, and both B flats
are q trifle flat.
Proper Key
A system of removable slides
OF various lengths was used to
put the horn in the proper key
for different compositions, but
even this expedient would not
permit of rapid execution. Gradu-
ally a system of valves was de-
veloped which would permit these
slides to be permanently attached
to the horn. The valve allows the
performer to introduce the extra
length Of the slide quickly or cut
St out.
The use Of valves revolutionized
horn playing, although there were
some die:hardS that insisted that
the open hand horn gave a bet
ter characteristic tone. In depreSs-
ng q valve, an extra length Of
tubing Is introduced into the full
length Of the horn, thus lowering
the pitch a half tone, a whole
tone. or q tone and q half.
The second valve lowers the
pitch q half tone; the first lowers
1t Q whole tone; the third lowers
It q tone and q half; the second
and third valves together lower
the pitch two tones; the first and
third lower it two and one-half
tones, and all three together lower
tt three tones.
In this manner all the half
tones Of the chromatic scale may
be intoned accurately between
every open or bugle tone. The
higher tones are produced by bit.
ing the lips tighter and blowing
harder, while the lower tones re-
quire less lip tension and air pres
sure.
The tone is produced by the
lips in exactly the same manner
as the vocal chords function in
singing or talking, with the same
relative effort and air pressure
to produce a given tone. The lips
are held tightly together and a
buzzing produced as if one were
splitting a feather from the tongue.