The French Horn Classroom Resource
The
French Horn
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What does a french horn look like?
The french horn looks a bit like a snake coiled around and around itself. If you
unwound the entire horn tube it would be nearly four metres long! The french horn
has a detachable mouthpiece which fits in one end of the tube. The hornist blows
through the mouthpiece to get air into the instrument. The other end of the tube
flares out into what is known as a bell, and this is where the sound comes out. When
you watch a hornist play you will notice that they put their right hand into the bell.
This helps them control the sound that comes out of the horn. Modern french horns
have at least three valves, which you push a bit like the keys on a piano, and which
help the hornist to play different notes. They also have shorter lengths of tube that
can be pulled out or pushed in a bit to change the pitch of the instrument.
The modern french horn
You may not know it, but many of you will be extremely familiar with the sound of
the french horn due to its popularity with film music composers. The hornist Vincent
DeRosa must be about the most recorded hornist in history, as he has been the
principal horn for a number of Hollywood studios and composers, including John
Williams. John Williams has written some of the most famous horn tunes of all time,
for films such as Harry Potter, Star Wars, and ET: The Extra-Terrestrial.
Auxilliary Instruments
The Wagner tuba, despite its name, is actually a member of the horn family. It was
invented for the composer Richard Wagner to use in his grand operatic Ring Cycle.
The Wagner tuba is a modified horn, with the main noticeable difference being that
the bell points upwards in a vertical position. The NZSO owns a number of beautiful
Wagner tubas which take pride of place in the orchestra for special performances of
music by Wagner.
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The french horn
in the orchestra
Modern orchestras usually have five
french horns which play in a very
specific pattern. The 1st and 3rd
hornists play high music and the 2nd
and 4th hornists play low music. The
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5th hornist (often called a bumper)
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supports the 1st hornist by joining
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prepare for a big solo. You can see
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that the french horn section is really
a team, with the players working in pairs and as a whole. Since valves were added to
horns, composers have really expanded how they use the section. Perhaps the most
extreme example is Richard Strauss, who asked for 20 horns in his Alpine Symphony!
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Research Task...
What is chamber music? Use the internet or a dictionary to
look up a definition of chamber music. Can you describe how
chamber music different from orchestral music?
NZSO Music for Schools - Rachel Hyde ©2011
What is pitch?
Pitch means whether a
note is a high note or a low
note. In groups, ask one
person to choose a note
on the piano keyboard
close to middle C. Take it
in turns to sing a different
note than the original one.
Are you singing high or low
pitch? Occasionally play
the original note to remind
yourselves where you
started from.
A bit of horn geography
The french horn isn’t actually from France.
40 years ago the International Horn Society
recommended that the name be changed
to simply ‘Horn’ to prevent confusion, as the
instrument that you see most hornists playing in
the orchestra is actually a German horn!
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Task...
Repertoire that
features the french horn
Because of its rich, romantic sound, the french
horn has been popular with composers as a
solo instrument. There are many well known
concertos for horn, including four by Mozart.
Schumann composed a concerto for four
solo horns and orchestra, and Richard Strauss
who wrote so well for orchestral horns, also
composed a beautiful concerto for the french
horn. The french horn works very well in
chamber music, for example Brahms’ Horn
Trio for violin, horn and piano.
nzso.co.nz/education
The French Horn Classroom Resource
The
French Horn
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Task...
1.
• Crossword Puzzle
Remember what you have learnt about the French Horn
and see how well you can complete the crossword puzzle
below. More text filler here and here and here. And more
text filler here and here and here.
2.
3.
Across
3. The French Horn is from which
instrument family? (5)
4.
5. What is the fifth horn player in the
section often called? (6)
6. Hornists blow through a mouth..... to
get air into their instrument (5)
5.
7. The French Horns auxiliary instrument
in called a Wagner ....? (4)
6.
9. What animal does a French Horn look
a bit like? (5)
7.
9.
8.
11. How many hornists does a modern
orchestra usually have? (4)
Down
10.
1. What did a Natural Horn not have that
a French Horn does? (6)
2. How many meters (nearly) is the tube
of a French Horn? (4)
11.
4. The French Horn has ‘rich, ...... sound’
making it popular with composers (8)
5. What is at the end of the French Horn,
which hornists put the right hand in? (4)
6. The Horn section work as a team and
often work in ....? (5)
8. What is the name of the smphony by
Richard Strauss which requires 20
horns? (6)
10. What does a hornist push to move the
valves on a French Horn? (4)
NZSO Music for Schools - Rachel Hyde ©2011
nzso.co.nz/education