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Natural horn
Engelbert Schmid
Natural horn models
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What in the beginning was considered as a fashion, in the meantime has become a firm part of the music-world: often supported by the idealism of the performers, ensembles last which play on original instruments or their copies. In the same way as this music practice often trains the sound sensibility of the musicians, I as a hornmaker had to recall historic measures, material thicknesses and manufacturing methods. By the way, this also influenced the production method of our modern valve horn bells.
Let me introduce you to the result of an intensive labour of development, which has spared no expense for material or tool costs, in total 4 Natural horn models:
1. "Corno da caccia". at the same time "Corno da tirarsi”
I do not want to join in the discussion which baroque works shall or can be performed by hornplayers and which by trumpet-players, but I would rather call on both sides to realize the baroque sound-world. There simply is no baroque horn on which all baroque parts can be interpreted authentically. However there was a vast palette of instrument types, which offered an interesting and seamless transition from the trumpet to the hunting-horn with big bell. My "Corno da caccia"- version meets the brighter side of the sound-palette.
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| "Corno da caccia", "Corno da tirarsi" Engelbert Schmid | Original instrument, about 1730, Friedrich Ehe in Nurenberg, in high D, with C-crook and 2 intonation pieces, out of the museum Caroline Augusteum, Salzburg |
Description of my "Corno da caccia"- and at the same time "Corno da tirarsi"-version:
| Utilization: | Parts for "Corno da caccia", "Corno da tirarsi", "Lituus” |
| Keys: | From High D to low C (with A=415Hz), crooks. |
| Mouthpiece receiver: | Normally for a shaft for horn mouthpiece. The adaptation of the shaft for a trumpet mouthpiece is acoustically no problem. With a conical mouthpipe which tapers off towards a shaft for horn mouthpiece, the instrument tunes very well in all levels and keys. The depth of the cup must be adapted to the tuning, that means the shorter the instrument, the shallower the cup. The historic normal case was a trumpet mouthpiece. |
| Bell: | As a general principal handhammered, with wreath, thin wall thickness. Diameter of the bell 18,0 cm. |
| Historic Model: | After Friedrich Ehe in Nurenberg, about 1730, Museum Caroline Augusteum, Salzburg. |
| Measure: | Cylindrical measure part such as the original 10,6 mm. |
| Intonation: | By computerized calculations the tapered measure has been improved to a better intonation. |
| Tuning slide in the center: | Naturally a spontaneous
topic of discussion. But clear and logical reasons argue in favour
of this double tuning slide: a) During the baroque era there were already double slides at the trombones. b) The "Tromba da tirarsi" and the "Corno da tirarsi" had an extensible leadpipe. The mouthpipe was held with one hand and with the other hand the whole rest of the instrument was moved to clear up some harmonics and to reach intermediate tones. But this practice of extension was ergonomically very disadvantageous. c) In the baroque age the tuning slide was usually lockable at the leadpipe or between the crook and the corpus. In this manner the distance between the mouthpiece and the corpus varies a lot, which ergonomically was disadvantageous, too. d) I suppose that in those days simply nobody had the idea to place a double tuning slide in the middle of the corpus, and that this idea would have been adopted with gratitude, as it happened some decades later. Acoustically and what refers to its sound it remains a "Corno da caccia", though. Using "trombona superslick" this tuning slide is easily slided and thus the intonation of the so-called impure harmonics as well as the required intermediate tones can be mastered without problems. The slide is twice 17,5 cm long, thus the extension range is of 30 cm. At this model there are no finger holes. |
| Weight: | 700g with crook. |
Resonance curve "Corno da caccia":
Even without hand in the bell my "Corno da caccia" speaks very clearly in the high range.
2. Baroque -"Corno”
Beside the brighter "Corno da caccia" and "Corno da tirarsi" in the baroque
age there were also several darker versions as the "Corno", the "Corne du
chasse" and the "Corne parforce", with bell diameters of up to 30 cm. Either
they had fixed, narrow leadpipes, or crooks which were built too wide to
be well in tune.
My Baroque-"Corno" covers the darker range of the baroque horns. Possibly
some "Corno da caccia" parts were also supposed for hunting horns with a
narrow leadpipe. For example the original F. Ehe "Corno da caccia" speaks
poorly and tunes badly if it is cylindrically elongated to F which is imperative
with a shaft for trumpet mouthpiece. But with a narrow conical leadpipe,
both of my baroque versions have very good acoustic characteristics, even
in the darker keys. In the opinion of many, J.S. Bach's Brandenburgisches
Konzert Nr. 1 should be performed on an instrument like my Baroque-"Corno".
Baroque - “Corno”, Engelbert Schmid
Description of my Baroque - "Corno" - Version:
| Utilization: | Parts for "Corno", "Corne du Chasse", "Corne parforce", also some "Corno da caccia"-parts. |
| Keys: | From high D to low C (with A=415 Hz), same crooks as with the “Corno da caccia". |
| Mouthpiece: | Medium shallow to shallow horn mouthpiece is recommended. The depth of the cup should be adapted to the length of the instrument |
| Bell: | As a general principal handhammered with wreath, thin wall thickness. Diameter of the bell 25 cm. |
| Historic model: | A synthesis of J. Fr. Schwabe from Leipzig, J. H. Eichentopf from Leipzig and J. Leichamschneider from Vienna, cylindrical part of measure 10,6 mm. |
| Tuning slide in the middle: | The same arguments as for the "Corno da caccia" are valid for the Baroque-"Corno", but with the slide moving toughly like normally. |
| Intonation: | By computerized calculations the entire taper has been refined to a better intonation. |
| Compensation of intonation: | No finger holes, as they are a very problematical solution. In the first place they are not historic and in the second place they ought to have another position for each crook (from high D to low C!). It is also not enough to correct the two tones f" and a". There are also intermediate tones in the baroque parts. A hand in the bell is a great help for a clear speaking and sound volume in the high range. If it is employed with caution and combined with lip technique, the sound quality is very well-balanced and the intonation unobjectionable. |
| Weight: | 850g with F -crook. |
Resonance curve Baroque - "Corno" without hand
The curve of the bell flare of a horn is too smooth to speak clearly in the high register without hand.
Resonance curve Baroque - “Corno” with hand
With a hand in the bell the high register speaks very clearly.
3. Hand horn according to Ignaz Lorenz from Linz:
The comparison of Ignaz Lorenz original horns from about 1830 and Lorenz
follower horns turned out very differently, with terrible acoustic errors
in the cylindrical part. But what fascinated me was the basic sound of the
bell. Somehow I always got the impression that this was the real horn sound.
Hand horn according to Ignaz Lorenz by Engelbert Schmid
Description of my Ignaz Lorenz copy:
| Utilization: | From Joseph Haydn to Robert Schumann, ideal for Vienna Classic. |
| Keys: | From high C to low Bb (with A=443 Hz, A=430 Hz and A=415 Hz), crooks, two types of tuning slides |
| Bell: | Handhammered with wreath, or spinned bell with wreath, thin wall thickness. Diameter of the bell 28 cm. |
| Measure Cylindrical part: | 11,2 mm |
| Intonation, response: | The correction of the intonation imperfections and the measure leaps was no problem. The result is an impressive clear response and pure intonation,well to be moduled with the hand. |
| Surface: | I recommend all 4 models of natural horns here presented with the beautiful historic patina which can be obtained by the special method of "smoking". |
| Weight: | 1000 g with Eb-crook. |
4. Cor Solo:
The performance of the Haydn (?) Double Concerto for 2 natural horns and
(in this case modern) orchestra was a key experience for me. About 50 %
of the notes of the 1. natural horn soloist were actually not to be heard,
but at the most to be guessed. Although this was due in part to the musician
and to the conductor, it is nevertheless an example for the fact that in
cooperation with modern intruments or also as a soloist in front of an modern
or historic orchestra, the historic measure of about 11 mm is often too
narrow.
The solution to this problem is my Cor Solo, which is no copy of an historic
model but contains many improvements of it's own.
Description of my Cor Solo Version:
| Sound: | Concerning the timbre similar to the historic instruments, but distinctly bigger in volume. |
| Bell: | Similar to the Lorenz copy, handhammered with wreath, or spinned bell with wreath, thin wall thickness. Diameter of the bell: 28 cm. |
| Construction Type: | Fixed leadpipe, crooks in the middle. With just 5 crooks you can obtain all keys from high Bb to low Bb with A=443 Hz, A=430 Hz and A=415 Hz. Moreover by insertion of a machine, it can be transformed within seconds into a 3-valve Bb-horn or F-horn. |
| Measure: | 12,0 mm in the cylindrical part, fixed leadpipe for all keys. Thus you have a feel to it similar to the modern valve horn, less readjustment problems and still largely the sound of the natural horn. |
| Intonation, response: | Without problems in all keys. Similar to the Lorenz-copy the flare of the bell is very suitable for hand stopping. |
| Weight: | 1.100g with Eb-crook. |
| Esthetics: | From the artisanal point of view and what concerns the shaping all 4 natural horn models here presented are a feast for the eyes, as all Engelbert Schmid horns. |
What follows is a list of the
Scores for horn by J. S. Bach
according to Gisela Csiba y Jozsef Csiba in "The brass instruments in the pieces of J. S. Bach"
- Corno da Caccia (bell diameter 120-180 mm)
in High D: BWV 232*
in High C: BWV 16/107
in High Bb: BWV 143
in G: BWV 174
in F: BWV 213/248/1046/1071
- Corno da tirarsi (bell diameter 120-180 mm)
in High C, Bb and A: BWV 46/67/162
- Lituus (bell diameter 120-180 mm)
in High Bb: BWV 118
- Corne du Chasse (bell diameter 200-240 mm)
in High C: BWV 65
in Low C: BWV 109
- Corno (bell diameter 220-300 mm)
in High D: BWV 88/205/218
in High Bb: BWV 14
in A: BWV 136
in G: BWV 79/91/100/112/128/195/212/250/251/252
in F: BWV 1/14/40/52/83/208
in Eb: BWV 140
in Low D: BWV 60
in Low C: BWV 3/8/26/27/40/62/68/73/78/83/89/95/96/99/105/114/115/116/124/125/136
*Peter Damm's statement, that the "Quoniam" in the B-minor Mass should be in low D, seems more logical to me. Nevertheless my baroque horns are tunable from high D to low C, that means both versions can be performed.
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