Horn (instrument) - Orchestral Horns

Orchestral Horns

A classical orchestra usually contained two horns. Typically, the 1st horn played a high part and the 2nd horn played a low part. Composers from Beethoven onwards commonly used four horns. Here, the 1st and 2nd horns played as a pair (1st horn being high, 2nd horn being low), and the 3rd and 4th horns played as another pair (3rd horn being high, 4th horn being low). Music written for the modern horn follows a similar pattern with 1st and 3rd horns being high and 2nd and 4th horns being low.

This configuration serves multiple purposes. It is easier to play high when the adjacent player is playing low and vice versa. Pairing makes it easier to write for horns, as the 3rd and 4th horns can take over from the 1st & 2nd horns, or play contrasting material. Music was first written was for the natural horn, which meant that horns could only easily play certain notes. This required that the 1st and 2nd horns be in a different key from the 3rd and 4th horns, so that more notes could be played. For example, if the piece is in C minor, the 1st and 2nd horns might be in C, the tonic major key, which could get most of the notes, and the 3rd and 4th horns might be in E♭, the relative major key, to fill in the gaps.

Many horn sections today also have an assistant who doubles the 1st horn part for selected passages, joining in loud parts, playing instead of the principal if there is a 1st horn solo approaching, or alternating with the principal if the part is tiring to play. Playing assistant is often underappreciated, but it is harder than it seems, and takes experience to do it well. Often the assistant is asked to play a passage after resting a long time. Also, he or she may be asked to enter in the middle of a passage, exactly matching the sound, articulation, and overall interpretation of the principal. The assistant is occasionally referred to as a bumper.

Some pieces (like Rachmaninov's Isle of the Dead, Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem, Holst's The Planets and Richard Strauss' Don Quixote) have called for 6 horns, or as many as 20 horns, as found in Alpine Symphony, by Richard Strauss. Here the pairing remains the same, with the odd horns being high parts and the even horns being low parts.