The alphorn or alpenhorn or alpine horn is a

labrophone A brass instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips. Brass instruments are also called labrosones or labrophones, from Latin ...

, consisting of a straight several-meter-long wooden

natural horn The natural horn is a musical instrument that is the predecessor to the modern-day (French) horn (differentiated by its lack of valves). Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth century the natural horn evolved as a separation from the trump ...

conical bore In music, the bore of a wind instrument (including woodwind and brass) is its interior chamber. This defines a flow path through which air travels, which is set into vibration to produce sounds. The shape of the bore has a strong influence on t ...

, with a wooden cup-shaped mouthpiece. Traditionally the Alphorn was made of one single piece, or two parts at most, and made from the wood of a

red pine ''Pinus resinosa'', known as red pine (also Norway pine in Minnesota), is a pine native to North America. Description Red pine is a coniferous evergreen tree characterized by tall, straight growth. It usually ranges from in height and in trun ...

tree. Sometimes the trees would bend from the weight of snow during the wintertime, and this caused them to have the larger and bent mouthpiece at their ends. Modern Alphorns are sometimes made from three distinct parts that can be stuck together, this is to make them easier to transport via

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...

, or even carried by hand, and today are more frequently made from the wood of a

spruce tree A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfamil ...

fir tree Firs (''Abies'') are a genus of 48–56 species of evergreen coniferous trees in the family Pinaceae. They are found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The genus is most closely related to ...

. It is used by mountain dwellers in the

Swiss Alps The Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps (german: Schweizer Alpen, french: Alpes suisses, it, Alpi svizzere, rm, Alps svizras), represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swiss ...

. Similar wooden horns were used for

communication Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

in most mountainous regions of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, from the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

to the

Carpathians The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...

. Alphorns are today used as musical instruments. Alphabetical musical instruments

History

For a long time, scholars believed that the alphorn had been derived from the Roman-Etruscan

lituus The word ''lituus'' originally meant a curved augural staff, or a curved war-trumpet in the ancient Latin language. This Latin word continued in use through the 18th century as an alternative to the vernacular names of various musical instruments ...

, because of their resemblance in shape, and because of the word ''liti'', meaning Alphorn in the dialect of

Obwalden Obwalden, also Obwald (german: Kanton Obwalden, rm, Chantun Sursilvania; french: Canton d'Obwald; it, Canton Obvaldo), is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of seven municipalities and the seat of the govern ...

. There is no documented evidence for this theory however, and also the word ''liti'' was probably borrowed from 16th–18th century writings in Latin, where the word ''lituus'' could describe various wind instruments, such as the

horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...

, the

crumhorn The crumhorn is a double reed instrument of the woodwind family, most commonly used during the Renaissance period. In modern times, particularly since the 1960s, there has been a revival of interest in early music, and crumhorns are being pla ...

, or the

cornett The cornett, cornetto, or zink is an early wind instrument that dates from the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods, popular from 1500 to 1650. It was used in what are now called alta capellas or wind ensembles. It is not to be confused wi ...

. Swiss naturalist

Conrad Gesner Conrad Gessner (; la, Conradus Gesnerus 26 March 1516 – 13 December 1565) was a Swiss physician, naturalist, bibliographer, and philologist. Born into a poor family in Zürich, Switzerland, his father and teachers quickly realised his tale ...

used the words ''lituum alpinum'' for the first known detailed description of the alphorn in his ''De raris et admirandis herbis'' in 1555. The oldest known document using the German word ''Alphorn'' is a page from a 1527 account book from the former

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

abbey St. Urban near

Pfaffnau Pfaffnau is a municipality in the district of Willisau in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. In the municipality two different parts are existing, the village Pfaffnau and the Former Monastery of St. Urban. History Pfaffnau is first mentioned ...

mentioning the payment of two

Batzen The batzen is an historical Swiss, south German and Austrian coin. It was first produced in Berne, Switzerland, from 1492 and continued in use there until the mid-19th century. Name Bernese chronicler Valerius Anshelm explained the word fr ...

for an itinerant alphorn player from the

Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 ...

. 17th–19th century collections of alpine myths and legends suggest that alphorn-like instruments had frequently been used as signal instruments in village communities since old times or earlier, sometimes substituting for the lack of

church bells A church bell in Christian architecture is a bell which is rung in a church for a variety of religious purposes, and can be heard outside the building. Traditionally they are used to call worshippers to the church for a communal service, and ...

. Surviving artifacts, dating back to as far as ca. AD 1400, include wooden labrophones in their stretched form, like the alphorn, or coiled versions, such as the "Büchel" and the "Allgäuisches Waldhorn" or "Ackerhorn". The alphorn's exact origins remain indeterminate, and the ubiquity of horn-like signal instruments in valleys throughout Europe may indicate a long history of cross influences regarding their construction and usage.

Construction and qualities

The alphorn is carved from solid softwood, generally spruce but sometimes pine. In former times, the alphorn maker would find a tree bent at the base in the shape of an alphorn, but modern makers piece the wood together at the base. A cup-shaped mouthpiece carved out of a block of hard wood is added and the instrument is complete. An alphorn made at Rigi-Kulm, Schwyz, and now in the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

, measures 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 Bernese Oberland ( en, Bernese Highlands, german: Berner Oberland; gsw, Bärner Oberland; french: Oberland bernois), the highest and southernmost part of the canton of Bern, is one of the canton's five administrative regions (in which context ...

Michael Praetorius Michael Praetorius (probably 28 September 1571 – 15 February 1621) was a German composer, organist, and music theorist. He was one of the most versatile composers of his age, being particularly significant in the development of musical forms ba ...

mentions an alphorn-like instrument under the name of Hölzern Trummet (wooden trumpet) in ''Syntagma Musicum'' (Wittenberg, 1615–1619; Pl. VIII). The alphorn has no lateral openings and therefore gives the pure natural harmonic series of the open pipe. The notes of the natural harmonic series overlap, but do not exactly correspond, to notes found in the familiar chromatic scale in standard Western

equal temperament An equal temperament is a musical temperament or tuning system, which approximates just intervals by dividing an octave (or other interval) into equal steps. This means the ratio of the frequencies of any adjacent pair of notes is the same, wh ...

. Most prominently within the alphorn's range, the 7th and 11th harmonics are particularly noticeable, because they fall between adjacent notes in the chromatic scale. Accomplished alphornists often command a range of nearly three octaves, consisting of the 2nd through the 16th notes of the harmonic series. 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 A ''Ranz des Vaches'' or ''Kuhreihen'' is a simple melody traditionally played on the horn by the Swiss Alpine herdsmen as they drove their cattle to or from the pasture. The ''Kuhreihen'' was linked to the Swiss nostalgia and Homesickness (a ...

"
score
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 William Tell (german: Wilhelm Tell, ; french: Guillaume Tell; it, Guglielmo Tell; rm, Guglielm Tell) is a folk hero of Switzerland. According to the legend, Tell was an expert mountain climber and marksman with a crossbow who assassinated Albr ...

,'' along with many other delightful melodies scattered throughout the opera in vocal and instrumental parts that are well-suited to the alphorn.

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...

wrote to

Clara Schumann Clara Josephine Schumann (; née Wieck; 13 September 1819 – 20 May 1896) was a German pianist, composer, and piano teacher. Regarded as one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era, she exerted her influence over the course of a ...

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 The Rigi (or ''Mount Rigi''; also known as ''Queen of the Mountains'') is a mountain massif of the Alps, located in Central Switzerland. The whole massif is almost entirely surrounded by the water of three different bodies of water: Lake Lucerne ...

area of Switzerland. For Clara's birthday in 1868 Brahms sent her a greeting that was to be sung with the melody.

Music for alphorn

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 Johann Georg Leopold Mozart (November 14, 1719 – May 28, 1787) was a German composer, violinist and theorist. He is best known today as the father and teacher of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and for his violin textbook ''Versuch einer gründlichen ...

*Concerto for alphorn and orchestra (1970) by

Jean Daetwyler Jean Daetwyler (24 January 1907, Basel – 4 June 1994, Sierre) was a Swiss composer and musician. He is barely remembered, mostly for his largely forgotten works for alphorn inspired by Jozsef Molnar beginning in 1970. Also inspired by trombonis ...

*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 Ferenc Farkas (; 15 December 1905 – 10 October 2000) was a Hungarian composer. Biography Born into a musical family (his father played the cimbalom and his mother played the piano) in Nagykanizsa, Farkas began his musical studies in Budape ...

*''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 Schüssel
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 Raymond Murray Schafer (18 July 1933 – 14 August 2021) was a Canadian composer, writer, music educator, and environmentalist perhaps best known for his World Soundscape Project, concern for acoustic ecology, and his book ''The Tuning of th ...

*''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 Daniel Schnyder (born March 12, 1961 in Zurich) is a Swiss jazz reedist and composer of both jazz and classical music. Schnyder learned to play cello before saxophone. He attended Berklee College of Music and the Conservatory of Winterthur. H ...

(2004) * ''Matterhorn'' (a prelude for alphorn and wind orchestra) by Robert Litton (2013) * ''Alpine Trail'' for alphorn and orchestra by Arkady Shilkloper * ''Lai nair'' for alphorn and contrabass by

John Wolf Brennan John Wolf Brennan (born 13 February 1954) is an Irish pianist, organist, melodica player, and composer based in Weggis, Switzerland. Career Brennan was born in Dublin, Ireland. His family moved to Switzerland when he was seven years old. He be ...

(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

In popular culture

*The alphorn is prominently featured in advertisements for

Ricola Ricola Ltd./Ricola AG is a Swiss manufacturer of cough drops and breath mints. The head office of Ricola is located in Laufen, Basel-Country. Business Ricola listed sales of 307.2 million Swiss francs in 2016 and employs 400 workers. Aroun ...

cough drops, which are manufactured in Laufen, Switzerland *Brief scene in Rammstein's "Dicke Titte."

References

External links

Alphorn in concert
Concert and composition contest taking place annually in Oensingen, Canton Solothurn, Switzerland
International Alphorn Festival
at Nendaz, Canton Valais, Switzerland
VSP orkestra & Arkady Shilkloper
alphorn jazz & improvisations, composer / arranger
Ghislain Muller
Arkady Shilkloper, Pascal Beck {{Authority control National symbols of Switzerland Swiss musical instruments Natural horns and trumpets