The post horn (''also'' post-horn) is a valveless cylindrical

brass instrument 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 a ...

with a cupped mouthpiece. The instrument was used to signal the arrival or departure of a post rider or mail coach. It was used especially by postilions of the 18th and 19th centuries.

Use and construction

The post horn is sometimes confused with the coach horn, and even though the two types of horn served the same principal purpose, they differ in their physical appearance. The post horn has a cylindrical bore and was generally used on a coach pulled by two horses (technically referred to as "Tonga"); hence, it is sometimes also called the Tonga horn. The coach horn, on the other hand, has a conical bore and was used on a coach pulled by four horses (referred to as a "four-in-hand"). The post horn is no more than in length, whereas the coach horn can be up to long. The latter has more of a funnel-shaped bell, while the former's bell is trumpet-shaped. Post horns need not be straight but can be coiled—they have a smaller bore —– and they are made entirely of brass. A post horn will have a slide for tuning if intended for orchestral settings. The instrument is an example of a buisine, a precursor to the "natural" trumpet. The

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopr ...

was developed from the cone-shaped coach horn through the addition of valves, while the cylinder-shaped trumpets remained predominantly valveless for several decades.

Compositions with/for the post horn

Beer's Concerto

In the late 17th century, Johann Beer composed a Concerto à 4 in B, which paired a post horn with a ''corne de chasse'' as the two solo instruments, accompanied by violins and

basso continuo Basso continuo parts, almost universal in the Baroque era (1600–1750), provided the harmonic structure of the music by supplying a bassline and a chord progression. The phrase is often shortened to continuo, and the instrumentalists playing th ...

Mozart's Posthorn Serenade

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

composed his Serenade No. 9, the "Post horn Serenade", in 1779. The second trio of the 6th movement, the Menuetto, features a solo of the posthorn.

Mahler and others

Mahler and others incorporated the post horn into their orchestras for certain pieces. On such occasions, the orchestra's trumpet player erforming on a post hornusually performs with the instrument. One example of post horn use in modern classical music is the famous off-stage solo in Mahler's Third Symphony. Due to the scarcity of this instrument, however, music written for it is usually played on a trumpet,

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though some ...

Post Horn Galop

In 1844, the German cornet player Hermann Koenig wrote ''Post Horn Galop'' as a solo for post horn with orchestral accompaniment. In the 20th century it became a popular piece for brass bands. It has been the walk-on music for the

Leicester City Football Club Leicester City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Leicester in the East Midlands of England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home ...

since 1935.

Compositions for other instruments imitating a post horn

An imitation of the post horn's fanfare was a common device in music describing, or referring to, the post coach or travel in general. Notable examples include Bach's '' Capriccio on the departure of a beloved brother'', which includes an "''Aria di postiglione''" and a "''Fuga all'imitazione della cornetta di postiglione''", both containing the characteristic octave jump typical for the instrument. Handel's '' Belshazzar'' includes, in the second act, a "''Sinofonia''" that uses a similar motif (subtitled ''Allegro postilions'') depicting Belshazzar's messengers leaving on a mission. A very similar movement is included in the third "Production" of Telemann's '' Tafelmusik''. Beethoven's ''

Les adieux Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 26 in E major, Op. 81a, known as ''Les Adieux'' ("The Farewell"), was written during the years 1809 and 1810. The title ' implies a programmatic nature. The French attack on Vienna, led by Napoléon Bonap ...

'' piano sonata is centered on a horn-like motif, again signifying the departure of a loved-one. Schubert's '' Winterreise'' includes the song "''Die Post''", of which the piano part prominently features a horn signal motif.

Other uses

During World War I wooden post horns were used as a means of collecting war donations via a method called the

Nail Men Nail Men or Men of Nails (german: Nagelmänner) were a form of propaganda and fundraising for members of the armed forces and their dependents in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the German Empire in World War I. They consisted of wooden statues (u ...

. People would donate and in exchange be allowed to hammer a nail into the horn, until the horn was completely covered.

The post horn as graphical symbol

The post horn is used in the logo of national post services of many countries. The post horn is included in Unicode as .

List of postal services that include the post horn in their logos

* Correo Argentino ( Argentina) *

Australia Post Australia Post, formally the Australian Postal Corporation, is the government business enterprise that provides postal services in Australia. The head office of Australia Post is located in Bourke Street, Melbourne, which also serves as a post o ...

(

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

) * Bâlgarski poshti ( Bulgaria) *

Belposhta Belposhta ( be, Белпошта) or Belpochta (russian: Белпочта) is the national postal service of Belarus. It became a member of the Universal Postal Union in 1947. History The development of postal services in Belarus began in ancie ...

( Belarus) * Bpost ( Belgium) – features a stylistic postal horn * Česká pošta ( Czech Republic) *

Correos Sociedad Estatal de Correos y Telégrafos, S.A., trading as Correos (literally "Mails"), is a state-owned company responsible for providing postal service in Spain and, due to bilateral agreements, it has responsibility for mail services in Ando ...

( Spain) * CTT ( Portugal) – features a rider on horseback carrying a straight horn *

Cyprus Postal Services Cyprus Postal Services, or Cyprus Post, is the postal operator of Cyprus and operates the government-operated Post Office. A legacy of British colonial rule is the use of pillar boxes (mail boxes) with the initials of the British monarch, altho ...

( Cyprus) * Deutsche Post ( Germany) *

Omniva Omniva is an international post and logistics company based in Tallinn, Estonia, that targets the Baltic states. The name Omniva was adopted in June 2014; the company was previously called AS Eesti Post, whose history can be traced back to the ...

(formerly ''Eesti Post'', Estonia) * Hrvatska pošta ( Croatia) *

Íslandspóstur Íslandspóstur or simply Pósturinn is the national postal service of Iceland. It dates back to the year 1776 when Christian VII, king of Denmark (and at the time also Iceland) ordered a mail service to be established in the country. Two years ...

( Iceland) * Jersey Post ( Jersey) *

Lietuvos paštas Lietuvos paštas is the company responsible for postal service in Lithuania. The company was established on November 16, 1918, and this date celebrate as Post Lithuania day. In 2018, Lithuanian Post consisted of 546 fixed post offices, 85 mobile ...

(

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

) * Magyar Posta ( Hungary) *

MaltaPost MaltaPost p.l.c. is the postal service company in Malta. The public limited company took over the postal services previously carried out by Posta Limited, and started operating on 1 May 1998. History MaltaPost p.l.c. was registered with the M ...

( Malta) – features a horn with a Maltese cross in the middle *

North Macedonia Post Post of North Macedonia (Macedonian: Пошта на Северна Македонија) is the company responsible for postal service in North Macedonia. It was founded on 1 June 1992. See also * Postal codes in North Macedonia Postal co ...

( North Macedonia) * Österreichische Post ( Austria) * P&T Luxembourg ( Luxembourg) * Poczta Polska ( Poland) * Poșta Moldovei ( Moldova) * Poșta Română ( Romania) * Posta Shqiptare ( Albania) * Pošta Slovenije ( Slovenia) * Post Danmark ( Denmark) *

PostBus Switzerland PostAuto Switzerland, PostBus Ltd. (known as in Swiss Standard German (), in Swiss French (), in Swiss Italian (), and in Romansh () is a subsidiary company of the Swiss Post, which provides regional and rural bus services throughout Swit ...

(

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

) * PTT (Turkey) * Slovenská pošta ( Slovakia) *

Tajikistan Post Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centra ...

( Tajikistan) * Ukrposhta ( Ukraine) Until 2002, the Finnish Postal and Telegraph Administration (''Posti- ja lennätinhallitus'') and its successors also featured a postal horn in their logos. The logo from 1987 onwards had a single symbol combining the postal horn and telegraph symbols.

Post horns in road signs

In Italy the post horn was featured on a sign called ''Obbligo di arresto all'incrocio con autobus di linea su strade di montagna ("Stop when encountering coaches on mountain roads")''. Installed along tortuous or narrow mountain roads, this sign was meant to mandate motorists to stop and give way to incoming coaches, and let them pass safely. This sign was removed from the Italian Road Code in 1992.

Examples of post horns as graphics

File:Post-horns.jpg, German sign and postbox with post horn logos File:Swedish Royal Posthorn.jpg, Post horn logo from

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

File:MutedPosthorn.png, Muted post horn from '' The Crying of Lot 49'' File:Emoji u1f4ef.svg, Postal Horn

Emoji An emoji ( ; plural emoji or emojis) is a pictogram, logogram, ideogram or smiley embedded in text and used in electronic messages and web pages. The primary function of emoji is to fill in emotional cues otherwise missing from typed conversat ...

from Google Noto, U+1F4EF File:Italian traffic signs - old - dare precedenza alle corriere.svg, alt="Give way to coaches on mountain roads" road sign from Italy (deprecated in 1992), Old "''Stop when encountering coaches on mountain roads''" road sign from Italy (removed from the Italian Road Code in 1992)

References

External links

Video of Koenig's Post Horn Galop
performed by Steve Fletcher and Jerry Clack o
Post horn calls.
Hungarian Post Co. Links to sound files.
The Sound of Post Horns – Strains from a Past Era – Museumsposten – © Post & Tele Museum, Denmark
{{DEFAULTSORT:Post Horn Brass instruments Natural horns and trumpets