Corno da caccia
The corno da caccia , a brass instrument , comes from the group of horn instruments and translated from Italian means " hunting horn " (cf. Caccia (music) ). At the beginning of the 17th century, this mainly meant small horn instruments (see also Hifthorn ). At the same time, the parforce horn developed in France , which found its way into art music at the court of Louis XIV and was larger in length and overall circumference. Both instruments were blown with a kettle mouthpiece , similar to the trumpet .
Both instruments were soon used not only for hunting but also in art music. Various terms were mixed up there (e.g. also tromba da caccia , "hunting trumpet"), which today no longer make it clear which instrument was needed in the respective composition. In Johann Sebastian Bach, for example, several names appear alternately, including Cor de chasse . There was also the German term "Waldhorn".
In its basic acoustic structure, the corno da caccia was a natural trumpet in the shape of a horn. As with the trumpet, the conical course is shifted towards the bell, while the main length of the tube was only slightly conical and at the same time very slim. In contrast to the trumpet, which has a tube that has been turned through 180 ° twice, the round construction of the Corno da caccia brought the advantage of easier handling compared to the natural trumpet.
Over time, the term also seems to have been used to denote the pitch of the voice. Very high, light compositions were referred to as corno da caccia , lower ones as cor de chasse . The length of the instrument was no longer a fundamental differentiating criterion, but certainly a slimmer design and a smaller bell. The players of the corno da caccia used the clarin style of the trumpeter.
The tuning of the instrument could be varied with an attachment bow. Bach and Handel used this instrument in their works in the tunings of C-basso, D, E-flat, F, G, A, B-alto and C-alto.
Ludwig Güttler and the Leipzig master instrument maker Friedbert Syhre developed a Corno da caccia in 1984 that required a trumpet leadpipe and mouthpiece . A version with a horn leadpipe and mouthpiece was also developed with horn player Peter Damm . Instruments in D, C, B / A and F were built. CD recordings with these instruments gave rise to lively discussions. The compositions presented from the 18th century actually require a much longer instrument, which is also rich in overtones, due to the series of natural tones used . These new developments were therefore unable to convey a historically correct sound impression.
A better approach seems to be to recreate historical instruments. Syhre built the Reiche Horn based on the Haußmann portrait of its inventor and from instrument collections. Other instrument makers followed with replicas of various instruments (Haas, Ehe, Leichamschneider). These replicas are often referred to as the "baroque horn".
Although the corno da caccia has little in common with the modern valve horn , it served as one of the starting points for its development.
literature
- Hans Kunitz: The instrumentation. A handbook and textbook. Volume 6: The Horn. Breitkopf & Härtel, Leipzig 1956.
Individual evidence
- ↑ About us ( Memento from September 22, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) on musikhaus-syhre.de .