Krummhorn
The Krummhorn (in old sources also Krumhorn or Krumphorn ; English crumhorn, Italian cromorna, storto, French cromorne, tournebout ) is a woodwind instrument with a double reed , a cylindrically drilled tube and a wind cap .
Design and mood
The Krummhorn has seven front finger holes and one thumb hole for the left thumb. The range is a major ninth . With the modern Krummhorn, the range is extended upwards by one or two keys and is then a major decime with one key and one decimal with two keys . This blowing-over was not originally intended, however, is possible with the aid of flaps, wherein the instrument because of the cylindrical bore in the twelfth overblows in modern Krummhorn. The sound of the overblown tones differ greatly from the other tones. With the lower instruments in particular, the lowest notes can also be blown by a slight lowering of the otherwise usual blowing pressure; with the same grip, the lower fifth sounds instead of the usual note, whereby the intonation of these notes is difficult. The instrument has almost no dynamic range, changes in the blowing pressure lead to changes in pitch and are therefore used for intonation, which is particularly used for forked handles.
There are the voices soprano, alto, tenor, bass and great bass. Smaller and larger instruments were built on a trial basis, but could not prevail .:
| Pitch | Pitch range (modern Krummhorn in brackets) |
| Soprano in C | c¹ d¹ - d² (- f²) |
| Alt in G | g⁰ a⁰ - a¹ (- c²) |
| Old in F | f⁰ g⁰ - f¹ (- b¹) |
| Tenor in C | c⁰ d⁰ - d¹ (- f¹) |
| Bass in F | FG - f⁰ (- b⁰) |
| Great bass in C | CD - d⁰ (- f⁰) |
Bass and large bass crooked horns are also available in versions in which the range is extended by up to a fourth down with keys ("extended"). Crooked horns can be played chromatically with the exception of the small seconds to the lowest note using forked handles.
The soprano rummhorn is historically referred to as exile or small discant , and the alto crumhorn is also known as treble . These unusual names from today's point of view, in which "treble" is usually equated with "soprano", stem from the fact that krummhorn quartets were often cast alto + tenor + tenor + bass and thus the alto krummhorn the highest voice, the treble, played.
Depending on the range of the voice to be played, either the alto crumhorn is used in F or G. With the modern alto-krummhorn, this need for playing back parts that cannot be played on a flapless alto-krummhorn in F is eliminated by the key extension, which is why the alto-krummhorn in F is more common today than the one in G. allows both Altkrummhorns, tonal and technical aspects play a role in the choice of the instrument, since choosing the Altkrummhorn in F or G changes the relationship between open handles and fork handles and possibly key handles on the modern Altkrummhorn.
origin
The name Krummhorn has been used in German since around 1300 and initially referred to a curved trumpet instrument and from the middle of the 15th century, with increasing probability, the actual type of instrument. The arch shape could go back to a medieval wind instrument with a straight tube and an animal horn (from cattle or goat) at the lower end. At the beginning of the 16th century, the Krummhorn spread quickly, first in German-speaking countries, then in the Netherlands and Italy. With the musical transition from the Renaissance to the Baroque in the 17th century, it fell out of fashion. Krummhorns have been made and played again since the middle of the 20th century. In addition to playing music from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the Krummhorn is also occasionally used in folk and modern music.
Textbooks
- Martin Agricola: Musica instrumentalis deudsch (1532)
Others
There is a similar-sounding organ register of the same name, usually 16 'or 8'. This lingual register has cylindrical cups with mostly natural length.
literature
- Barra R. Boydell: Crumhorn. In: Grove Music Online , 2001
- Klaus Hubmann : Krummhorn. In: Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon . Online edition, Vienna 2002 ff., ISBN 3-7001-3077-5 ; Print edition: Volume 3, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 2004, ISBN 3-7001-3045-7 .
