THE hunting horn

 

In order to communicate between them and call dogs, huntsmen used hunting horn during hunting. From Antiquity, first hunting horn appeared, made in bronze. The musical instrument developed thanks to music orchestra and appeared in the huntsmen world around 1680.

From now, hunting horn is practiced in group throughout France as leisure. Hunting horn players play during concerts, weddings, and competitions.

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The fabrication of hunting horn

 

Horn belongs to the brass section. It consists of a long thin metallic tube (almost always in brass). The tube ends by a bell shaped rim conical part. The fabrication, always artisanal, didn’t changed a lot for centuries. The horn is composed of several sections fitted into each other to form the wished length. There are the mouthpiece tube, the successive tubes winded around themselves and the last tube ends by the “pavilion”. All is made from a metal leaf. 

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THE instrumental technique

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As with all wind instruments, the blow is a driving force. This is the lips vibration on the mouthpiece edges, which produces the sound. The note modulation is only performed by the playing of the breath and lips. Moreover, the tongue allows notes' pronunciation and the achievement of a unique sound : the "tayaut" that only belongs to the hunting horn. 

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We can distinguish several types of fanfares:

- Hunting fanfares (fanfares of circumstances or animals fanfares)

- Master's fanfares, so called because they were written for someone in particular

- Fanfare of places (generally referenced to a forest) 

- ?

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