The Horn in France

(English résumé)

In former times, horn-type brass instruments were to be found throughout the entire world. In Europe, for example, there were the Scandinavian LUR and the Roman CORNU, both made from bent metal tubing. In Gaul, among the Celts, this instrument was called CARNYX. It can be seen on the Roman arch of triumph in Orange. These metal horns from Gallo-Roman times gradually disappeared, being replaced around the 14th century by hollowed-out cattle horns.

The direct predecessor of the modern horn, the HUNTING HORN, appeared with the 14th century. Progress in instrument construction, particularly with regard to mouthpieces, ushered in the transition from the “rhythmic signals” of the 14th and 15th centuries to “melodic signals” (André Philidor, called l'Aîné, d. 1730). In 1664, Lully, too (1632–1687), used the hunting horn in his opera « La Princesse d'Elide ». The instrument-making families Carlin in Paris (end of the 16th century) and Chrétien in Vernon, later Paris (beginning of the 17th century), set an early high standard with their hunting horns.