Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

ALPENHORN, ALPHORN

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V01, Page 723 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

ALPENHORN, ALPHORN , a musical See also:instrument, consisting of a natural wooden See also:horn of conical See also:bore, having. a See also:cup-shaped See also:mouthpiece, used by mountaineers in See also:Switzerland and elsewhere. The See also:tube is made of thin strips of birchwood soaked in See also:water until they have become quite pliable; they are then See also:wound into a tube of conical See also:form from 4 to 8 ft. See also:long, and neatly covered with bark. A cup-shaped mouthpiece carved out of a See also:block of hard See also:wood is added and the instrument is See also:complete. The alpenhorn has no lateral openings and therefore gives the pure natural See also:harmonic See also:series of the open See also:pipe. The harmonics are the more readily obtained by See also:reason of the small See also:diameter of the bore in relation to the length. An alpenhorn made,at Rigi-See also:Kulm, Schwytz, and now in the See also:South See also:Kensington Museum, See also:measures 8 ft. in length and has a straight tube. The well-known Ranz See also:des Vaches is the traditional See also:melody of the alpenhorn, which has been immortalized by See also:Beethoven in the See also:finale of the See also:Pastoral See also:Symphony, where the See also:music is generally rendered by a See also:cor anglais (q.v.). See also:Rossini has introduced the melody into his See also:opera See also:William Tell. See also:Wagner, in the third See also:act of See also:Tristan and Isolde, was not entirely satisfied with the See also:tone quality of the cor anglais for representing the natural pipe of the See also:peasant. Having in his mind the timbre of the alpenhorn, he had a wooden horn made for him with one See also:valve only and a small See also:pear-shaped See also:bell, which is used at See also:Bayreuth (see See also:HOLZTROMPETE). The Swiss alpenhorn varies in shape according to the locality, being curved near the bell in the Bernese Oberland. See also:Michael See also:Praetorius mentions the alpenhorn under the name of holzern trummet in Syntagma Musicum (See also:Wittenberg, 1615-1619).

(K.

End of Article: ALPENHORN, ALPHORN

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
ALPACA 		[next]
ALPES MARITIMES

Site © 2006 - Net Industries