Baroque Orchestra Horn after J. W. Haas or J. Leichnambschneider

Though virtually all horns before 1750 were fixed pitch horns, for the convenience of the modern baroque horn player who needs to travel, and can’t easily bring two or three or more horns with them, these two models are made with terminal crooks and couplers with relatively little alteration in the acoustics and playing qualities from the fixed pitch version. Based on originals by the Nürnberg maker J.W. Haas, and the  Viennese maker J. Leichnambschneider (both early 18th century) they are appropriate for orchestral and chamber music of the first half of the 18th century. They play well either with the hand in the bell using handstopping technique, or without the hand (bell up). The two models are very similar in their playing qualities, but the Leichnambschneider has a narrower bell throat, which produces a brighter sound quality.

The pitch level of the baroque horn is generally A=415, tuned for playing without the hand in the bell, although A=440 crooks can be made on request. The horn is normally made with an F crook and three couplers, (half step, whole step, and minor third) which will lower the instrument to E, E flat and D.

Ventholes can be added to the body of the horn for correcting the intonation of the 11th and 13th partials when playing with the hand out of the bell. The technique of using nodal venting on baroque brass instruments is not an authentic 18th century practice, and there are no surviving instruments from the baroque period with ventholes, but this technique is now often used as a compromise to make it possible to play well in tune without the hand in the bell and retain the authentic open horn tone color. (For a detailed discussion of nodal venting on the baroque horn, see the article on ventholes.)

The baroque horn is tuned by means of tuning bits that can be inserted between crooks, or in the mouthpipe inlet. A set of mouthpipe and crook bits are included with the instrument. The bell diameter is 24cm, and the bore through the cylindrical sections is .440".

* Prices effective January 1, 2023

Instruments are not supplied with cases. Please inquire if you would like information on where to find cases that will fit this model.