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Alphorn / Alpenhorn

The Alphorn, a wind instrument, consisting of a natural wooden horn of conical bore, having a cup-shaped mouthpiece, used by mountain dwellers in Switzerland and elsewhere. The alphorn is carved from solid softwood, generally spruce but sometimes pine. In former times the alphorn maker would find a tree bent at the base in the shape of an alphorn, but modern makers piece the wood together at the base. A cup-shaped mouthpiece carved out of a block of hard wood is added and the instrument is complete.

The alpenhorn has no lateral openings and therefore gives the pure natural harmonic series of the open pipe. The harmonics are the more readily obtained by reason of the small diameter of the bore in relation to the length. An alpenhorn made at Rigi-Kulm, Schwyz, and now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, measures 8 ft. in length and has a straight tube. The well-known Ranz des Vaches is the traditional melody of the alpenhorn from French Switzerland. The song describes the time of bringing the cows to the high country at cheese making time. Rossini has introduced the melody into his opera William Tell. Brahms, was clear that the inspiration for the great melody that opens the last movement of his First Symphony (played in the orchestra by the horn) was an alphorn melody he heard in the Rigi area of Switzerland.

The Swiss alpenhorn varies in shape according to the locality, being curved near the bell in the Bernese Oberland. Michael Praetorius mentions the alpenhorn under the name of holzerni trummet in Syntagma Musicum (Wittenberg, 1615-1619).

The Alphorn design is simple: A hollow tube, carefully carved out of spruce wood to time tested dimensions. This is an instrument that is built for sound; mellow and reverberant. The notes of the Alphorn are tuned by nature to a scale of unique beauty, with a range of musical expression over three full octaves that is astonishing to the uninitiate. Although known for long and arching phrases of a pastoral nature, the Alphorn is also capable of displays of spectacular virtuosity in the hands of a very few players.

It's just because of its overwhelming simplicity that the Alphorn is a very pretentious instrument. It can be compared with the originality of a simple pencil. We all remember how hard it was to learn writing with the pencil. Over a long time in our precious early days we had learned the handling with the pencil. It has been a long way from the first character "A" to a good written letter of application. But a simple pencil and a piece of paper are enough for a good writer to mediate his feelings, tell about his experience or show his knowledge. And just all these you may also express by blowing your Alphorn.

Even with a simple wooden instrument as the pencil is we are able to express feelings, enjoyment, temperament as well as silence and piece and bring over to other people. If we compare the Alphorn with other music instruments it seems totally to be out-of-date. Even a piano is a much more extraordinary instrument, a product of scientific research and also of long investigation of people of more than one generation. It needs years of education to become a perfect player of this instrument. The Alphorn is a simple instrument. You even do not need finger-acrobatics for blow-holes. Nevertheless it is one of the instruments that make the most claims on its user. The conical pipe is only an amplifier; it needs the blower, the surroundings, the power, the balance to produce the typical sustaining sound of the Alphorn. The Alphorn-blower does his exercise not only for having done it but also for meditation, he likes to be in harmony and balance. He learns from being in harmony with the nature at a woodland or maybe in the mountains.

But he also has to be willing to learn further through his whole life from this instrument. The nature tones on the wooden conical pipe are very difficult to get by blowing so that it needs much training, if possible every day, to be able to be master of it. Equivalent to these efforts the Alphorn presents such an absolutely solitary brilliancy of sound and fantastic possibilities of dynamic creativeness. Beyond that it is also necessary to have knowledge of all other elements of creativeness in music as there are articulation, phrasing, tempo and its variations. Alphorn-blowers are masters in producing sound. Blowing the Alphorn is meditation, a style of life. Blowing the Alphorn may also be a kind of therapy or simply a compensation to hard business. Who knows well blowing this instrument cannot have lost balance.

External Links

Rocky Mountain Alphorns
The archaeological record of the Alphorn stretches back nearly two thousand years to the Celtic tribes that originally settled the rugged land on the northern slopes of the Alps. Since ancient times the Alphorn has sounded as a part of the daily activities of the shepherds and cowherds of these mountain people. The Alphorn was used to calm the dairy cows at milking time. It was the twilight signal for the flocks of sheep to settle in for the night as the shepherds exchanged rustic melodies across the valleys. Such melodies became ritual signals for "All is Well in the Valley" and were passed down through countless generations, from shepherd father to shepherd son. The sound of the Alphorn called the people to gather for council and the men to gather for war. Even the brooding rock walls of the Alps seemed to echo approval to the sound of the Alphorn. Long beloved by the people of Switzerland, Rocky Mountain Alphorns now brings nature's perfect horn to North America.

Jacaranda Ensemble
Five young musicians, principals of the Brandenburg Symphony, have put together an unusual ensemble as a result of a desire to experiment with new sounds. The instrumentation of this ensemble clearly demonstrates this idea: Alpenhorn, didgeridoo, saxophone and percussion, instuments whose origins often are thousands of miles apart, which are woven through a mixture of composed and improvised music into a musical tapestry. Through its music, the Jacaranda Ensemble builds a bridge between the cultures of the world. The positive response of the public as well as international respect has confirmed the unusual concept of the Jacaranda Ensemble. Concert tours within Germany and abroad, as well as a positive reaction from the media are the visible results of this artistic endeavor.

Stocker - Swiss made Alphorns
We are specialized in manufacturing of high quality alphorns, made of solid wood. Hand-finished alphorns in solid wood, in three sections. Bell decorated with alpine flowers and the swiss cross. Guarantee on alphorns: 5-year warranty on defects in material and manufacture.

Alphornbau.ch
The blowing of tube instruments has been practised for a very long time. Already the people of the Stone Age blew into hollow bones (warning whistles). We know cave-drawings of the Australian Didgeridoo still being blown the present days; they have an estimated age of 100'000 years. The Jew have known the "Schofar" already for 2000 years - the "Trumpets of Jericho"! The Gauls must have known a similar horn too! Once they had impressed Julius Caesar with this horn: within a short time they were able to make known dates of war and short messages by a signal over a considerable territory! And in the second century a.D. at the Swiss Vaud a scene of a shepherd with an instrument like an Alphorn, named LITUUS has been discovered on a roman mosaic.

The Swiss Alphorn School
The Swiss Alphorn School is a wonderful opportunity for Alphorn blowers to study the Alphorn and to gain a deeper appreciation for their instrument, and at the same time to experience beautiful Saanenland, high in the Berner Oberland of Switzerland. The school is led by Fritz Frautschi, a renowned Alphorn teacher and player. We especially encourage North American Alphorn blowers to come to our school for an Alphorn experience that you will never forget.