Flugelhorn
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Flugelhorn
Yamaha Flugelhorn YFH-8310Z.jpg
A standard 3-valved B♭ flugelhorn
Brass instrument
Classification
Wind
Brass
Aerophone
Hornbostel–Sachs classification 423.232
(Valved aerophone sounded by lip movement)
Developed Early 19th century
Playing range
Range trumpet.png
(as written; actually sounds a major second lower)
Related instruments
Saxhorns
Alto horn
Baritone horn
Trumpet
Cornet
Flumpet
Mellophone
Musical instruments
Woodwinds
Brass instruments
Trumpet
Trombone
Cornet
Alto horn
Baritone horn
Flugelhorn
Mellophone
Euphonium
Helicon
Tuba
French horn
Percussion
String instruments
Keyboards
The flugelhorn (/ˈfluːɡəl.hɔːrn/—also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or Flügelhorn—from German, wing horn, or flank horn German pronunciation: [ˈflyːɡl̩hɔʁn]) is a brass instrument pitched in B♭, and resembles a trumpet, but has a wider, conical bore. The instrument known today as the flugelhorn is a descendant of the valved bugle,[1] which had been developed from a valveless hunting horn known in eighteenth-century Germany as a Flügelhorn.[2] The valved bugle provided Adolphe Sax (creator of the saxophone family) with the inspiration for his B♭ soprano (contralto) saxhorns, on which the modern-day flugelhorn is modeled.[2][3]
Contents [hide]
1 Etymology
2 Structure and variants
3 Timbre
4 Use
5 Famous players
6 Footnotes
7 References
8 External links
Etymology[edit]
The German word Flügel translates into English as wing[4] or flank. In early 18th century Germany, a ducal hunt leader known as a Flügelmeister blew the Flügelhorn, a large semicircular brass or silver valveless forerunner of the modern-day flugelhorn to direct the wings of the hunt (military use dates from the Seven Years' War, where this valveless instrument was employed as a predecessor of the bugle).[2]
Structure and variants[edit]
A rotary valve Flugelhorn.
The flugelhorn is built in the same B♭ pitch as many trumpets and cornets. It usually has three piston valves and employs the same fingering system as other brass instruments, but four-piston valve and rotary valve variants also exist. It can thus be played without too much trouble by trumpet and cornet players, though some adaptation to their playing style may be needed. It is usually played with a more deeply conical mouthpiece than either trumpets or cornets (though not as conical as a horn mouthpiece).
Some modern flugelhorns feature a fourth valve that lowers the pitch a perfect fourth (similar to the fourth valve on some euphoniums, tubas, and piccolo trumpets, or the trigger on trombones). This adds a useful low range that, coupled with the flugelhorn's dark sound, extends the instrument's abilities. More often, however, players use the fourth valve in place of the first and third valve combination, which is somewhat sharp (compensated for on trumpets and cornets and some three-valve flugelhorns by an easily-movable slide for the first or third valve).
A pair of bass flugelhorns in C, called fiscorns, are played in the Catalan cobla bands which provide music for sardana dancers.
Timbre[edit]
The tone is "fatter" and usually regarded as more "mellow" and "dark" than the trumpet or cornet. The sound of the flugelhorn has been described as halfway between a trumpet and a French horn, whereas the cornet's sound is halfway between a trumpet and a flugelhorn.[5] The flugelhorn is as agile as the cornet but more difficult to control in the high register (from approximately written G5), where in general it "slots" or locks onto notes less easily. It is not generally used for aggressive or bright displays as trumpets and cornets often are, but tends more towards a softer and more reflective role.
Use[edit]
The flugelhorn is a standard member of the British-style brass band, and it is also used frequently in jazz. It also appears occasionally in orchestral and concert band music. Famous orchestral works with flugelhorn include Igor Stravinsky's Threni, Ralph Vaughan Williams's Ninth Symphony, Danzon no. 2 by Arturo Marquez, and Michael Tippett's third symphony. The flugelhorn is sometimes substituted for the post horn in Mahler's Third Symphony, and for the soprano Roman buccine in Ottorino Respighi's Pines of Rome. In HK Gruber's trumpet concerto Busking (2007) the soloist is directed to play a flugelhorn in the slow middle movement. The flugelhorn figured prominently in many of Burt Bacharach's 1960s pop song arrangements. It is featured in a solo role in Bert Kaempfert's 1962 recording of "That Happy Feeling". Flugelhorns have occasionally been used as the alto or low soprano voice in a drum and bugle corps.
Another use of the flugelhorn is found in the Dutch and Belgian "Fanfareorkesten" or fanfare orchestras, in these orchestras the flugelhorns, often between 10 and 20 of them, have a huge role, forming the base of the orchestra. The flugelhorns in these orchestras are pitched in B♭, with sporadically an E♭ soloïst. Due to bad intonation these E♭ flugelhorns are mostly replaced by the E♭ trumpet or cornet.
