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This research is about finding out what are the pros and cons of choosing Vienna horn to play in a symphony orchestra.
There is a tendency that many horn players in symphony orchestras prefer that the newcomers, students and young professionals, play a specific horn model or a model from a
specific manufacturer. This is almost like a tradition in some countries. For example, in Germany players prefer Alexander horns. The manufacturing of these instruments is of a very high standard and each of them have its own pros and cons but the difference in sound is not that big as compared
to natural or Vienna horn.
I have been amazed by the sound of the Vienna horn for a lot of years. So I chose this horn design to be the subject of my research. To prove what differences there are between this design and others and why it is like that.
My research is almost entirely qualitative with some quantitative elements. I have used data gathered from online sources and libraries to find out more about the history and construction of the Vienna horn, modern double and natural horns. In paper form there is not much material to be found about Vienna horn or it is not available on online search engines which proves and further motivates me to research this subject. I have also interviewed horn players and manufacturers in Germany and Austria via email and live interview. They provided me with key insight of how is it to play Vienna horn and build them.
The results have shown me that the difference between Vienna horn and modern double horn designs is immense. The Vienna horn in many ways is a lot closer to the natural horn, the father of the valve horns. The construction is very similar because Vienna horn is based on an early valve horn design and has not changed much since then, contrary to the double horn. The sound of the Vienna horn blends much better with the string and woodwind sections because it is not necessary to play it with a lot of volume of sound to reach the brassy overtones and Vienna horn
also blends better within its section, provided that all horn players use Vienna horn.
The most surprising revelation for me was that the Viennese horn players do not adapt to this horn design. It is the other way around. The instrument suits their traditional way of playing,
the concept of the sound and technique. I have found out that it is vastly different than how players
imagine the double horns should be played. For example, if a Viennese horn player would play a double horn it still would sound more like a Vienna horn. If a double horn player would play Vienna horn it would sound more like a double horn.
Summarizing, the main difference in sound between Vienna horn and double horns is in the power of the mind and imagination. Which further translates into playing technique and thus a proper design of the instrument to suit this imagination of sound.