The cor anglais (, or original ;

plural In many languages, a plural (sometimes list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated as pl., pl, , or ), is one of the values of the grammatical number, grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than ...

: ''cors anglais''), or English horn (mainly

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

), is a double-reed

woodwind instrument Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and ...

in the

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...

family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe, making it essentially an alto oboe in F. The cor anglais is a

transposing instrument A transposing instrument is a musical instrument for which music notation is not written at concert pitch (concert pitch is the pitch on a non-transposing instrument such as the piano). For example, playing a written middle C on a transposing ...

pitched in F, a

perfect fifth In music theory, a perfect fifth is the Interval (music), musical interval corresponding to a pair of pitch (music), pitches with a frequency ratio of 3:2, or very nearly so. In classical music from Western culture, a fifth is the interval f ...

lower than the

(a C instrument). This means that music for the cor anglais is written a

higher than the instrument sounds. The fingering and playing technique used for the cor anglais are essentially the same as those of the oboe, and oboists typically double on the cor anglais when required. The cor anglais normally lacks the lowest B key found on most oboes, and so its sounding range stretches from E₃ (written B) below

middle C C or Do is the first note of the C major scale, the third note of the A minor scale (the relative minor of C major), and the fourth note (G, A, B, C) of the Guidonian hand, commonly pitched around 261.63 Hz. The actual frequency has d ...

to C₆ two octaves above middle C. Some versions being made today have a Low B key to extend the range down one more note to sounding E_3.

Description and timbre

The pear-shaped bell (called Liebesfuß) of the cor anglais gives it a more covered

timbre In music, timbre (), also known as tone color or tone quality (from psychoacoustics), is the perceived sound of a musical note, sound or tone. Timbre distinguishes sounds according to their source, such as choir voices and musical instrument ...

than the oboe, closer in tonal quality to the oboe d'amore. Whereas the oboe is the soprano instrument of the oboe family, the cor anglais is generally regarded as the

alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: '' altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In four-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in ch ...

member of the family, and the oboe d'amore—pitched between the two in the key of A—as the

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...

member. Norman Del Mar, ''Anatomy of the Orchestra'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1981): 143. (cloth); . The cor anglais is perceived to have a more mellow and plaintive tone than the oboe. The difference in sound results primarily from a wider reed and a conical bore that expands over a greater distance than the oboe's; although darker in tone and lower in pitch than the oboe, its sound is distinct from (though naturally blends with) the sound of the

bassoon The bassoon is a musical instrument in the woodwind family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuosity ...

family. Its appearance differs from the oboe in that the instrument is notably longer, the reed is attached to a slightly curved metal tube called the bocal, or crook, and the bell has a bulbous shape ("Liebesfuß"). The cor anglais is usually notated in the treble clef, a perfect fifth higher than sounding pitch. Alto clef written at sounding pitch is occasionally used, even by as late a composer as

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...

. In late-18th- and early-19th-century Italy, where the instrument was often played by bassoonists instead of oboists, it was notated in the bass clef an octave below sounding pitch (as found in Rossini's Overture to ''William Tell''). French operatic composers up to Fromental Halévy notated the instrument at sounding pitch in the mezzo-soprano clef, which enabled the player to read the part as if it were in the treble clef. Although the instrument usually descends only to (written) low B, continental instruments with an extension to low B (sounding E) have existed since early in the 19th century. Examples of works requiring this note (while acknowledging its exceptional nature) include

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian and American composer, music theorist, teacher and writer. He was among the first Modernism (music), modernists who transformed the practice of harmony in 20th-centu ...

's ''

Gurre-Lieder ' (''Songs of Gurre Castle, Gurre'') is a tripartite oratorio followed by a Melodrama, melodramatic epilogue for five vocal soloists, narrator, three choruses, and grand orchestra. The work, which is based on an early song cycle for soprano, te ...

'',

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic music, Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and ...

's '' Das Lied von der Erde'', Heitor Villa-Lobos's '' Chôros No. 6'', and Karlheinz Stockhausen's '' Zeitmaße''. Antonín Dvořák, in his '' Scherzo capriccioso'', even writes for the cor anglais down to low A, though it seems unlikely that such an extension ever existed. Reeds used to play the cor anglais are similar to those used for an oboe, consisting of a piece of cane folded in two. While the cane on an oboe reed is mounted on a small metal tube (the staple) partially covered in cork, there is no such cork on a cor anglais reed, which fits directly on the bocal. The cane part of the reed is wider and longer than that of the oboe. Unlike American-style oboe reeds, cor anglais reeds typically have some wire at the base, approximately from the top of the string used to attach the cane to the staple. This wire serves to hold the two blades of cane together and stabilize tone and pitch. Perhaps the best-known makers of modern cors anglais are the French firms of F. Lorée, Marigaux, and Rigoutat, the British firm of T. W. Howarth, and the American firm Fox Products. Instruments from smaller makers, such as A. Laubin, are also sought after. Instruments are usually made from African blackwood ( aka Grenadilla), although some makers offer instruments in a choice of alternative woods as well, such as cocobolo (Howarth) or violet wood (Lorée), which are said to alter the voice of the cor anglais slightly, producing a more mellow sound. Fox has recently made some instruments in plastic resin and maple, the latter being the wood traditionally used for bassoons.

History and etymology

The term ''cor anglais'' is French for ''English horn'', but the instrument is neither from England nor related to the various conical-bore brass instruments called "horns", such as the

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most o ...

, the natural horn, the post horn, or the tenor horn. The instrument originated in

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

about 1720 when a bulb bell was fitted to a curved '' oboe da caccia''-type body by the Weigel family of Breslau. The two-keyed, open-belled, straight tenor oboe (French '' taille de hautbois'', "tenor oboe"), and more particularly the flare-belled ''oboe da caccia'', resembled the horns played by angels in religious images of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. This gave rise in German-speaking central Europe to the

Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; or ; , shortened as ''Mhdt.'' or ''Mhd.'') is the term for the form of High German, High German language, German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High ...

name ''engellisches Horn'', meaning ''angelic horn''. Because ''engellisch'' also meant ''English'' in the vernacular of the time, the "angelic horn" became the "English horn". In the absence of any better alternative, the curved, bulb-belled tenor oboe then retained the name even after the ''oboe da caccia'' fell into disuse around 1760.Michael Finkelman, "Oboe: III. Larger and Smaller European Oboes, 4. Tenor Oboes, (iv) English Horn", ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and t ...

'', second edition, edited by

Stanley Sadie Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was a British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was published as the first edition ...

and John Tyrrell (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001); also a
Grove Music Online
(Subscription access). The name first appeared regularly in Italian, German, and Austrian scores from 1749 on, usually in the Italian form ''corno inglese.'' The earliest known orchestral part specifically for the instrument is in the Vienna version of Niccolò Jommelli's opera ''Ezio'' dating from 1749, where it was given the Italian name ''corno inglese''. Gluck and Haydn followed suit in the 1750s,Michael Finkelman
"Die Oboeinstrumente in tieferer Stimmlage – Teil 5: Das Englischhorn in der Klassik"
in ''

Tibia The tibia (; : tibiae or tibias), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two Leg bones, bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outsi ...

'' 99 (1999): 618–24. and the first English horn concertos were written in the 1770s. The Schwarzenberg Wind Harmonie of 1771 employed 2 cors anglais as well as 2 oboes, 2 bassoons and 2 horns. Johan Went was first cor anglais and Ignaz Teimer (father of the Teimer brothers) was second cor anglais. The first oboe trios were composed by Johan Went for the Teimer brothers. The oboe and cor anglais writing in these original Bohemian/Viennese trios by Johan Went and Joseph Triebensee are notable as written by oboists for oboists and include some early examples of florid virtuosic writing for the cor anglais, paving the way for similar writing to come. In 1796 Johann and Franz Teimer died. The first recorded performance of an oboe trio was 1793 (which Beethoven attended). While the Teimer brothers performed in Vienna and environs, over 20 oboe trios were composed. Phillip Teimer continued to play the cor anglais in Schikaneder's opera house in Vienna. He also sang some roles with the company due to his sonorous bass voice. Many cor anglais parts were specially written for him by Stengel, Süssmayr, Paer, Winter, Weigl, Eberl, Eybler, Salieri, Hummel, Schacht and Fisher. Considering the name "cor anglais", it is ironic that the instrument was not regularly used in France before about 1800 or in England before the 1830s. It is mentioned in the '' Penny Cyclopedia'' from 1838 as "The English Horn, or Corno Inglese, is a deeper-toned oboe .., while the first identified printed use of the term ''cor anglais'' in English was in 1870. In the UK the instrument is colloquially generally referred to as the "cor". The local equivalent for "English horn" is used in most other European languages, while a few languages use their equivalent of "alto oboe". Due to the earlier bowed or angular forms it took, the suggestion has been made that ''anglais'' might be a corruption of

Middle French Middle French () is a historical division of the French language that covers the period from the mid-14th to the early 17th centuries. It is a period of transition during which: * the French language became clearly distinguished from the other co ...

''anglé'' (angular, or bent at an angle, ''angulaire'' in modern French), but this has been rejected on grounds that there is no evidence of the term ''cor anglé'' before it was offered as a possible origin of ''anglais'' in the late 19th century. Adam Carse, ''Musical Wind Instruments: A History of the Wind Instruments Used in European Orchestras and Wind-Bands from the Later Middle Ages Up to the Present Time '' (London: Macmillan and Co., 1939): 143; Sybil Marcuse, "Cor anglais", in ''Musical Instruments: A Comprehensive Dictionary'', revised edition, The Norton Library (New York: W. W. Norton, 1975). .

Repertoire

Concertos and concertante

Until the 20th century, there were few solo pieces for the instrument with a large ensemble (such as

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

concert band A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, the symphonic winds, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind instrument, woodwind, brass ...

). Important examples of such concertos and concertante works are: * William Alwyn's ''Autumn Legend'' for English horn and string orchestra (1954) * Emmanuel Chabrier's ''Lamento'' for English horn and orchestra (1875) *

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, critic, writer, teacher, pianist, and conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as the "Dean of American Compos ...

's '' Quiet City'' for trumpet, English horn, and string orchestra (1940) † * Miguel del Aguila, ''Broken Rondo'' for solo English horn and orchestra *

Gaetano Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian Romantic music, Romantic composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the ''be ...

's Concertino in G major (1816) *

Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss-French composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. Honegger was a member of Les Six. For Halbreich, '' Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher'' is "more even ...

's '' Concerto da camera'' for flute, English horn and string orchestra (1948) * Gordon Jacob's Rhapsody for English horn and strings (1948) * Aaron Jay Kernis' ''Colored Field'' (1994) * James MacMillan's ''The World's Ransoming'', for obbligato English horn and orchestra (1995–96), part of the orchestral triptych ''Triduum'' (1995–97) † * Walter Piston's Fantasy for English horn, harp and string orchestra (1952) *

Ned Rorem Ned Miller Rorem (October 23, 1923 – November 18, 2022) was an American composer of contemporary classical music and a writer. Best known for his art songs, which number over 500, Rorem was considered the leading American of his time writing i ...

's Concerto for English horn and orchestra (1992) * Peter Seabourne's Concerto for English horn and orchestra (2013) *

Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius (; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic music, Romantic and 20th-century classical music, early modern periods. He is widely regarded as his countr ...

' '' The Swan of Tuonela'' (1893) † * Jack Stamp's ''Elegy for English horn and Band'' (2004) * Pēteris Vasks' Concerto for English horn and orchestra (1989) *

Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (born Ermanno Wolf) (January 12, 1876 – January 21, 1948) was an Italian composer and teacher. He is best known for his comic operas such as ''Il segreto di Susanna'' (1909). A number of his works were based on plays by ...

's Concertino in A, op. 34 (1947) David Stock's concerto
Oborama
(2010) features the English Horn and its other members as a soloist, the instrument changing in each movement. (ex. Oboe D'amore in movement 3 and Bass Oboe in movement 4) † Though concertante in nature, these are just orchestral works featuring extensive solos, with the player seated within the orchestra

Chamber music

Better known

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

for English horn includes: *

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

's Trio for 2 oboes and English horn, Op. 87 (1795) *Ludwig van Beethoven's ''Variations on "Là ci darem la mano"'', for 2 oboes and English horn, WoO 28 (1796) * Elliott Carter's ''Pastoral'' for English horn and piano (1940) * Felix Draeseke's "Kleine Suite" for English horn and piano, Op. 87 (1911) *

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith ( ; ; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German and American composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advo ...

's Sonata for English Horn and Piano (1941) * Charles Koechlin's ''Monody for English Horn'', Op. 216, Nr. 11 (1947–48) * Franz Krommer's Trio for 2 oboes and English horn, Trio in F major c.(1794) *Franz Krommer's Trio for 2 oboes and English horn, Variations on a Theme by Pleyel c.(1794–6) * Vincent Persichetti's ''Parable XV for Solo English Horn'' * Franz Poessinger's Trio for 2 oboes and English horn, Trio in F major c.(1794–6) * Anton Reicha's Andante arioso, Andante and Adagio for wind quintet with featured cor anglais (1817-9) *Karlheinz Stockhausen's ''Zeitmaße'' for flute, oboe, clarinet, English horn and bassoon (1955–56) *

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...

's '' Pastorale'' for soprano and piano (1907), in the composer's arrangements for soprano, oboe, English horn, clarinet, and bassoon (1923), and violin, oboe, English horn, clarinet, and bassoon (1933) * Augusta Read Thomas's ''Pilgrim Soul'' for cor anglais and two violins (2011) * Josef Triebensee's Trio for 2 oboes and English horn, Trio in F major c.(1794–6) *Josef Triebensee's Trio for 2 oboes and English horn, Trio in C major c.(1794–6) *Josef Triebensee's Trio for 2 oboes and English horn, Trio in Bb major c.(1794–6) *Josef Triebensee's Trio for 2 oboes and English horn, Variations on a Theme by Haydn c.(1794–6) *Heitor Villa-Lobos' '' Quinteto (em forma de chôros)'' for flute, oboe, clarinet, English horn and bassoon (1928) * Peter Warlock's 'The Curlew' for singer, flute, cor anglais and string quartet (1920–22) *Johan Went's Trio for 2 oboes and English horn, Petite Serenade Concertante in F major c.(1790) *Johan Went's Trio for 2 oboes and English horn, Divertimento in Bb major c.(1790) *Johan Went's Trio for 2 oboes and English horn, Variations on a Theme by Paisiello c.(1790) *Johan Went's Trio for 2 oboes and English horn, Variations on a Theme by Haydn c.(1790) *Johan Went's Trio for 2 oboes and English horn, Pas de Deux in C major de Signore e Signora Vigano c.(1790) * Anton Wranitsky's Trio for 2 oboes and English horn, Trio in C major c.(1794–6) * Carlo Yvon's Sonata in F minor for English Horn (or Viola) and Piano (published ca. 1831), one of the few

sonata In music a sonata (; pl. ''sonate'') literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cantare'', "to sing"), a piece ''sung''. The term evolved through the history of music, designating a variety of forms until th ...

s written during the

Romantic era Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

for this combination.

Solos in orchestral works and dramas

The English horn's timbre makes it well suited to the performance of expressive, melancholic solos in

l works (including

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

s) as well as operas. Famous examples are: Dv CA extrait

* Vincenzo Bellini's ''Il Pirata'' (Act II: Introduzione) (1827) *

Hector Berlioz Louis-Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and conductor. His output includes orchestral works such as the ''Symphonie fantastique'' and ''Harold en Italie, Harold in Italy'' ...

's '' Harold in Italy'' (1834) *

's '' La damnation de Faust'': "D’amour l’ardente flamme" *Hector Berlioz's '' Rob Roy Overture'' (1826) *Hector Berlioz's '' Roman Carnival Overture'' (1844) *Hector Berlioz's '' Symphonie fantastique'' (third movement) (1830) * Alexander Borodin's '' In the Steppes of Central Asia'' (1880) *Alexander Borodin's " Polovetsian Dances" from ''Prince Igor'' (1890) *Emmanuel Chabrier's "Lamento" for orchestra (1875) * Louis Cole's ''nothing'' (2024) ("It All Passes") *

Claude Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

's '' Nocturnes'' (1899) ("Nuages") *

Frederick Delius file:Fritz Delius (1907).jpg, Delius, photographed in 1907 Frederick Theodore Albert Delius (born Fritz Theodor Albert Delius; ; 29 January 1862 – 10 June 1934) was an English composer. Born in Bradford in the north of England to a prospero ...

's '' Florida Suite'' (1887) *Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 (1893), ''From the New World'' (Largo) *

César Franck César Auguste Jean Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in present-day Belgium. He was born in Liège (which at the time of h ...

's Symphony in D minor (1888) (2nd movement) * Alexander Glazunov's Symphony No. 4 in E-flat major (1893) (1st movement) *Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 22, "The Philosopher" (1764) (two English horns) *Joseph Haydn's Divertimento in F, for two violins, two English horns, two horns & two bassoons Hob. II: 6 (1760) * Vincent d'Indy's '' Symphony on a French Mountain Air'' (1886) *

Zoltán Kodály Zoltán Kodály (, ; , ; 16 December 1882 – 6 March 1967) was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, music pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is well known internationally as the creator of the Kodály method of music education. ...

's ''Summer Evening'' (1906) *Gustav Mahler's ''Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen'' from '' Rückert-Lieder'' (1901), ''Wenn dein Mütterlein'' from ''

Kindertotenlieder (''Songs on the Death of Children'') is a song cycle (1904) for voice and orchestra by Gustav Mahler. The words of the songs are poems by Friedrich Rückert. Poems and setting The original were a group of 428 poems written by Rückert in 1833 ...

'' (1905) *

Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are ''Manon'' (1884 ...

's '' Le Cid'' Ballet Suite (Madrilène) (1885) * Olivier Messiaen's '' L'ascension'' (1932–33) (2nd movement) * Thea Musgrave's ''Phoenix Rising'' (1997) * Basil Poledouris's ''

Conan the Barbarian Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero created by American author Robert E. Howard (1906–1936) and who debuted in 1932 and went on to appear in a series of fantasy stories published in ''We ...

'' score – "Riddle of Steel" (1982) * Amilcare Ponchielli's ''Voce di donna'' from '' La Gioconda'' * Gaetano Pugnani's ''Werther'' Melodrama in Two Parts, (Part II No. 21 Largo assai) (1790) *

Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and Conducting, conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a compos ...

's Symphonic Dances (1940) *Sergei Rachmaninoff's '' The Bells'' (1913) (4th movement) *

Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

's Piano Concerto in G (1931) (2nd movement) *Maurice Ravel's

Ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

'' Daphnis et Chloé'' (1912) *Maurice Ravel's

Le Tombeau de Couperin ''Le Tombeau de Couperin'' (''The Tomb of Couperin'') is a suite (music), suite for solo piano by Maurice Ravel, composed between 1914 and 1917. The piece is in six movements, based on those of a traditional Baroque music, Baroque suite. Each ...

(1914-1917) All movements but the Fugue and Toccata, later orchestrated by Zoltán Kocsis (1917-1919) *Maurice Ravel's '' Rapsodie espagnole'' (1908) *

Alfred Reed Alfred Reed (born as Alfred Friedman) (January 25, 1921 – September 17, 2005) was an American Neoclassicism (music), neoclassical composer, with more than two hundred published works for concert band, orchestra, choir, chorus, and chamber e ...

's '' Russian Christmas Music'' (1944) * Ottorino Respighi's '' Fontane di Roma'' (1918) *Ottorino Respighi's '' Pini di Roma'' (1924) *Ottorino Respighi's ''Lauda per la Natività del Signore'' (1930) * Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's '' Capriccio Espagnol'' (1887) (2nd movement) *Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's ''

Scheherazade Scheherazade () is a major character and the storyteller in the frame story, frame narrative of the Middle Eastern collection of tales known as the ''One Thousand and One Nights''. Name According to modern scholarship, the name ''Scheherazade ...

'' Op. 35 (1888) * Joaquín Rodrigo's '' Concierto de Aranjuez'' (1939) (2nd movement) *Gioachino Rossini's '' Adelaide di Borgogna'', aria: "Soffri la tua sventura … Amica speme" *Gioachino Rossini's '' William Tell Overture'' (1829) *Antonio Salieri's ''Annibale in Capua'' *

Howard Shore Howard Leslie Shore (born October 18, 1946) is a Canadian composer, conductor and orchestrator noted for his film scores. He has composed the scores for over 80 films, most notably the scores for ''The Lord of the Rings'' and '' The Hobbit'' fi ...

's ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy (film score) * Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 4 in C minor (1936) (1st movement) *Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 6 in B minor (1939) (1st movement) *Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 8 in C minor (1943) (1st movement) *Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 10 in E minor (1953) (3rd movement) *Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 11 in G minor (1957) (4th movement) *Jean Sibelius' '' Karelia Suite'' (1893) and Pelléas et Mélisande (1905) * Robert W. Smith's Symphony No. 2 "The Odyssey" (3rd movement, "The Isle of Calypso") *

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; ; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...

' '' Ein Heldenleben'' (1898) *Igor Stravinsky's ''

The Rite of Spring ''The Rite of Spring'' () is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1913 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company; the original choreography was by Vaslav Nijinsky ...

'' (1913) Mainly in the Intro to Part I and the next-to-last dance in Part II, ''Ritual Action of the Ancestors'' *

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popula ...

's '' Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture'' (1870) (Love Theme, Exposition) *Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' (, ), Opus number, Op. 71, is an 1892 two-act classical ballet (conceived as a '; ) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set on Christmas Eve at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination featuring a Nutcracker doll. Th ...

'' (1892) * Ralph Vaughan Williams' '' In the Fen Country'' (1904) *Ralph Vaughan Williams' Symphony No. 2 '' A London Symphony'' (2nd movement) *Ralph Vaughan Williams' Symphony No. 5 in D major (1943) (3rd movement) *Ralph Vaughan Williams' Symphony No. 6 in E minor (1946–47) (2nd movement) *

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

's ''

Tristan und Isolde ''Tristan und Isolde'' (''Tristan and Isolde''), WWV 90, is a music drama in three acts by Richard Wagner set to a German libretto by the composer, loosely based on the medieval 12th-century romance ''Tristan and Iseult'' by Gottfried von Stras ...

'' (1859) (Act 3, Scene 1) * Ennio Morricone's '' The Ecstasy of Gold'' (1966) *

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (November 15, 2022)Classic Connection review, ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...

' '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' (film score) (2001) *John Williams' '' Schindler's List'' (film score) (1993)

Unaccompanied

* Andriessen, Hendrik, Elegia (1967) * Auerbach, Lera, The Prayer * Bancquart, A., Sonatine *Bentzon, J., Rhapsodique Etude, Op. 10 * Berkeley, Michael, ''Snake'' (1990) *Brandon, J., In the City at Night *Caldini, F., Abendstück, Op. 12 *Caldini, F., Aria di Eliogabalo, Op. 18 *Cantalbiano, R., Sonata *Carbon, J., Four Impromptus *Carter, E., A 6-letter Letter *Cherney, B., Epitaph * Childs, Barney, ''Four Involutions'' *Dagher, Abdo, The New Egyptian-Arabic *Davies, Ken, Dark River *Douglas, Paul Marshall, Luquet * Downey, John W., Soliloquy *Filippi, A., Equations * Hall, Juliana, A Certain Tune *Head, Raymond, No Nights are Dark Enough *Isaacson, M., A Quiet Prayer *Koechlin, Charles, ''Monodie'' *Koechlin, Charles, Suite *Lawrence, Echoes in Wilderness *Persichetti, Vincent, ''Parable XV'' *Pfiffner, Miniature d'Umbria I *Rudin, R., Recitativ und Arie *Silvestrini, Paysage avec Pyrame eet Thisbe *Tomasi, H., Evocations *Turok, P., Partita

References

External links

English horn fingering guide
{{Authority control F instruments Oboes Single oboes with conical bore Orchestral instruments Concert band instruments