The post horn is a valveless cylindrical

brass instrument A brass instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by Sympathetic resonance, sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips. The term ''labrosone'', from Latin elements meani ...

with a cupped mouthpiece. The instrument was used to signal the arrival or departure of a

post rider Post riders or postriders describes a horse and rider postal delivery system that existed at various times and various places throughout history. The term is usually reserved for instances where a network of regularly scheduled service was provid ...

mail coach A mail coach is a stagecoach that is used to deliver mail. In Great Britain, Ireland, and Australia, they were built to a General Post Office-approved design operated by an independent contractor to carry long-distance mail for the Post Office. ...

. It was used by

postilion A postilion or postillion is a person who rides a harnessed horse that is pulling a horse-drawn vehicle such as a Coach (carriage), coach, rather than driving from behind as a coachman does. This method is used for pulling wheeled vehicles tha ...

s of the 18th and 19th centuries.

Use and construction

The post horn is sometimes confused with the coach horn, and even though the two types of horn served the same principal purpose, they differ in their physical appearance. The post horn has a cylindrical bore and was generally used on a coach pulled by two horses (technically referred to as "Tonga"); hence, it is sometimes also called the Tonga horn. The coach horn, on the other hand, has a conical bore and was used on a coach pulled by four horses (referred to as a "four-in-hand"). The post horn is no more than in length, whereas the coach horn can be up to long. The latter has more of a funnel-shaped bell, while the former's bell is trumpet-shaped. Post horns need not be straight but can be coiled—they have a smaller bore—and they are made entirely of brass. A post horn will have a slide for tuning if intended for orchestral settings. The instrument is an example of a

buisine The ''buisine'' and the ''añafil'' were variations of a type of straight medieval trumpet usually made of metal, also called a herald's trumpet. While arguably the same instrument, the two names represent two separate traditions, in which a Per ...

, a precursor to the "natural" trumpet. The

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. There is also a soprano cor ...

was developed from the cone-shaped coach horn through the addition of

valves A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fittings, ...

, while the cylinder-shaped trumpets remained predominantly valveless for several decades.

Compositions with/for the post horn

Beer's Concerto

In the late 17th century, Johann Beer composed a Concerto à 4 in B, which paired a post horn with a ''corne de chasse'' as the two solo instruments, accompanied by violins and

basso continuo Basso continuo parts, almost universal in the Baroque era (1600–1750), provided the harmonic structure of the music by supplying a bassline and a chord progression. The phrase is often shortened to continuo, and the instrumentalists playing th ...

Mozart's Posthorn Serenade

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

composed his Serenade No. 9, the "Post horn Serenade", in 1779. The second trio of the 6th movement, the Menuetto, features a solo of the posthorn.

Mahler and others

Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian 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 the modernism ...

and others incorporated the post horn into their orchestras for certain pieces. On such occasions, the orchestra's trumpet player usually performs with the instrument. One example of post horn use in modern classical music is the famous off-stage solo in Mahler's Third Symphony. Due to the scarcity of this instrument, however, music written for it is usually played on a

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet, but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B♭, though ...

Post Horn Galop

In 1844, the German cornet player Hermann Koenig wrote ''Post Horn Galop'' as a solo for post horn with an orchestral accompaniment. In the 20th century it became a popular piece for

brass band A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting primarily of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands (particularl ...

s. It has been the walk-on music for the

Leicester City Football Club Leicester City Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Leicester, East Midlands, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1884 as Leicester Fo ...

since 1935.

Compositions for other instruments imitating a post horn

An imitation of the post horn's fanfare was a commonly used in music describing, or referring to, the

post coach A mail coach is a stagecoach that is used to deliver mail. In Great Britain, Ireland, and Australia, they were built to a General Post Office-approved design operated by an independent contractor to carry long-distance mail for the Post Office. ...

or travel in general. Notable musical examples include '' Capriccio on the departure of a beloved brother'' by

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...

, which includes an "''Aria di postiglione''" and a "''Fuga all'imitazione della cornetta di postiglione''", both containing an octave jump similar to that of the postal horn. Handel's ''

Belshazzar Belshazzar ( Babylonian cuneiform: ''Bēl-šar-uṣur'', meaning " Bel, protect the king"; ''Bēlšaʾṣṣar'') was the son and crown prince of Nabonidus (), the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Through his mother, he might have been ...

'' includes in the second act a "''Sinofonia''" that uses a similar motif (subtitled ''Allegro postilions'') depicting Belshazzar's messengers leaving on a mission. A very similar movement is included in the third "Production" of Telemann's ''

Tafelmusik Tafelmusik (German: literally, "table-music") is a term used since the mid-16th century for music played at feasts and banquets. Table music could be either instrumental, vocal, or both. As might be expected, it was often of a somewhat lighter ...

''. Beethoven's '' Les adieux''

piano sonata A piano sonata is a sonata written for a solo piano. Piano sonatas are usually written in three or four movements, although some piano sonatas have been written with a single movement (Liszt, Scriabin, Medtner, Berg), others with two movemen ...

is centered on a horn-like motif, again signifying the departure of a loved-one. Schubert's ''

Winterreise ''Winterreise'' (, ''Winter Journey'') is a song cycle for voice and piano by Franz Schubert (Schubert Thematic Catalogue, D. 911, published as Opus number, Op. 89 in 1828), a setting of 24 Poetry, poems by German poet Wilhelm Müller. It is the ...

'' includes the song "''Die Post''", of which the piano part prominently features a horn signal motif.

Other uses

During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, in

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

and Germany, wooden post horns were used as a means of collecting war donations via a method called the

Nail Men Nail Men or Men of Nails () were a form of propaganda and fundraising for members of the armed forces and their dependents in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the German Empire in World War I. They consisted of wooden statues (usually of knights in ...

. People would donate money, and in exchange be allowed to hammer a nail into the horn until the horn was completely covered.

The post horn as graphical symbol

The post horn is used in the logo of national post services of many countries. The post horn is included in

Unicode Unicode or ''The Unicode Standard'' or TUS is a character encoding standard maintained by the Unicode Consortium designed to support the use of text in all of the world's writing systems that can be digitized. Version 16.0 defines 154,998 Char ...

as .

List of postal services that include the post horn in their logos

Correo Argentino The Official Post Service of the Argentine Republic (, mostly known as Correo Argentino since it was privatized in 1997) is the state-owned company that covers the postal service in Argentina. The company is a S.A. under the country's Office of ...

(

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

) *

Australia Post Australia Post, formally the Australian Postal Corporation and also known as AusPost, is an Australian Government-State-owned enterprise, owned corporation that provides postal services throughout Australia. Australia Post's head office is loca ...

(

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

) * Bâlgarski poshti (

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

) *

Belposhta Belposhta () or Belpochta () is the national postal service of Belarus. It became a member of the Universal Postal Union in 1947. History The development of postal services in Belarus began in ancient times. So, for 885 is the first mention in t ...

(

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

) *

Bpost Bpost (stylised ''bpost''), also known as the Belgian Post Group, is the Belgian company responsible for the delivery of mail in Belgium. The Belgian Post Group is one of the largest civilian employers in Belgium. It provides a range of postal ...

(

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

) – features a stylistic postal horn *

Česká pošta Czech Post (Czech language, Czech: ''Česká pošta'') is the state-owned postal company of the Czech Republic. With its headquarters in Prague, the corporation employs around 23,500 employees (as of 2022). History History of the Czechoslov ...

(

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

) *

Correos Sociedad Estatal de Correos y Telégrafos, S.A., S.M.E. (), trading under the name Correos (, "packages"), is a state-owned postal service and courier for Spain and Andorra, the latter bilateral with French-equivalent La Poste. Based in Madrid ...

(

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

) *

CTT CTT may refer to: * CTT Correios de Portugal, S.A., the national postal service of Portugal *CTT (Macau), the Macau Post Office * Cycling Time Trials, the governing body for time trialling in the UK * Classical test theory * Columbia TriStar Telev ...

(

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

) – features a rider on horseback carrying a straight horn * Cyprus Postal Services (

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

) *

Deutsche Post (, ) is a brand of the DHL Group (listed as ), used for its domestic mail services in Germany. The services offered under the brand are those of a traditional mail service, making the brand the successor of the former state-owned mail monopoly ...

(

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

) *

Omniva Omniva is an international post and logistics company based in Tallinn, Estonia, that targets the Baltic states. The name Omniva was adopted in June 2014; the company was previously called AS Eesti Post, whose history can be traced back to the ...

(formerly ''Eesti Post'',

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

) *

Hrvatska pošta HP-Hrvatska pošta d.d., founded in 1999, is a state-owned joint-stock company in Croatia that performs postal and payment transactions. It is the national postal operator of the Republic of Croatia. It is one of the largest service and reta ...

(

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

) *

Íslandspóstur Íslandspóstur (, ) or simply Pósturinn (, ) is the national mail, postal service of Iceland. It is wholly owned by the Icelandic Government. It dates back to the year 1776 when Christian VII of Denmark, Christian VII, king of Denmark ordered a ...

(

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

) *

Jersey Post Jersey Post is the licensed universal service provider of mail service for the Bailiwick of Jersey. History Jersey Post was established (as the Committee for Postal Administration) by the ''Post Office (Jersey) Law 1969'', in 1969 as a resul ...

(

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

) *

Lietuvos paštas Lietuvos paštas (, ) is the company responsible for mail, postal service in Lithuania. The company was re-established on 16 November 1918, and this date celebrate as Post Lithuania day. In 2018, Lithuanian Post consisted of 546 fixed post o ...

(

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

) *

Magyar Posta Magyar Posta Zrt. (, ) or Hungarian Post is the postal administration of Hungary. Besides normal mail delivery, Magyar Posta also offers logistics, banking, and marketing services. History The origin of the Magyar Posta was the independent nati ...

(

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

) *

MaltaPost MaltaPost p.l.c. is the Postal administration, postal service company in Malta. The public limited company took over the mail, postal services previously carried out by Postage stamps and postal history of Malta#Posta Ltd (1995–1998), Posta Limi ...

(

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

) – features a horn with a Maltese cross in the middle * North Macedonia Post (

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

) *

Österreichische Post The Austrian Post (German: ''Österreichische Post Aktiengesellschaft'') is a company that provides postal service in Austria. It was established in 1999 after a split-off from the state-owned PTT agency ''Post und Telekom Austria AG'' and is lis ...

(

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

) * P&T Luxembourg (

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

) *

Poczta Polska The Polish Post (, ) is the state postal administration of Poland, initially founded in 1558. The company is headquartered in Warsaw and employs over 67,000 people. It is the largest mail-handling company in the country, which additionally prov ...

(

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

) *

Poșta Moldovei Poșta Moldovei () is the company responsible for postal service in Moldova. It was founded in April 1993. History The company was founded on 1 April 1993, as a result of the division of the postal communications sector from that of telecommuni ...

(

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

) *

Poșta Română CN Poșta Română SA is the national operator in the field of postal services in Romania. It is the sole supplier of universal service in any point on the Romanian territory. Poșta Română is active on the free market of value added postal ...

(

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

) * Pochta Rossii (

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

) *

Posta Shqiptare Posta Shqiptare is the national postal service of Albania. ''Posta Shqiptare sh.a.'' is a public limited company owned by the Albanian Government. As of 2017 its CEO was Laert Duraj. History Beginnings in the Ottoman Empire Albania's postal ser ...

(

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

) * Pošta Slovenije (

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

) *

Post Danmark Post Danmark A/S, trading as PostNord Denmark (), is the national provider of postal services in Denmark. It was established as a fully state-owned stock holder's company in 1995 following political liberalization efforts. Post Danmark had t ...

(

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

) *

PostBus Switzerland PostAuto Switzerland, PostBus Ltd. (known as in Swiss Standard German (), in Swiss French (), in Swiss Italian (), and in Romansh () is a subsidiary company of the Swiss Post, which provides regional and rural bus services throughout Switz ...

(

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

) *

PTT (Turkey) PTT, an abbreviation for (lit. Post and Telegraph Agency), is the national Postal, telegraph and telephone service, post and telegraph directorate of Turkey. Formerly, the organization was named . After the privatization of the telephone tele ...

Slovenská pošta Slovenská pošta, a. s. (literally Slovak Post) is a state-owned company responsible for providing Mail, postal service in Slovakia established on 1 January 1993 when Slovakia became an independent state and became a public limited company owne ...

(

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

) * Tajikistan Post (

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

) *

Ukrposhta The Public Joint-stock company, JSC Ukrainian Postal Service or Ukrposhta () is the national postal service of Ukraine. It is a public company with 100% state ownership due to its strategic importance. From 1999–2015 it was a unitary enterpris ...

(

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

) Until 2002, the Finnish Postal and Telegraph Administration (''Posti- ja lennätinhallitus'') and its successors also featured a postal horn in their logos. The logo from 1987 onwards had a single symbol combining the postal horn and telegraph symbols.

Post horns in road signs

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

the post horn was featured on a sign called ''Obbligo di arresto all'incrocio con autobus di linea su strade di montagna ("Stop when encountering coaches on mountain roads")''. Installed along winding, narrow mountain roads, the sign indicated that motorists should yield to incoming

coaches Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

, and let them pass safely. This sign was removed from the Italian Road Code in 1992.

Examples of post horns as graphics

File:Post-horns.jpg, German sign and

postbox A post box (British English; also written postbox; also known as pillar box), also known as a collection box, mailbox, letter box or drop box (American English), is a physical box into which members of the public can deposit outgoing mail intend ...

with post horn logos File:Swedish Royal Posthorn.jpg, Post horn logo from

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

File:MutedPosthorn.png, Muted post horn from ''

The Crying of Lot 49 ''The Crying of Lot 49'' is a novel by the American author Thomas Pynchon. It was published by J. B. Lippincott & Co. on April27, 1966. The shortest of Pynchon's novels, the plot follows Oedipa Maas, a young Californian woman who begins to embr ...

'' File:Emoji u1f4ef.svg, Postal Horn

Emoji An emoji ( ; plural emoji or emojis; , ) is a pictogram, logogram, ideogram, or smiley embedded in text and used in electronic messages and web pages. The primary function of modern emoji is to fill in emotional cues otherwise missing from type ...

from Google Noto, U+1F4EF File:Fig. 51 - Obbligo di arresto all'incrocio su strade di montagna con autobus di linea - 1959.svg, alt="Give way to coaches on mountain roads" road sign from Italy (deprecated in 1992), Old "''Stop when encountering coaches on mountain roads''" road sign from

(removed from the Italian Road Code in 1992)

References

External links

Video of Koenig's Post Horn Galop
performed by Steve Fletcher and Jerry Clack o
Post horn calls.
Hungarian Post Co. Links to sound files.
The Sound of Post Horns – Strains from a Past Era – Museumsposten – © Post & Tele Museum, Denmark
{{DEFAULTSORT:Post Horn Brass instruments Natural horns and trumpets