Cor anglais

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Image:English Horn2.jpg

The cor anglais, or English horn, is a double reed woodwind musical instrument in the oboe family.

It is a transposing instrument pitched in F, a fifth lower than the oboe (a C instrument), and is consequently approximately one-third longer. The fingering and playing technique used for the cor anglais are essentially the same as those of the oboe. Its sounding range stretches from the E (or, rarely, E flat) below middle C to the C two octaves above middle C.

Its pear-shaped bell gives it a somewhat more nasal, covered timbre than that of the oboe, being closer in tone 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 member of the family, and the oboe d'amore, pitched between the two in the key of A, is the mezzo-soprano member. It is perceived to have a more mellow and more plaintive tone than the oboe. Its appearance differs from the oboe in that the reed is attached to a slightly bent metal tube called the bocal, or crook, and the bell has a bulbous shape.

Reeds used to play the cor anglais are similar to those used for an oboe, comprising a piece of cane folded in two. Although the instrument itself is longer, a cor anglais reed is shorter than that of an oboe reed, and also slightly wider. Where the cane on an oboe reed is connected to a small metal tube (the staple) partially covered in cork, there is no such cork on a cor anglais reed, which fits metal against metal onto the bocal, in a manner not dissimilar to the bassoon.

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Etymology

The instrument's name is thought to derive from the oboe da caccia, which is a baroque alto instrument of the oboe family, like the cor anglais, and either bent or curved in shape, so called a cor anglé, meaning "bent horn" (it has a flaring brass bell similar to that of a horn and looks quite horn-like), a name which was later corrupted to cor anglais, meaning "English horn." It should be noted that the cor anglais and the oboe da caccia are otherwise quite unlike and the link, if any, between them, is not clear.

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Repertoire

Many oboists double on the cor anglais, just as flautists double on the piccolo. (Although piccolo oboes, called oboe musette or piccolo oboe, do exist, they are very rarely played.)

There are few solo pieces for the instrument, although its timbre makes it well suited to the performance of expressive, melancholic solos in orchestral works, particularly slow movements.

Famous examples include:

In film scores, the cor anglais is heard as a solo instrument as frequently (if not more) than the oboe, most likely because of its rounder tone quality. In addition to classical music, the cor anglais has also been used by a few musicians as a jazz instrument; most prominent among these are Paul McCandless, Sonny Simmons, and Vinny Golia. Also Nancy Rumbel of Grammy winning Tingstad and Rumbel. The cor anglais also figures in the instrumental arrangements of several Carpenters songs, most notably "For All We Know" (1971). It has also made some appearances in pop music, such as in Tanita Tikaram's "Twist in my sobriety".de:Englischhorn es:Corno inglés fa:کر آنگله fr:Cor anglais hr:Engleski rog it:Corno inglese nl:Engelse hoorn ja:コーラングレ pl:Rożek angielski sr:Енглески рог fi:Englannintorvi

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