The horn had an incredibly rich evolution over three centuries, from the hunting field to the concert hall. With differences in size, mechanic, technique, sound aesthetic and manufacture through time and geography, the horn has many faces and playing a piece on the corresponding instrument has a great impact on interpretation and style. The purpose is to get closer to what composers had in mind while composing, and rediscover forgotten sounds. Like an actor switching masks and identities when switching roles, it is such a joy to go from one horn – one soul – to another and experience the difference through music.
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Baroque horn by Zoltan Juhasz, 2021
Juhasz’s own design of baroque horn, playing at 415. The sound is surprisingly rich and the high register frankly amazing ! Made for the baroque masterpieces of Bach, Haendel, Telemann, etc. In 2023 I upgraded it for a model with ventholes ; they are a modern invention to correct the “wrong” harmonics of the instrument, allowing one to play without the hand in the bell but with the tuning we are used to.
Viennese natural horn by A. Kerner, 1760 – Replica by Seraphinoff, 2020
Copy of a Viennese horn made by Anton Kerner in 1760. Clear, bright and narrow, intended for early classical music. However it feels and sound very different from the original instrument it is made after, which I played and recorded in 2019 – you can listen to it here. The original taught me a lot about how to play Mozart and I wrote an article on the subject.
French natural horn by Courtois, Faubourg Saint Germain, c.1790
This is something that you will not see everyday- according to my research, we know only four other horns alike this one. Oldest and rarest instrument in my collection. The Courtois firm was one of the most famous in Europe, manufacturing instruments of the highest quality; their horns are still very sought after today. This one bears their very first address, when the father Courtois established the business in… 1789 (date of the French Revolution !). The company flourished at this address until 1802 which means this is likely an 18th-century horn. Also, the three other known specimen do not have the flower garland and the square slide which are very old features; which means this Courtois could very well be the oldest in existence. A pearl ! At the time natural horns were sold in pairs of alto and low horns; this one has a slightly wider bell throat and is marked “2”, which means this is a Cor basse for second players. The horn has been brilliantly restored in 2025 by Gerd Kempkes and is a wonderful player !
French natural horn by Courtois Neveu Aîné, c.1816
Another, more “commonly” seen Courtois, this one by one of the sons- Neveu Aîné, made between 1816 and 1820. Small bell flare, and so thin it vibrates like a cello! A beautiful voice, perfect for light French music, with its complete set of crooks and a beautiful painting.
Anonymous natural horn from central Europe, before 1820 ?
This horn was previously owned by famous hornist Hermann Baumann. A beautiful exemple of bohemian horn with a large, dark, rich sound, probably quite early. Perfect for Beethoven, Brahms and all germanic music requiring natural horn. One of my favorites.
Anonymous Viennese natural horn, beginning of the 19th century
This curious little horn doesn’t have any crooks nor signature. The supports indicate it is probably Austrian, early 19th century, and some features reminds that of Lorenz. The tuning slide must be an extension – it bears the mark “C”. The socket was too small to receive any crooks so I had it changed by Gerd Kempkes, like I did on my Kretschman. It turned out very bright, compact, and after experimenting with all my crooks it plays very safely in every key ! I love it for orchestral classical repertoire such as Haydn or Mozart.
French natural horn by Halari, c.1820
Beautiful, complete, early Halari, another exemple of the French aesthetics in Paris in the early 19th century. Halari studied his trade with Courtois before becoming another of the great Parisian manufacturers. The features of Halari drastically changed later in the century to copy that of Guichard’s, so this is a wonderful example of the maker’s original “flavour”.
French natural horn (cor basse) by Kretschman, c.1830
A very interesting horn. Although the corpus is very small, the bell is absolutely gigantic. Very representative of the style of the eastern French cor basse (low horn) : large deep sound with plenty of room for the hand to enhance the difficult hand-stopping in the low range, and a lot of horse-power. The inlet was extremely small, only the original G crook would fit in. So I decided to have a larger inlet made by Juhasz, to be able to play other crooks on it. Worth it !
French horn with 3 Stoelzel pistons attributed to Chollet or Guichard, c.1840 ?
This is a piece of history ! An early 3-piston horn, with a green chinoiserie on the bell. The middle piston is slightly higher than the two others to match the shape of the hand. The facture is typical of that of Guichard, however it could very well have been made by one of his apprentices, Chollet. Only two of these instruments are currently known : the other is kept in the Klingendes Museum in Bern. Stoelzel valves are very capricious and primitive and one of them is unfortunately not working – however it is usable as a 2 piston horn and it sounds truly amazing. This instrument was made to be used with hand stopping technique combined with pistons.
French natural horn (cor basse) by Piatet & Benoît, c.1840
Another Cor Basse (low horn) with a large bore, result of the collaboration between the manufacturers Piatet and Benoît in Lyon. Typical design of the eastern-French school. Beautiful, free-blowing dark mellow sound.
French natural horn by Gautrot, c. 1860
A later French natural horn, by one of the dominating makers of the period. The techniques in manufacture have evolved, and the sound of the instrument with it. This horn has less resistance and more flesh in the sound.
French horn with two pistons by Besson, c.1860
An early Besson, allowing the mix of hand-stopping technique and the use of pistons, which results in endless possibilities of expression. Besson was one of the most famous manufacturers of the second part of the century, settled in Paris as well as in London. A very, very good player with a full sound.
French horn with 2 Stoelzel pistons marked Pollet in Toulouse, attributed to Guichard, c.1850 ?
Made in the mid-19th century, this eye-candy horn was made to be used with hand stopping technique combined with pistons. It reproduces the earlier system known as Stoelzel pistons. Beautifully decorated, it is marked “Pollet à Toulouse”, but is very typical of a Guichard. There is no information whatsoever on a manufacturer named Pollet, he could be related to the composer and editor of the same name, and this horn may have been sold in his music shop. It was common practice for merchants to brand instruments. The horn has been brilliantly restored in 2025 by Gerd Kempkes and is a wonderful player ! I traced its history back and it appears to have belonged to an important collector, Jean Clamens.
French natural horn by Raoux, marked Labbaye, c.1855 with a sauterelle by Brown&Sons, c.1915
The fame of the Raoux family in Paris during the late 18th and throughout the 19th century is only equal to the quality of their instruments. In 1857 Raoux was bought by Labbaye, who kept selling the remaining horns in the workshop by adding their own name and address on them. This is the case with this particular horn : it still has the name, address and stamp of Auguste Raoux on the bell, but also the name and address of Labbaye higher on the neck. In other words, the corpus was already made by Raoux shortly before it was acquired by Labbaye, and sold in the 1860’s (It bears the medal for the 1862 International Exhibition of London, giving an idea of when it was sold). During the early 20th century, English workshops such as Brown&Sons turned these instruments into valved horns by making detachable piston sets for them (sauterelle), preserving the possibility to play them as natural horns. What a story ! These transformed Raoux horns were very sought after : Aubrey Brain and Franz Paersch played on the exact same instruments. A gorgeous, deep sound, perfect for later French music. The original case (20th century) is also lovely. It is interesting to note which crooks came with such a horn in the 1920’s : F, Eb, A and Bb.
Bohemian crookable valved horn by Bohland&Fuchs, c.1880
Crookable valved horn by Bohland&Fuchs c1880. The business flourished in Graslitz from 1870 and was the first bohemian factory to use steam power and mass production techniques. The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchester ordered 6 of these horns in the late 19th century, and they premiered Bruckner 7th Symphony as well as Brahms violin concerto around that time – so this horn may have been part of it ! This was also the instrument played by Louis Savart in Vienna, who played the Brahms trio with the composer himself, and was one of the first horn players to be ever recorded in 1899. Beautiful engravings, nacre on the valves, a set of slides to play on higher crooks, and a perfect player. Rich, large, deep German sound, with great nuances and quite free-blowing. The valves feature an interesting curiosity : one is supposedly able to change the weight of the mechanism just like on certain keyboards, in order to have slower or faster fingers.
Anonymous French natural horn attributed to Guichard, c.1860
An anonymous beauty with a quite narrow bell. The paint is 100% original ! This shape of corpus is very distinctive of the late 19th century, with manufacturers such as Guichard – this is very likely one of his instruments. Light and clear sound.
Swiss crookable horn with 3 valves by Simoutre, c.1880
Swiss manufacturer Nicolas Eugène Simoutre flourished in Basel, Switzerland, before moving to Paris in 1889. This particular instrument is quite a curiosity… the valves were influenced by a German design in which the lever is on the transmission itself, perpendicular to the rotor. This “top action” system places your fingers very close to the valve itself, and the movement of the fingers is slightly different. Furthermore, the first valve can be converted from descendant to ascendant – yes, the FIRST valve ! Which would allow one to play a half-step higher. Thanks to the long slides, this horn can be easily played from Bb down to much lower crooks such as D. In spite of its German inspiration, I found it to sound best when holding the bell the French way – thumb out, very open and clear. This instrument was once part of the collection of Pierre Turpin.
Vienna horn with double pistons by A. Dehmal, c.1890
A typical Vienna horn with the iconic Viennese double-pistons, pumpen-valves. An incredibly rich core, astonishing legato due to the mechanism, with delicate pianos and bright, projecting fortes. A very intimate instrument that I enjoy playing with piano a lot. These instruments are still played in Vienna today ! Anton Dehmal was an important manufacturer in Vienna during the late 19th century, until his son Thomas took over the business.
Vienna horn with rotative valves by A. Dehmal, c.1890
Another Vienna horn by the same manufacturer Dehmal, this one with rotative valves- but still the Viennese aesthetics of its time. Sounds very large and feels very free-blowing compared to its little brother. Perfect for orchestra playing!
German tri-valve horn in B-flat by Barth, c.1896
Made by Robert Barth in Stuttgart around the turn of the century, this horn has a typical triangular pattern from the late 19th century – however it is in B flat, which is very rare ! The result is extremely accurate, clear and free-blowing ; however it has the sound quality of an F-horn. One of my best players… So good it has become difficult to play any other horn ! This instrument can be found in the 1896 catalogue of the manufacturer.
French compensated double horn F/Bb by Selmer, model Vuillermoz, c.1935
Iconic French sound of the first part of the 20th century featuring the special ascending third piston, this instrument is the fruit of the collaboration between Selmer and horn player Louis Vuillermoz in the 1930’s. Louis’ father Edouard Vuillermoz was one of the earliest French players to work on refining the F/Bb double horn to its best; Louis later worked in the same direction with Thibouville-Lamy in the 1920’s, before developing this model with Selmer. Light, elegant and over-the-surface sound. Very popular in its time.
German horn in F with rotary valves by Kley, c.1910
The perfect German F-sound of the beginning of the 20th century. Deep, rich and very generous. Albert Kley was a student of C. F. Schmidt and flourished in Berlin.
German single B-flat horn mod.97 with stopping valve and F extension by Alexander, c.1945
This single Alexander was made between the end of WW2 and 1950, according to Gebr. Alexander themselves. It once belonged to International Horn Society president Andrew Pelletier, and it is in exceptional state. A very light, bright and free-blowing sound with a fantastic high register. The best years of the famous Alexander firm !
American double horn F/Bb by Holton (mod. Tuckwell H104), c.1990
Model of the American idol Barry Tuckwell, one of the greatest horn soloists to ever live. Golden brass gives this instrument a very soft coloured sound and it plays very smoothly. This is my teenagehood horn 🥹 It once belonged to my very first teacher, Walter Bellagamba.
…and a work in progress…
All right, that is no horn. But it is cool. This anonymous serpent is from the mid-18th century, and completely original. It is covered with leather and the mouthpiece is made of ivory. “But Nicolas, what on earth are you doing with this ?” It’s a cool instrument OK ?? Let me have my fun ! Currently undergoing restoration, and subject of a PhD research. Once this is done, I will learn how to ride this animal.
