Playing the Descant Horn An introduction to this important tool for high horn players John Ericson Based on materials published in the May, 2001 issue of The Horn Call Scroll down for an important update to this article!

The descant horn is increasingly being seen as an instrument that an advanced horn player will want to have available to them. I became interested in the concept of playing on the descant horn as a high school student in the late 1970s. I had the chance to use school-owned descant horns as a college student, but I did not purchase one of my own until I reached the point during the years that I took a number of orchestral auditions where I felt that I had to own one. I initially actually purchased a triple horn but finally settled on a descant horn which I have been very pleased with. 

Although I only use my descant a few times a year, it is a lifesaver. While I personally would never consider using this horn as my full time instrument, I would also certainly not consider selling mine at this point in my career.

What is a descant horn?

A descant horn is in a loose sense any valved horn pitched higher than B-flat alto. The concept of constructing a horn pitched in high F is an old one. The reason why some horn players have turned to this instrument is obvious: the potential for improved accuracy in the high range.

While "single" descant horns in high F have been around for many years, double descant horns (and triple horns) are fairly recent inventions. Most commonly descant horns are constructed today as full double horns in B-flat/high F, although Schmid recently introduced a descant pitched in B-flat/high E-flat. This is a very interesting concept; the high E-flat horn has a somewhat fuller tone than that of the high F horn and is, at least theoretically, a less compromised design as well, since it can have a longer leadpipe and first branch taper than that normally seen on a B-flat/high F descant horn. It will be interesting to see to what degree this concept catches on. 

My descant horn

The horn I settled upon for my own use is an older Holton H-200 descant in B-flat/high F. When I purchased this horn used in the late 1980s I knew that this was the best compromise for me at that time. The tone is lighter than that of a double horn but the price was definitely right, and by the time I purchased it I was clear about how I would actually be using this instrument as well. After several years of use I modified the horn to accept a Lawson flare. [Newer Holton descant horns will accept a Lawson flare from the factory. Older ones, such as mine, were made using Holton's own ring, which was not compatible. I installed a used Lawson ring on the horn.] [UPDATE: Since the original publication of this article I have replaced this instrument with a great older model Paxman descant].

As previously noted, I first owned a triple horn. The triple has received a lot of press in recent years and, like the descant horn, has good and bad points. Most commonly triple horns are constructed in F/B-flat/high F, although Schmid makes a model in F/B-flat/high E-flat. I used an older model Paxman triple (F/B-flat/high F) from probably the early 1970s full time for about a year. I may someday revisit the triple horn--I know that designs have certainly improved with time--but I had two major issues with my old triple which remain issues to consider today. One was weight--mine weighed a ton!--and I began to feel that the weight hindered my ability to play lightly in the high range. The other was the low range which was not nearly as easy to produce for me on the triple as it was on my old Conn 8D. I got to a point where I was more afraid of cracking an entrance on middle c' played on the F horn than I was of a g'' (at the top of the staff) on the B-flat horn. It had a great tone and I loved the B-flat and high F sides of the horn but the low F side was, well, not what I wanted for general playing. This is less of an issue for more recently constructed instruments. I went back to a double horn for the vast majority of my playing and purchased a descant, which I use only to perform music of a lighter character reaching into the high register.

I generally use my "normal" horn mouthpiece when I perform in the descant horn. I prefer the security of the mouthpiece being the same. A smaller mouthpiece is however useful in some musical situations (i.e., the tessitura is especially high, above high c''' for me).

Fingering and Tuning

Most descant horns are constructed to stand in B-flat. That is, thumb up, you are in B-flat, not F as typically seen on the double horn. This is the first hurdle to playing a descant with facility, but I found it to be of no great difficulty to get used to the thumb being "reversed" after a little practice. Thumb down you are in high F. The fingerings on the high F side are exactly the same as they would be for the trumpet (or marching mellophone) on the same written pitches.

Many descant horns have a number of acoustical compromises in their design, especially on the high F side. I feel that it is best to think of the double descant horn as being essentially a single B-flat horn with a high F side that you use only above written g-sharp''. This practice also allows you to tune the primary notes that you use on the high F side individually (g-sharp'' to c''').

The stopping valve is a very useful valve on the descant and without one I would find it quite a challenge to play in tune in the middle range. My Holton descant came with two slide extensions for this valve which allow the slide to be set up three ways. The setup I use the vast majority of the time makes the stopping valve just a bit shorter than the first valve slide. In practice I tune this valve to play g' [on the second line] dead on in tune. The g' on the B-flat horn played with the first valve is terribly low on many horns; the use of the stopping valve makes passages like the opening arpeggios of the first Brandenburg concerto of Bach much easier in terms of intonation as I do not have to adjust my hand to get the g' in tune, fingering the note instead with the stopping valve.

If you have stopped passages to perform you may need to re-adjust this valve to actually use it for its intended purpose, to play stopped notes. A trick to consider, however, is that you can easily play stopped horn on the high F side without a stopping valve, if your instrument lacks one for this side of the horn (the Holton does actually have this valve on the high F side). Stopping the horn on the F side of a standard double horn raises the pitch of the horn, or at least appears to raise the pitch of the horn, by a half step. On the B-flat side stopped horn raises the pitch about 3/4 of a step, which is why stopped horn is normally performed either on the low F side or with a stopping valve. However, on the high F side stopped horn raises the pitch by a whole step. This is a useful fact to know for performing on the triple horn as well.

There is no "main slide" of the type seen on double horns on most descant horns. Unlike the standard double horn each side of the instrument will have to be tuned individually every time you tune the horn. As with the double horn you will want the two sides of the horn to match in pitch level. On the double horn I usually check the relative intonation of the two sides on c''; on the descant horn I find it best to check the relative pitch of the two sides on g''.

While it is possible to play every note of the range of the horn on a descant horn with creative use of the high F side in the low range (written F-sharp to c [new notation] must be played on the high F side, for example) you will not get the kind of tone that you might wish for compared to the double horn in the lower range.

Who uses descant horns?

Descant horns primarily appeal to orchestral first and third horn players. The descant is seen by many of these players, at least in the USA, as an instrument for occasional use on specific works or types of works. In other words, it is an instrument that is retrieved from the closet only when needed. Some players will use a descant for a wider range of literature, but then still rely on their normal double horn for general playing. Very few players use the descant horn full time as their main instrument. The major exception are several of the more prominent Jazz artists on the horn. The most notable of these players is probably John Clark, who has been playing the descant as his main instrument for many years and has been an influence upon several other players.

How I use the descant horn

While preferences will vary from player to player on the topic of what works are suitable for performance on the descant horn, there are a number of works which I would certainly prefer to perform on the descant. A common thread between all is high, exposed horn writing of a generally light character.

The first work that I actually performed on the descant was Beethoven's Symphony No. 7. The decision to use or not to use a descant horn on this work relates not only to range and style issues but also to the conductor. My personal perspective on this work is that the natural horn crooked in A, which is the instrument that Beethoven wrote the difficult parts for, has a light, clear tonal color that is easy to emulate on the descant. Some conductors will prefer this approach. Other hornists and conductors will prefer however the bigger sound of a standard double horn and may even want the parts doubled (!) for an even bigger sound still. This is very much an "old school" approach to this work but one that is still around and valid. Some conductors of course will not care that much either way on the tonal color issue--they just want the right notes! My personal preference is toward the lighter, clearer color of the descant for the outer movements of this work, and it is easier to play the passages accurately as well. For these reasons I would also tend to think about using a descant horn on almost any classical horn part in G, A, or B-flat alto.

During the five seasons that I performed third horn in the Nashville Symphony I received special acknowledgment from the conductor in the applause following only one work; the Queen Mab scherzo by Berlioz. This is an excerpt that I personally would never ever play on a standard double if I had a descant available. The Queen Mab is soft, light, exposed, and high. In my own case the conductor was quite pleased that I was so consistent with it. A humorous moment came after the final concert of the series when string players were asking me why I had gotten special acknowledgment--they had assumed that the first horn had been playing the difficult high passages that they had been hearing all week. (First horns players don't have all the fun!).

The other major orchestral works that stand out as ones which I have performed using the descant horn include the Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 of Bach, the Symphonies no. 29 and 40 of Mozart, and short passages in Shostakovich Symphony No. 5, Dvorak Symphony No. 9, and in the Janecek Sinfonietta. In the Shostakovich I picked up the horn only to play the high excerpt in the first movement; this works very well if you let the assistant play the passage before the excerpt (a good idea even if you don't use a descant for the solo). In the Dvorak I picked up the horn to play only the high excerpt in the last movement. I felt more comfortable for reasons of tone and intonation to use my normal double horn for the rest of the work but used the descant for added security on the high, exposed solo. In the Janecek I felt that to cleanly perform the famous difficult, wild passage in the fourth movement consistently I had to use a descant. And it worked well; it was the right move for me.

Besides the Janecek one of the most difficult works I have ever I had to learn on the descant was the Schoenberg Chamber Symphony No. 1. There are a number of high passages but most of the work is in the mid-range of the horn and there is simply no time to change instruments. In particular for me personally the challenge is that many passages performed on the descant require use of many "alternate" fingerings compared to using a standard double. In other words, I must use B-flat horn fingerings that I don't normally use in the lower range. This would not have been a large problem were I able to write in the fingerings but I was in fact learning the work for an audition; I knew that I would have to play it off a "clean" part at the audition, so I had to learn it without resorting to any markings. This was actually the very best learning exercise I ever had on the descant, as I had to really learn how to play the horn over its entire range.

Learning a work like the Schoenberg was a great preparation for an entire class of works that I have encountered in my career since then. I should not mention composers in this group by name but the common link is that today all too many works are being orchestrated on a MIDI keyboard, and "horn" passages that sound fine in Finale(tm) may not actually be characteristic or playable on a real horn. One particular composer certainly stands out for me as I have performed first horn on his works on three different occasions in professional orchestral situations. This composer frequently places the first horn higher than the second and third trumpets, with in general lots of very high, very exposed stuff. It is all playable on the professional level but really not nearly as playable as the composer must think it is. One colleague stated it well; orchestras are good enough to play these orchestrations and make them work, but it is much harder than it needs to be. For works like this the descant can be a lifesaver.

Of course, much solo literature may be performed on the descant. A great work to learn as an introduction to the descant horn is the Telemann Concerto; while, of course, this work is very playable on a standard double horn, using the descant gives this work a lighter tone and aids security. For building technical facility nothing beats working on etudes, especially standard Kopprasch etudes in high transpositions or the new edition of the Kopprasch etudes Op. 5 for high horn, published by Thompson Edition.

Finally, I offer a note of caution about works that I would not perform on the descant horn. Many works are full of high passages but seem to cry out for the fuller tone of the double horn, like the Symphony no. 1 of Mahler. It is a personal choice I know, and I am sure that there are descant horns on the market which can produce a bigger tone than my own in these passages, but please use the descant with care. As horn players we ultimately want to get the right notes with the right tone; for this reason I personally still view the standard double horn as my main instrument.

Is a descant horn for you?

This is a big question. Most professional high horn players have a descant in their arsenal of instruments that they dig out when needed, and some use it rather often. Additionally, if you are serious about taking high horn auditions, then a descant horn may be something you need to buy. I carried two horns to a number of auditions just to have a descant available for certain excerpts. It could be a good investment but, on the other hand, a descant is in my opinion not a replacement for a double horn; it lacks a certain breadth of tone, and while it is physically possible to play for example the low passage in Shostakovich 5 on the descant, it won't sound as full and blending as it would have sounded on a double horn.

Is the descant for you? Each player will have a personal, unique answer. My advice is to wait to buy one until you are at the point that you know you need to own one. I personally expect to own one for the rest of my career.

Copyright John Ericson. All rights reserved.

UPDATE: Playing High Horn: A Handbook for High Register Playing, Descant Horns, and Triple Horns is now available from Horn Notes Edition.

Also check out the Descant and Triple Horn page in Horn Articles Online

Note: The article above is the basis for some of the materials found in the later publication, which goes into much more detail on all aspects of high horn playing. If you find the topics addressed in this article to be of interest be sure to also buy the book!