English Horn
The English horn in five languages — English horn, corno inglese, Englischhorn, cor anglais
Related
Five languages
| Language | Name |
|---|---|
| Chinese | 英国管 |
| English | English horn (cor anglais) |
| Italian | corno inglese |
| German | Englischhorn |
| French | cor anglais |
The English horn is the alto member of the oboe family, pitched in F and sounding a perfect fifth below its written notes. Italian corno inglese, German Englischhorn and French cor anglais all keep the "English" label. It uses a double reed and ends in a pear-shaped bell, giving a rounder, more veiled tone than the oboe, often used for melancholy or pastoral lines.
Watch out: both "English" and "horn" mislead — it is not a French horn and not an English instrument. The common explanation is that French anglais came from anglé, "angled", describing its bent tube.
Read deeper → English Horn · Compare Piccolo
Sources
- 各语种乐器名依通行音乐术语词典（参 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "Cor anglais"）；本文为原创表述
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.