Hofmann, H
Composer, pianist; Germany.
B. 1842; d. 1902.
HYMN TUNE horns sounded by means of a cup-shaped mouth-piece. In modern usage applied only to the orchestral horn, called also French horn. A brass instrument with a long, narrow tube bent into a number of circular curves, with a large bell. The modern horn is provided with pistons, which make it a chromatic instrument. The custom is now almost universal of using the horn in F, the part for which is written a fifth higher than the actual sounds. Before the application of pistons to the horn its part was always written in C, and the key was indicated by writing: Corni in Bp or E2, etc., as the case might be. Many composers retain this method of writing, but the horn-players generally transpose the part a vista to suit the F-horn.