The tenor horn, also called the alto horn in American English and sometimes the E♭ horn, is a brass instrument in the saxhorn family. It is tuned to the key of E♭ and has three piston valves. The instrument has a partially cone-shaped tube, similar to the cornet and baritone, and usually uses a deep, funnel-shaped mouthpiece. In continental Europe, it is known as the Althorn and often has rotary valves and an oval shape.

The tenor horn is frequently used to play inner harmonies and off-beats in British brass bands and Mexican banda music, using a special type of musical notation called transposing treble clef. In contrast, the French horn is more commonly used in concert bands and orchestras. In the late 20th century, the tenor horn began to be recognized as a serious solo instrument, and it now has a collection of modern concertos and other solo pieces written for it.

History

The tenor horn used in British-style brass bands was developed from the French saxhorn ténor, a middle-pitched instrument in the saxhorn family. This family was invented in the 1840s by Adolphe Sax, a French instrument maker. Historical saxhorns made by Sax had bore sizes that matched his saxotromba patent, which described a different group of instruments with narrower tubes. However, only the E♭ ténor and B♭ baryton saxhorns were ever built. Early 19th-century models used Berlin valves, a type of valve system.

Saxhorns became common in British and American bands because of the Distin family, who helped spread the popularity of brass bands. They promoted and performed on Sax’s instruments. By 1850, Distin & Co. was manufacturing saxhorns in London. Later, in the 1870s, the company also produced them in New York and Pennsylvania after being bought by Boosey & Co. The Distin family stopped using the name "saxhorn" early on and instead called the instruments tenor horn, baritone horn, and euphonium. These names are still used today.

In Prussia, early brass instruments with similar pitch and tube size, called Althorns, were already being used by the late 1820s. These instruments were originally shaped like large flugelhorns with bells pointing forward. They were common in central and eastern Europe. Althorns were also made in a circular "Waldhorn" shape and an upright "tuba-form" similar to Sax’s saxhorns. Later, rotary valves were added, and the modern upright oval shape was created by Václav František Červený, an Austro-Hungarian maker, in the 1870s.

During the American Civil War in the 1860s, many "over-the-shoulder" saxhorns, including E♭ tenor horns, were made in the United States. These were used in military bands, with the bell pointing backward over the player’s shoulder so soldiers marching behind could hear the music better. After the war, brass bands and their music stayed popular, and demand for saxhorns and bugles remained high. In early 20th-century New Orleans, the tenor horn was used in Dixieland jazz bands, including those led by Papa Jack Laine.

In mid-19th-century Mexico, small brass and wind bands called bandas became popular in rural and urban areas. These bands adopted instruments from European military bands and German immigrant music, especially along the Pacific coast. By the time of the Mexican Revolution (1910–20), Sinaloan bandas populares had standardized on using the tenor horn alongside trumpets, trombones, and tubas or sousaphones.

In America, the tenor horn was sometimes called the alto horn. It was also nicknamed the "peck horn" because players often played the off-beats in marches and band music, as if "pecking" at them. This name appeared in the 1957 Broadway musical The Music Man. In the 1970s, King produced an instrument called the "altonium," made in F with a funnel-shaped mouthpiece. In their 1971 catalog, King offered two models: the 1147 upright model and the 1148 with a forward-facing bell. Soon after, these "alto" horns were replaced in American marching bands and drum and bugle corps with bell-forward versions of the mellophone.

Construction

The modern tenor horn, used in British brass bands, is tuned to E♭ and has changed little since the mid-19th century French saxhorn ténor. It has a bell that points upward and three Périnet piston valves. The inside of the horn is somewhat cone-shaped, like the cornet or baritone horn, but not as wide as the flugelhorn or euphonium. This cone shape reduces the sound of higher pitches, creating a smooth, mellow tone compared to instruments with a straight, cylindrical shape at the same pitch.

Modern manufacturers, following trends in the late 20th century to increase the size of brass instruments, now make tenor horns with greater power and sound projection. These companies include Amati, Besson, Eastman Winds, Geneva, Willson, and Yamaha.

In the 20th century, E♭ tenor horns were sometimes called "alto" horns in American bands. Companies such as Olds, King, Conn, and York produced these instruments. Many have bells angled forward and are sometimes called "altonium," a name used by King for specific models.

In Central and Eastern Europe, the instrument has rotary valves and is called the Althorn. It usually has an oval, upright shape, similar to the larger B♭ Tenorhorn. These are made by Miraphone, Červený, and other manufacturers.

The tenor horn uses a small mouthpiece with a deep funnel-shaped cup, like an orchestral horn mouthpiece. The rim size, measured from 18 to 19.5 millimetres (0.71 to 0.77 inches), is wider than an orchestral horn mouthpiece and about halfway between cornet and baritone mouthpieces.

Performance

The British brass band typically includes three tenor horn parts: solo, first, and second. These players usually perform as part of the middle section of the band, along with the alto and tenor lines. The solo tenor horn part occasionally includes short, individual performances. Historically, the tenor horn has not been widely recognized as a solo instrument. This has changed slowly since the late 1900s. The instrument’s sound, which is soft and smooth, helps it blend well with the rest of the band.

The tenor horn’s range, in concert pitch, is from A2 (an octave and a minor third below middle C) to E♭5 (an octave and a minor third above middle C). Skilled players can often reach higher notes. The tenor horn is a whole-bore brass instrument, meaning it can produce low fundamental pitches, or pedal tones, from E♭2 down to A1. These low notes are rarely used in music.

Tenor horn parts are written in treble clef as a transposing instrument in E♭, which is a major sixth above concert pitch. The written middle C (C4) on the sheet music sounds as E♭3, which is below middle C.

The tenor horn began to be considered as a serious solo instrument in the 1970s by Gordon Higginbottom, a musician in the Black Dyke Mills band. Composers started writing music for him, including his 1978 performance of Eric Ball’s September Fantasy at the Royal Albert Hall. In 1996, Sheona White, a tenor horn player in the Yorkshire Building Society Band, won the BBC Radio 2 Young Musician Award. She has recorded many band solo pieces, including a tenor horn concerto by Derek Bourgeois, and has performed new works commissioned in 2023 for tenor horn and string orchestra.

Owen Farr, a Welsh tenor horn soloist and professor at the Royal Northern College of Music, has taught young musicians, including Anabel Voigt from Germany. Voigt has recorded arrangements of Richard Strauss’s Horn Concerto No. 2 and new works for tenor horn with piano, strings, and brass band. Tim De Maeseneer, a tenor horn virtuoso from Flanders, has commissioned and recorded concertos for the instrument by Jan van der Roost, Thierry Deleruyelle, and Edward Gregson.

In jazz, the tenor horn is sometimes used by trumpeters as a secondary instrument. It was played by Humphrey Lyttelton and Mercer Ellington. British musician Django Bates performs mainly on the tenor horn. The English singer and painter Kate Westbrook also plays the tenor horn and has recorded with her husband, Mike Westbrook, in ensembles such as The Orckestra (1977–78) and The Village Band since the early 2000s.

Repertoire

The tenor horn is not used in symphony orchestras, where the horn takes its place. It is commonly found in brass bands in Britain and the Commonwealth, and sometimes used in concert bands as a replacement for the horn. The tenor horn is also used in banda music in Mexico and Latin America, where it is called the saxor or charcheta.

In chamber music, the standard quartet in British brass bands includes two cornets, a tenor horn, and a euphonium. In Russia, the brass quartet in the late 19th century included two cornets, a tenor horn, and a baritone horn. However, Russian and Soviet composers after 1890 often replaced the baritone horn with a trombone. In Germany, modern posaunenchor ensembles include instruments from the bugle family—flugelhorn, tenor horn, and euphonium—alongside trumpets and trombones. In Scandinavia, an althorn in E♭ (which is a type of tenor horn) is used in brass ensemble music, such as the Finnish torviseitsikko septet, which performs early works by Jean Sibelius.

The first solo piece written specifically for the tenor horn was Paul Hindemith’s Sonate für Althorn in Es und Klavier (1943), created as part of his effort to compose a sonata for every instrument. In the 1970s, compositions for the tenor horn increased as part of efforts to promote the instrument, including Eric Ball’s September Fantasy (1977). British composer Philip Sparke wrote light solo pieces with band accompaniment, such as Masquerade (1985), Aria (2003), and Capricorno (2009). Derek Bourgeois composed two solo works with piano accompaniment: A Hornting We Will Go (1997) and a sonata (2011).

Concertos for the tenor horn have been written since the late 20th century. These include Gareth Wood’s Concertino (1989), and concertos by Derek Bourgeois (2003), Elgar Howarth (2004), Idin Samimi Mofakham (Rajaz, 2013), Jan De Maeseneer (Birth of Time Echoes, 2019), Jeffrey Kaufman (Essay, 2023), Jan Van der Roost (2024), Thierry Deleruyelle (Horngold, 2024), and Edward Gregson (Three Gods, 2024).