[[Image:Alphorn.JPG|thumb|D' Dieß'ner alphorn players]]
The '''alphorn''' or '''alpenhorn''' is a [[wind instrument]], consisting of a natural wooden horn of conical bore, having a cup-shaped [[Mouthpiece (brass)|mouthpiece]], used by mountain dwellers in [[Switzerland]] and elsewhere. Similar wooden horns were used in most mountainous regions of [[Europe]], from [[Sweden]] to the [[Romania]]n [[Carpathian Mountains|Carpathians]].

==Origins==
Documented records of alpine societies using signal horns date back to a [[2nd century]] [[Roman Empire|Roman]] [[mosaic]] fragment in [[Orbe]], depicting a shepherd blowing an instrument shaped like a [[bucina]]. The [[Acta Sanctorum]] report how, in [[397]] AD, the [[Val di Non]]'s pagan inhabitants responded to the arrival of three Christian missionaries, by using an uspecified ''tuba'' to convene the community, and later sacrificing one of the missionaries, by beating him to death with axes while sounding the ''tuba'' at him.

For a long time, scholars believed that the alphorn had been derived from the Roman-Etruscan [[lituus]], because of their resemblance in shape, and because of the word ''liti'', meaning Alphorn in the dialect of [[Obwalden]]. There is no documented evidence for this theory, however, and, the word ''liti'' was probably borrowed from 16th-18th century writings in Latin, where the word ''lituus'' could describe various wind instruments, such as the [[natural horn|horn]], the [[crumhorn]], or the [[cornett]]. Swiss naturalist [[Conrad Gesner]] used the words ''lituum alpinum'' for the first known detailed description of the alphorn in his ''De raris et admirandis herbis'' in 1555. The oldest known document using the German word ''Alphorn'' is a page from a [[1527]] account book from the former [[Cistercian]] abbey St. Urban near [[Pfaffnau]] mentioning the payment of two [[Batzen]] for an itinerant alphorn player from the [[Valais]].

17th-19th century collections of alpine myths and legends suggest that alphorn-like instruments had frequently been used as signal instruments in village communities since medieval times or earlier, sometimes substituting for the lack of [[church bells]]. Surviving artefacts, dating back to as far as ca. 1400 AD, include wooden [[Brass instrument|labrophones]] in their stretched form, like the alphorn, or coiled versions, such as the '"Büchel" and the "Allgäuisches Waldhorn" or "Ackerhorn". The alphorn's exact origins remain indeterminate, and the ubiquity of horn-like signal instruments in valleys throughout Europe may indicate a long history of cross influences regarding their construction and usage.

==Construction==
The alphorn is carved from solid softwood, generally spruce but sometimes pine. In former times the alphorn maker would find a tree bent at the base in the shape of an alphorn, but modern makers piece the wood together at the base. A cup-shaped mouthpiece carved out of a block of hard wood is added and the instrument is complete.

The alphorn has no lateral openings and therefore gives the pure natural harmonic series of the open pipe. The harmonics are the more readily obtained by reason of the small diameter of the bore in relation to the length. An alphorn made at Rigi-Kulm, Schwyz, and now in the [[Victoria and Albert Museum]], measures 8 ft. in length and has a straight tube.
[[Image:Swiss playing an alphorn.jpg|thumb|A Swiss playing alphorn near a mountain lake]]
The well-known Ranz des Vaches is the traditional melody of the alphorn from French Switzerland. The song describes the time of bringing the cows to the high country at cheese making time. [[Gioacchino Rossini|Rossini]] introduced the melody into his opera ''William Tell.'' [[Johannes Brahms|Brahms]] was clear that the inspiration for the great melody that opens the last movement of his [[Symphony No. 1 (Brahms)|First Symphony]] (played in the orchestra by the [[horn (instrument)|horn]]) was an alphorn melody he heard in the Rigi area of Switzerland.

The Swiss alphorn varies in shape according to the locality, being curved near the bell in the Bernese Oberland. [[Michael Praetorius]] mentions an alphorn-like instrument under the name of Hölzern Trummet (wooden trumpet) in ''Syntagma Musicum'' (Wittenberg, 1615-1619; Pl. VIII).

==Music for Alphorn==

Among music composed for the alphorn:

*'' Sinfonia Pastorella for Alphorn and String Orchestra'' by [[Leopold Mozart]]
*''Concerto for alphorn and orchestra'' by [[Jean Daetwyler]]
*''Concertino rustico'' by [[Ferenc Farkas]]

==References==
*Bachmann-Geiser, Brigitte, ''Das Alphorn: Vom Lock- zum Rockinstrument''.Paul Haupt Berne, 1999. ISBN 3-258-05640-4

== External links ==
* [http://www.alphornmusik.ch Alphorn-Composer, in German]
* [http://www.jacaranda.de Jacaranda Ensemble]
* [http://www.SwissAlphorn.com Swiss Alphorn Players, in German]
* [http://www.alphorn.ca Rocky Mountain Alphorns, in English]

[[Category:National symbols of Switzerland]]
[[Category:Wind instruments proper]]
[[Category:German loanwords]]

[[de:Alphorn]]
[[fr:Cor des Alpes]]
[[he:קרן האלפים]]
[[lb:Alphorn]]
[[nl:Alpenhoorn]]
[[ja:アルプホルン]]
[[pl:Róg alpejski]]
[[fi:Alppitorvi]]
[[sv:Alphorn]]