(Fr. bugle alto, saxhorn alto; Ger. Althorn; It. genis).
A
valved brass instrument of alto pitch, like a small euphonium in shape; in
British brass band scores it is usually referred to as ‘E
horn’. It has as its fundamental E (though this note is
seldom used) and is thus intermediate in pitch between the cornet and the
euphonium. It is a transposing instrument, its music being written a 6th above
sounding pitch. The full compass is from (written) f
to c''', but in the band it
is used mostly between a and a'', sounding c and c''.
Although used as an alto instrument in many continental military bands, it is not used by British ones; it is an essential component in the British brass band, however, three tenor horns being required for the standard line-up (their parts generally described as ‘solo horn’, ‘first horn’ and ‘second horn’).
Historically,
the tenor horn is the modern form of the E alto Saxhorn, which in its early days in France,
Britain and the USA was also termed ‘tenor’; thus, in a catalogue (c1850)
of Henry Distin, London, it appears as ‘Saxhorn, tenor, E’. The instrument of the brass band that stands
in B, a 4th below the
tenor horn, is known in Britain and the USA as the ‘baritone’ and in Germany as
Tenorhorn (see Baritone (ii)).
Waterhouse-LangwillI
W. Horwood: Adolphe Sax 1814–1894: his Life and Legacy (Bramley, 1980, 2/1983)
ANTHONY C. BAINES/TREVOR HERBERT