Hand-stopping
Encyclopedia
Hand-stopping is a technique by which a natural horn
can be made to produce notes outside of its normal harmonic series
. By inserting the hand, cupped, into the bell, the player can reduce the pitch of a note by a semitone or more. This, combined with the use of crook
s changing the key of the instrument, allowed composers to write fully chromatic music for the horn before the invention of piston and valve horns in the early 19th Century.
The technique was invented in Europe in the mid 18th Century, and its first celebrated exponent was Giovanni Punto
, who learned the technique from A. J. Hampel and subsequently taught it to the Court orchestra of George III.
In addition to the change in pitch, the timbre is changed, sounding somewhat muted. Some pieces call for notes to be played stopped (sometimes written as gestopft in the score) specifically in order to produce this muted tone. This can clearly be heard on recordings of natural horns playing baroque repertoire such as the Weber
concertino (a recording by Anthony Halstead
and the Hanover Band
is available which demonstrates this to particularly good effect).
The pitch control is affected by the degree of closing the bell with the right hand. As the palm closes the bell, the effective tube length is increased, lowering the pitch (up to about a semitone for horns in the range D through G). But when the hand stops the bell completely, the tube length is shortened, raising pitch about a semitone for horns tuned near to the key of F.
Natural horn
The natural horn is a musical instrument that is the ancestor of the modern-day horn, and is differentiated by its lack of valves. It consists of a mouthpiece, some long coiled tubing, and a large flared bell. Pitch changes are made through a few different techniques:* Modulating the lip tension as...
can be made to produce notes outside of its normal harmonic series
Harmonic series (music)
Pitched musical instruments are often based on an approximate harmonic oscillator such as a string or a column of air, which oscillates at numerous frequencies simultaneously. At these resonant frequencies, waves travel in both directions along the string or air column, reinforcing and canceling...
. By inserting the hand, cupped, into the bell, the player can reduce the pitch of a note by a semitone or more. This, combined with the use of crook
Crook (music)
A crook, also sometimes called a shank, is an exchangeable segment of tubing in a natural horn which is used to change the length of the pipe, altering the fundamental pitch and harmonic series which the instrument can sound, and thus the key in which it plays.-Master crook and coupler...
s changing the key of the instrument, allowed composers to write fully chromatic music for the horn before the invention of piston and valve horns in the early 19th Century.
The technique was invented in Europe in the mid 18th Century, and its first celebrated exponent was Giovanni Punto
Giovanni Punto
Giovanni Punto was a Czech horn player and a pioneer of the hand-stopping technique which allows natural horns to play a greater number of notes.He was an international celebrity in the 18th and early 19th centuries, known in London,...
, who learned the technique from A. J. Hampel and subsequently taught it to the Court orchestra of George III.
In addition to the change in pitch, the timbre is changed, sounding somewhat muted. Some pieces call for notes to be played stopped (sometimes written as gestopft in the score) specifically in order to produce this muted tone. This can clearly be heard on recordings of natural horns playing baroque repertoire such as the Weber
Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school....
concertino (a recording by Anthony Halstead
Anthony Halstead
Anthony Halstead is a leading figure in the period-instruments movement. First known as a virtuoso on the natural horn, he has gradually moved into the role of conductor and has directed the Academy of Ancient Music, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and most notably Hanover Band.Halstead...
and the Hanover Band
Hanover Band
The Hanover Band founded by Caroline Brown in 1980 is a British period-instrument orchestra.The group's website explains the name thus: 'Hanover' signifies the Hanoverian period 1714-1830 and 'Band' is the 18th century term for orchestra....
is available which demonstrates this to particularly good effect).
The pitch control is affected by the degree of closing the bell with the right hand. As the palm closes the bell, the effective tube length is increased, lowering the pitch (up to about a semitone for horns in the range D through G). But when the hand stops the bell completely, the tube length is shortened, raising pitch about a semitone for horns tuned near to the key of F.