The English Horn

The English horn is a double reed and conical cane musical instrument, not only used in orchestras, but also as a band instrument. According to a theory, its name derives from the French expression corne d’angle or cor anglé, that is ‘angular’, for the corner it had in the middle of the cane. This name was later wrongly translated with the word ‘English’. Just as the oboe, the English horn is as well a difficult instrument to play, because of the ‘breath’ ability required and the difficulty of maintaining a correct embouchure. Compared to the oboe, though, the English horn has a larger reed that helps emitting the sound.