Post horn

Post horn
German postbox with post horn logo (old logo bottom, new logo top)
Post horn
Post horn logo from Sweden
Muted post horn from The Crying of Lot 49.

The post horn (also posthorn, post-horn, or coach horn) is a valveless cylindrical brass or copper instrument with cupped mouthpiece, used to signal the arrival or departure of a post rider or mail coach. It was used especially by postilions of the 18th and 19th centuries.

The instrument commonly had a circular or coiled shape with three turns of the tubing, though sometimes it was straight. It is therefore an example of a natural instrument. The cornet was developed from the post horn by adding valves.[1]

Mozart, Mahler, and others incorporated the instrument into their orchestras for certain pieces. On such occasions, the orchestra's horn player usually plays the instrument. One example of post horn use in modern classical music is the famous off-stage solo in Mahler's Third Symphony. Due to the scarcity of this instrument, however, music written for it is usually played on a trumpet or flugelhorn.

In 1844, the German cornet player Hermann Koenig wrote Post Horn Galop (Post Horn Gallop) as a solo for post horn with orchestral accompaniment.[2] In the 20th century it became a popular piece for brass bands.[3] During World War I wooden post-horns were used as a means of collecting war donations via a method called the Nail Men. People would donate and in exchange be allowed to hammer a nail into the horn, until the horn was completely covered.

The instrument is still used as the logo of national post services in many countries.

Contents

List of postal services that include the post horn in their logos

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Curt Sachs, The History of Musical Instruments (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1940), 428.
  2. ^ The Posthorn Gallop, Entry in "The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music", 4th edn., Kennedy (ed.), Oxford University Press.
  3. ^ Taylor, Arthur (1983). Labour and love: an oral history of the brass band movement. Elm Tree Books. 

External links


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Post horn — Post Post, n. [F. poste, LL. posta station, post (where horses were kept), properly, a fixed or set place, fem. fr. L. positus placed, p. p. of ponere. See {Position}, and cf. {Post} a pillar.] 1. The place at which anything is stopped, placed,… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • post|horn — «POHST HRN», noun. a small horn similar to a bugle, formerly used by a postrider or the guard of a mail coach to announce arrival. ╂[< post 3 + horn] …   Useful english dictionary

  • post horn — noun wind instrument used by postilions of the 18th and 19th centuries • Hypernyms: ↑wind instrument, ↑wind * * * noun Etymology: post (IV) : a simple straight or coiled brass or copper wind instrument with cupped mouthpiece used especially by… …   Useful english dictionary

  • post horn — n. a straight or coiled copper or brass horn with no valves or slide, originally used to announce mail coaches. [1665 75] * * * ▪ musical instrument       brass musical instrument of cylindrical bore, used by guards of mail coaches in the 18th… …   Universalium

  • Post Horn Gallop — The Post Horn Gallop is the tune that Leicester City Football Club run out at the Walkers Stadium on matchday. Leicester City are now the only team to run out to it and is very successful.The post horn is played by Henry Shipley of Syston,… …   Wikipedia

  • post horn — noun historical a valveless horn used to signal the arrival or departure of a mounted courier or mail coach …   English new terms dictionary

  • post horn — noun (C) a horn used in the 18th and 19th centuries as a warning by people riding on a carriage …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

  • post horn — noun a valveless cylindrical brass or copper instrument with cupped mouthpiece, used to signal the arrival or departure of a post rider or mail coach …   Wiktionary

  • post-horn — /ˈpoʊst hɔn/ (say pohst hawn) noun a simple brass instrument without keys, formerly used by coachmen on post chaises …  

  • post horn — noun Date: 1659 a simple straight or coiled brass or copper small wind instrument with cupped mouthpiece used especially by guards of mail coaches of the 18th and 19th centuries …   New Collegiate Dictionary

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