Abstract
The French horn, originally an outdoors instrument, began its development into an orchestral instrument the eighteenth century. Its transfer from an outdoors instrument of French origin to a flexible and refined orchestral instrument came from the Germans in the late seventeenth century by a visit to the Parisian court by the Bohemian prince Franz Anton von Sporck in 1680. It was from that point that the music began its growth in popularity by German composers such as Johann David Heinichen, Georg Philipp Telemann, Johann Sebastian Bach, and many others. The instrument makers also were making significant advances in the French instrument’s design. The horn’s presence and popularity in England, however, presents the issue that will be discussed in this thesis. It was through the music of George Frederick Handel, who before his arrival in London composed in Hamburg that the influence of the German horn was brought to England. \\tUsing musical examples and evidence provided by the musical instruments themselves, I will demonstrate a clear German influence in the music Handel and his contemporaries, and in the construction of the horn makers of this time period. Prior to Handel’s arrival, the horn in England was purely for aristocratic entertainment, being utilized in processions and other celebratory events. Once Handel arrives in London, the horn makes its first appearance in English orchestral music: Water Music (ca. 1717). It was from there that a high number of musical techniques seen in Germanic music are being utilized in the music of Handel and his contemporaries. By the mid eighteenth century, a number of Viennese horn makers begin to take shop in London, popularizing the Germanic style in the instruments themselves while also developing a unique horn making style for England. It is through this evidence that a direct line can be made to the music of Handel with the advancement of the horn in English music.