What kind of instrument is the English horn and where is it invented?

Answer 1

As far as who, the answer is unknown, but the first horns were used for hunting. Horns were not used musically until the 16th century for operas. Modifications were made to the bell in the 17th century and moveable slides were added in 1753 to allow for more ease while playing by Hampel, a German musician.

Answer 2

The English Horn, tenor Oboe or Cor Anglais (pron: core-onglay) as it is known in UK, was first recognised as a new instrument in around 1720. Pitched a perfect fifth below the oboe, it is thought to be a modification, by the introduction of a bulb bell and bent mouth piece, of the alto Baroque instrument 'oboe de caccia'. JT Weigel of Breslau, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland), a master of woodwind instruments, is credited by some to be the inventor. The etymology of the name is equally mysterious. Ironically the 'English Horn' was not used in England until about 1835, over 100 years after it's invention. Or course it is not a horn. That epithet was given to most instruments in the middle ages to convey that they were blown through; the Elizabethan Crumm Horn being another example. The physical construction of the angled mouth piece (bocal) would suggest anglé, but the word doesn't mean angled in any language, so is an unlikely root. A much more acceptable etymological whimsy is that the rich, ethereal, haunting beauty of it's tone suggested to the German musical elite of the day that the instrument would be the horn that angels would play; literally 'Engellisches Horn'.

Answer 3

English horn is basically a big oboe, pitched in F like the French horn...it is not a brass instrument in any way...it was made from the oboe