cor anglais - Etymology

A woodwind instrument with a slightly conical bore, a double reed, and a distinctive bulb-shaped bell. Neither English nor a horn, it is in effect a tenor oboe, a transposing instrument (in F) sounding a 5th below the written pitch.

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The cor anglais, or English horn, or english horn, is a double reed woodwind musical instrument in the oboe family. it is made out of metal

It is a transposing instrument pitched in F, a fifth lower than the oboe (a C instrument), and is consequently approximately one-third longer. The fingering and playing technique used for the cor anglais are essentially the same as those of the oboe.

Its pear-shaped bell gives it a somewhat more nasal, covered timbre than that of the oboe, being closer in tone quality to the oboe d'amore. Whereas the oboe is the soprano instrument of the oboe family, the cor anglais is generally regarded as the alto member of the family, and the oboe d'amore, pitched between the two in the key of A, is the mezzo-soprano member.

Reeds used to play the cor anglais are similar to those used for an oboe, comprising a piece of cane folded in two. Although the instrument itself is longer, a cor anglais reed is shorter than that of an oboe reed, and also slightly wider. Where the cane on an oboe reed is connected to a small metal tube (the staple) partially covered in cork, there is no such cork on a cor anglais reed, which fits metal against metal onto the bocal, in a manner not dissimilar to the bassoon.

Etymology

The term "cor anglais" literally means "English horn", but the cor anglais is neither English nor a horn. The instrument's name is thought to derive from the fact that at some point a standard cor anglais resembled an oboe da caccia, a baroque alto instrument of the oboe family, which tended to be either bent or curved in shape, and was thus called a cor anglé, meaning "bent horn" (it has a flaring brass bell similar to that of a horn and looks quite horn-like), this epithet later to be corrupted to cor anglais. It should be noted that the cor anglais and the oboe da caccia are otherwise quite unlike and the link, if any, between them, is not clear. (Although piccolo oboes, called oboe musette or piccolo oboe, do exist, they are very rarely played.)

There are few solo pieces for the instrument, although its timbre makes it well suited to the performance of expressive, melancholic solos in orchestral works (particularly slow movements) as well as operas. 22, The Philosopher Jean Sibelius's Swan of Tuonela Maurice Ravel's Piano Concerto in G (2nd movement) Joaquín Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez (2nd movement) Gioacchino Rossini's William Tell Overture Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde (Act 3, Scene 1) Hector Berlioz's Roman Carnival Overture and Harold in Italy Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture (Love Theme, Exposition) Aaron Copland's Quiet City Vincenzo Bellini's "Il Pirata" (Act II: Introduzione) Alfred Reed's "Russian Christmas Music" Alexander Borodin's In the Steppes of Central Asia

In film scores, the cor anglais is heard as a solo instrument as frequently (if not more) than the oboe, most likely because of its rounder tone quality.