Flugelhorn

{{Short description|Brass musical instrument}} {{Infobox instrument | name=Flugelhorn | image=Yamaha Flugelhorn YFH-8310Z.jpg | image_capt=A standard 3-valved B♭ flugelhorn | background=brass | classification={{hlist | Aerophone | Wind | Brass }} | hornbostel_sachs=423.232 | hornbostel_sachs_desc=valved lip-reed aerophone with wide conical bore | developed=Early 19th century | range=Written range:180px|center (lower and higher notes are possible) | related= {{hlist | Trumpet | Cornet | Keyed bugle | Saxhorn | Tenor horn | Fiscorn }} | articles= }} The '''flugelhorn''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|f|l|uː|ɡ|əl|h|ɔr|n}}, also '''fluegelhorn''', '''flugel horn'''; from German, '''''Flügelhorn''''') is a high brass instrument similar to the trumpet and cornet, but with the wider conical bore of a bugle producing a darker, mellower sound.{{sfn|Yurochko|1993|p=182}} Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in 9-foot ({{prime|9}}) B♭, though some are in {{prime|8}} C.<ref name="Britannica">{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/art/flugelhorn |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica |title=Flügelhorn |access-date=2 September 2018 |archive-date=19 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230719143426/https://www.britannica.com/art/flugelhorn |url-status=live }}</ref> It is a type of valved bugle, developed in Germany in the early 19th century from earlier traditional valveless bugles, and to replace the keyed bugle. Flugelhorns usually have piston valves in North America, France, Britain, and Commonwealth countries, and rotary valves in central and eastern Europe.

== History ==

{{Multiple image | total_width = 260px | align = right | perrow = 1/2 | image1 = MIMEd 0915 Hanoverian halbmond bugle horn in D.png | image2 = Musikinstrumenten-Museum Berlin - Flügelhorn in C - 1106936, edit1.jpg | image3 = MIMEd 3194. Flugelhorn (Kuhlohorn) in B-flat (edit1).jpg | alt1 = Photograph of a Hanoverian Halbmond bugle horn | alt2 = Photograph of a flugelhorn in C | alt3 = Photograph of a kuhlohorn | footer_align = left | footer = Hanoverian ''Halbmond'' bugle horn {{circa|1790}}, ''top''; flugelhorn in C by Carl Wilhelm Moritz, {{circa|1842-43}}; kuhlohorn, {{circa|1920}} (University of Edinburgh; Musical Instrument Museum, Berlin) }}

The German word {{lang|de|Flügel}} means ''wing'' or ''flank'' in English. In early 18th century Germany, a ducal hunt leader known as a {{lang|de|Flügelmeister}} used a {{lang|de|Flügelhorn}} to direct his wing of the hunting party. It was originally a form of signal horn called a {{lang|de|Halbmond}} ({{Lit.|half-moon}}), a large, semicircular brass or silver valveless horn with a conical bore.{{sfn|Koehler|2014|p=55}} Military use dates from the Seven Years' War, during which the instrument was employed as a predecessor of the bugle.<ref name="Grove">{{Cite Grove|last1=Baines |first1=Anthony |last2=Herbert |first2=Trevor |title=Flugelhorn |id=09887}}</ref>

The first version of a valved bugle was sold in Berlin in 1828 by Heinrich Stölzel, inventor of the first piston valves.{{sfn|Baines|1976|p=230}} Those early valved instruments were built to replace the keyed bugle, and retained its red brass or copper bell construction. The valved bugles also provided the Paris-based instrument maker Adolphe Sax, creator of the saxophone, with the inspiration for his saxhorn family of instruments, including the B♭ soprano size which served as the model for the modern piston-valve flugelhorn.<ref name="Grove" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/flugelhorn-contralto-saxhorn-adolphe-edouard-sax-1859-1945/zwHxMZYvul94ig|title=Flugelhorn (Contralto Saxhorn) - Adolphe Edouard Sax (1859-1945)|website=Artsandculture.google.com|access-date=19 April 2021|archive-date=27 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221127064305/https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/flugelhorn-contralto-saxhorn-adolphe-edouard-sax-1859-1945/zwHxMZYvul94ig|url-status=live}}</ref>

A compact version of the rotary valve flugelhorn is the oval shaped kuhlohorn in B♭ developed in the late 1890s by Johannes Kuhlo. Kuhlo and his father Eduard Kuhlo founded the {{lang|de|Posaunenchor}} movement, which introduced a brass choir to German Protestant churches. The kuhlohorn provided a softer soprano, closer to the human voice than the trumpet.{{sfn|Herbert|Myers|Wallace|2019|p=239|loc=Kuhlohorn}}

== Construction ==

{{Multiple image | total_width = 260px | align = right | perrow = 2 | image1 = Yamaha Flugelhorn YFH-8310Z.jpg | image2 = Yamaha Flugelhorn YFH-436G.jpg | alt1 = Photograph of a piston-valve flugelhorn | alt2 = Photograph of a rotary-valve flugelhorn | footer_align = left | footer = Modern flugelhorns, with piston valves ''left'', and rotary valves, ''right'' (Yamaha Corporation) }} The flugelhorn is generally pitched in B♭, like most trumpets and cornets. It usually has three piston valves, though instruments made in central and eastern Europe are built with rotary valves. Some modern flugelhorns feature a fourth valve that lowers the pitch by a perfect fourth, like the fourth valve on most euphoniums, tubas, and piccolo trumpets. This adds a useful low range that, coupled with the flugelhorn's darker sound, extends the instrument's capabilities.{{sfn|Herbert|Myers|Wallace|2019|p=177|loc=Flugelhorn}}

The flugelhorn is distinguished from both the cornet and trumpet by its wider conical bore, which undergoes conical expansion for a longer proportion of its tubing. The flugelhorn's (necessarily cylindrical) valves are mounted directly onto the leadpipe a short distance from the mouthpiece receiver, leaving a much longer proportion of its length to gradually expand into the bell flare. On the trumpet and cornet, the leadpipe is much longer, and the valves are mounted after the first bow, resulting in a higher proportion of cylindrical bore tubing.{{sfn|Herbert|Myers|Wallace|2019|p=177|loc=Flugelhorn}}

The internal profile of a flugelhorn mouthpiece is more deeply conical than trumpet and cornet mouthpieces, which are shaped more like a cup, but less conical than a horn mouthpiece.

A bass flugelhorn in C, called a ''fiscorn'', is used in pairs in the ''cobla'' bands of Catalonia, that provide music for ''sardana'' dancers.{{sfn|Herbert|Myers|Wallace|2019|p=174|loc=Fiscorn}}

== Performance ==

The valves on the flugelhorn give it the same facility and agility as the cornet or trumpet, but it can be more difficult to control in the high register from approximately written G{{sub|5}}, where in general it locks onto notes less easily.{{cn|date=May 2026}} It employs the same fingering system, so its similarity in size means it can be played by trumpet and cornet players, with some adjustment to breath and embouchure.

The flugelhorn is used frequently in jazz and popular music. It figured prominently in many of Burt Bacharach's 1960s pop song arrangements, and had a solo role in Bert Kaempfert's 1962 recording of "That Happy Feeling".

The flugelhorn is found in the Dutch and Belgian {{lang|nl|Fanfareorkesten}} ({{Lit.|fanfare orchestras}}). The flugelhorns have a significant role in these orchestras, often 10 to 20 in number. They are pitched in B♭ and occasionally add an E♭ solo part, although it is often played on an E♭ trumpet or cornet.

Flugelhorns have occasionally been used as the alto or low soprano voice in a drum and bugle corps, and it is also a standard member of the British brass band. The 1996 British film ''Brassed Off'' features a flugelhorn performance of the Adagio from Rodrigo's ''Concierto de Aranjuez'' as a pivotal plot device.<ref name="brassed-off">{{cite news |last1=Watkins |first1=Jack |title=How we made Brassed Off |date=24 April 2017 |newspaper=The Guardian |url= https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/apr/24/how-we-made-brassed-off-tara-fitzgerald-stephen-tompkinson-interview |access-date=25 October 2019}}</ref> The solo was played by Paul Hughes.<ref name="brassed-off-imdb">{{cite web |title=Brassed Off (1996) |website=IMDb |url= https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115744/soundtrack |access-date=25 October 2019}}</ref>

=== Timbre ===

thumb|Flugelhorn excerpt thumb|B♭ trumpet playing the same excerpt

The ''timbre'' of the flugelhorn is softer than the trumpet or cornet. Its wide conical bore dampens the higher frequency partials in the sound to produce a mellow, more rounded tone quality compared to instruments with a cylindrical bore at the same pitch.{{sfn|Herbert|Myers|Wallace|2019|pp=401–402|loc="Timbre"}} The sound of the flugelhorn has been described as halfway between a trumpet and a horn, whereas the cornet's sound is halfway between a trumpet and a flugelhorn.{{sfn|Forsyth|1914|p=165}}

=== Notable players ===

Joe Bishop, as a member of the Woody Herman band in 1936, was one of the earliest jazz musicians to use the flugelhorn. Shorty Rogers and Kenny Baker began playing it in the early 1950s, and Clark Terry used it in Duke Ellington's orchestra in the mid-1950s. Chet Baker recorded several albums on the instrument in the 1950s and 1960s. Miles Davis further popularized the instrument in jazz on his early albums ''Miles Ahead'' and ''Sketches of Spain'', both arranged by Gil Evans.{{sfn|Koehler|2014|p=55}}

While most jazz flugelhorn players use the instrument as an auxiliary to the trumpet, in the 1970s Chuck Mangione gave up playing the trumpet and concentrated on the flugelhorn alone, notably on his jazz-pop hit song "Feels So Good" (1978).<ref name="mangione-obit">{{Cite news |first=Adam |last=Sweeting |title=Chuck Mangione obituary |date=5 August 2025 |newspaper=The Guardian |url= https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/aug/05/chuck-mangione-obituary |access-date=7 May 2026}}</ref>

Pop flugelhorn players include Probyn Gregory (Brian Wilson Band), Ronnie Wilson of The Gap Band, Rick Braun, Mic Gillette, Jeff Oster, Zach Condon of the band Beirut, Scott Spillane of the band Neutral Milk Hotel, Terry Kirkman of the band The Association, Annie Chappell and Rashawn Ross of the Dave Matthews Band. Marvin Stamm played the flugelhorn solo on "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" by Paul and Linda McCartney.<ref>{{cite web|title=Uncle Albert - Admiral Halsey by Paul McCartney |url=https://www.songfacts.com/facts/paul-mccartney/uncle-albert-admiral-halsey |website=Songfacts |access-date=22 June 2021}}</ref>

Classical flugelhorn players include Sergei Nakariakov and Kirill Soldatov.<ref>{{cite web|title=A. Vivaldi Double Cello Concerto g-moll (arr. for 2 flugelhorns)|website = YouTube| date=9 April 2015 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quWNwBvF1hU| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/quWNwBvF1hU| archive-date=2021-12-11 | url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

== Repertoire ==

The flugelhorn appears occasionally in orchestral music. Works with flugelhorn include Igor Stravinsky's ''Threni'' (1957),<ref>{{cite news |title=From The Turntable – Stravinsky: Threni |date=13 January 1960 |newspaper=The Harvard Crimson |url= https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1960/1/13/stravinsky-threni-pcolumbia-symphony-orchestra-schola/ |access-date=25 October 2019}}</ref> Ralph Vaughan Williams's Symphony No. 9 (1958),<ref>{{cite web |last1=Stumpf II |first1=Robert |title=CD Review: Leopold Stokowski Conducts New Music |url= http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/c/cal00539a.php |website=Classical Net |access-date=25 October 2019}}</ref> and Michael Tippett's Symphony No. 3 (1972).<ref>{{cite web |last1=Clements |first1=Andrew |title=Tippett: Symphonies Nos 3 & 4; Symphony in B flat review {{!}} Andrew Clements's classical CD of the week |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/feb/28/tippett-symphonies-nos-3-4-symphony-in-b-flat-review-crisp-sinewy-revival |website=The Guardian |access-date=25 October 2019 |date=28 February 2019}}</ref> The flugelhorn is often used for the post horn solo in Mahler's Symphony No. 3 (1898),<ref>{{cite web |first=Gustav |last=Mahler |author-link=Gustav Mahler |title=Symphony No. 3, GMW 31 |date=1898 |publisher=Josef Weinberger |publication-place=Vienna |url= https://imslp.org/wiki/Symphony_No.3_(Mahler,_Gustav) |access-date=25 October 2019 |via=International Music Score Library Project }}</ref> and for the soprano ''flicorni'' called for in the fourth movement of Ottorino Respighi's ''Pini di Roma'' (1924), intended to be played on replicas of the ''buccine'' from Ancient Rome.{{sfn|Herbert|Myers|Wallace|2019|pp=176–177|loc=Flugelhorn}}

Contemporary trumpet concertos sometimes require the player to double on flugelhorn. In H. K. Gruber's trumpet concerto ''Busking'' (2007), the soloist is directed to play a flugelhorn for the slow second movement.{{sfn|Herbert|Myers|Wallace|2019|pp=176–177|loc=Flugelhorn}}<ref>{{cite web |title=BIS Records - HK Gruber - Busking |url= https://bis.se/composer/gruber-hk-heinz-karl/hk-gruber-busking |website=bis.se |access-date=25 October 2019 |archive-date=27 January 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210127163800/https://bis.se/composer/gruber-hk-heinz-karl/hk-gruber-busking |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== References ==

{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==

{{refbegin}} {{ubli | {{Cite Q|last=Baines |date=1976 |first=Anthony |Q125474545}} | {{Cite Grove |first1=Anthony |last=Baines |first2=Trevor |last2=Herbert |title=Flugelhorn |id=09887}} | {{Cite Q|last=Dudgeon |date=2004 |first=Ralph T. |language=en, de |translator-last=Streitwieser |translator-first=Franz X. |translator-link=Franz Streitwieser |Q139677729}} | {{Cite Q|last=Forsyth |date=1914 |first=Cecil |Q121879329}} | {{Cite Q|editor1-last=Herbert |editor2-last=Myers |editor3-last=Wallace |date=2019 |editor1-first=Trevor |editor2-first=Arnold |editor3-first=John |url=unset |publication-place=unset|Q136027509}} | {{Cite Q|last=Koehler |date=2014 |first=Elisa |Q136110383}} | {{Cite Q|last=Yurochko |date=1993 |first=Bob |Q139677644}} }} {{refend}}

== External links ==

* {{Commons-inline}} * [http://www.jewelrygenius.com/flugInfo.html An overview and brief history of the flugelhorn], including a short sound clip * [https://web.archive.org/web/20151222224027/http://www.thetrumpetblog.com/how-to-play-a-flugel-horn/ How to play a flugelhorn] at TheTrumpetBlog.com

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Category:B-flat instruments Category:Brass instruments Category:Horns Category:Orchestral instruments Category:Concert band instruments