Horn fifths

What it means

Horn fifths (German Hornquinten) is the name of a two-voice turn in which two voices proceed from a fifth via a third to a further fifth or octave. It arises from the possibilities of the natural horn: the latter has only the notes of the harmonic series, and in the middle register the available notes lie so that precisely such progressions result. What was at first a limitation of the instrument became a sound figure with recognition value of its own.

Musical use

For the study of composition this turn represents an exception. Parallel fifths count in strict writing as forbidden, because they cancel the independence of the voices; the horn fifths, however, do not lead directly from fifth to fifth but via an intermediate step, and were therefore treated as permissible — at least where they stand in the familiar sonic context. Their effect is unmistakable: they call up the idea of the horn and thereby a whole surrounding — hunt, forest, distance, natural sound — even when no horn is playing. Composers of the Classical and Romantic periods used them in this sense also in string writing and on the piano.

With the introduction of valves the horn lost its restriction to the natural notes, but the figure remained as a stylistic device.

Horn fifths are to be distinguished from ordinary parallel fifths: decisive are the intermediate step and the context in which the turn stands.

The turn results from the fact that two natural horns can play only the notes of the harmonic series. If they lead a melody in two parts at a position with sixth, fifth, and third, hidden fifths arise between the voices. These parallels counted as permitted because they followed from the construction of the instruments and sonically hint at a signal. They were later transferred to other instruments to recall the hunt and distance.

Performance practice

If you meet this turn, treat it as a tone colour and not as two separate voices: both notes belong together, equally loud and equally articulated, so that the horn sound arises. Play it calmly and without pushing — the effect lies in the openness of the sound. With natural-horn literature, a look at the harmonic series of the respective tuning is worthwhile; it explains why a passage looks the way it does.