A woodwind instrument, and, along with the oboe and the bassoon, one of the double reeds typically played in orchestral and opera music of the US and Europe.

The English Horn looks quite a bit like an oboe, only larger. It is pitched one fifth lower than the oboe, and has a rich, dark tone that can be used to mournful or seductive effect. Its double reed is placed on the end of a short bocal that joins the reed to the body of the instrument.

Famous solos for English Horn are found in the second movement of Antonin Dvorak's New World Symphony, and in Hector Berlioz's Roman Carnival Overture.

The modern day descendant of the oboe di caccia (literally, hunting oboe or oboe of the hunt), the English Horn is the second most common member of the oboe family. The origins of the name come from the French "cor anglais," which itself is a corruption of "cor anglé," that is, "bent horn." The "bent" comes from the fact that the original oboe di caccia was a bent or curved instrument, suiting the length of the instrument to the natural position of the arms.

While the body of the modern English Horn is straight, this bend continues to exist in the bocal, which is long and...bent toward the player to facilitate playing.

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