This introduction to the early horn provides a historical account of the instrument's development during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as well as a practical guide to playing techniques and principles of interpretation. The book aims to help performers to play in an historically appropriate style and to guide listeners towards a clearer understanding of the issues which affected the way the horn was played during the period. It includes chapters on the historical background of the instrument, its design and development, and choice of instrument today. A series of case studies which include the music of Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann and Brahms, will help performers to make a well-grounded, period interpretation of major works from the horn repertoire. Complemented by an extensive bibliography, this accessible guide will appeal to players of all levels.

'Rarely can anything have been written on the early history of the horn that is quite as accessible and flowing as John Humphries' The Early Horn, A Practical Guide. While others may have made hard work of describing the horn's passage from hunting to double, John's text flows almost as a novel … whatever type of horn you play … this book will give you a greater understanding of your instrument.' Ian Wagstaff, The Horn Magazine
'John Humphries has written an eminently readable book packed with fascinating information about the horn of the 18th and 19th centuries … Nowhere else is such an amount of information on the early horn available in a single, reliable, readable source.' Early Music