Who invented the French horn?
The modern orchestral brass double horn was an invention based on early hunting horns. Horns were first used as musical instruments during 16th century operas. During the 17th century changes were made to the bell end (larger and flared bubbles) of the horn and the cor de chasse or the French horn, as the English called it, was born. German Fritz Kruspe is most often credited as the inventor of the modern double horn in 1900.
The horn
The first horns were monotonous instruments. In 1753, a German musician named Hampel invented the means to apply movable slides of different lengths that changed the key of the horn. In the 19th century, valves were used, creating the modern French horn and finally the double horn. The question is whether it is possible to trace the invention of the horn to one person. However, two inventors are named as the first to invent a valve for the horn. According to the Brass Society , Heinrich Stoelzel (1777-1844), member of the Prince of Pless band, invented a valve he applied to the horn by July 1814 (the first French horn) and Friedrich Blühmel (1808 - before 1845), a miner who played trumpet and horn in a band in Waldenburg, is also associated with the invention of the valve.
Inventor of French Horn
According to A Brief History of Horn Evolution, double French horns were invented by both Edmund Gumpert and Fritz Kruspe at the end of the 19th century. The German Fritz Kruspe, who was most often identified as the inventor of the modern double horn, combined the pitches of the horn in F with the horn in B Flat in 1900
