The English horn is a misnomer: it is not “English” (it originated in Silesia around 1720) and it is not a “horn” (structurally it is an oboe). The origin of the name has not been definitively established; most likely, the German engellisches Horn (“angelic horn”) was confused with englisches (“English”).
Its sound is the most poetic of the woodwinds. Composers entrust it with their most intimate melodies: the pastoral from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, the English horn theme in Dvořák's Ninth Symphony (New World), the famous plaintive song of Sibelius's The Swan of Tuonela. In modern academic music, the English horn is among composers' most beloved colors.
