The Swedish cowhorn (Swedish: kohorn) is a primitive musical instrument constructed from the natural horn of livestock. The instrument has no separate mouthpiece and is blown similarly to a trumpet but with much greater force. There are two types of traditional cowhorns: one without finger holes for scaring off bears and wolves while herding livestock in the forest ("tuthorn") and one with three or four finger holes for calling the domestic animals or other people ("vallhorn"). The cowhorn was used in the Swedish transhumance or fäbodkultur, an ancient system of moving the cattle to remote summer pastures, thus making more efficient use of scarce resources. This was mostly women's work, which is why women excelled at cowhorn playing. Different melodies carried different meanings such as "one of my cows is missing" or "stop looking, your cow is here". Cows, sheep and goats would have each their own melody which made them come back from their foraging. Cowhorns were also played for entertainment, for dancing or for devotions. A testimony of its long-standing tradition, the oldest extant Swedish cowhorn with finger holes dates to the 6th century.
In contemporary music, cowhorns have been used by musicians such as Swedish trumpeter Håkan Hardenberger.[1]
^Schweitzer, Vivien (2006-10-22). "MUSIC: CLASSICAL RECORDINGS; Does Music Need to Come With Stories Attached?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-08-24.
The Swedishcowhorn (Swedish: kohorn) is a primitive musical instrument constructed from the natural horn of livestock. The instrument has no separate...
main spire of most of the sacred temples belonging to this church. Swedishcowhorn Bukkehorn The shells of some very large sea snails are modified by...
to it not being mentioned in any Swedish sources, suggests it's not a bagpipe but another name for the Swedishcowhorn. Zampogna (also called ciaramella...
Bayreuth's steerhorns after the end of World War II. Swedishcowhorn Marcuse, Sibyl (1964). "Cowhorn". Musical instruments; a comprehensive dictionary....
matches with Swedishcowhorns. In Sweden these instruments were also called "vallhorn" ("vall" from "vallning", which means herding in Swedish) and possibly...
rosewood), ebony and stained hornbeam, as well as other materials such as cowhorn. The Opinel Slim Effilé series uses a tapered handle with a slender clip...
"fingerhole horn", was seen in the 13th to 15th centuries A.D. The earliest cowhorn instruments were played with one hand covering four or fewer fingerholes...
more advanced instruments to which they lent their names.[3] The Germanic cowhorn, or Stierhorn, which was generally made from the horn of an aurochs or...