A DISSONANT HISTORY: THE FRENCH HORN AS A MARKER OF OPPRESSION AND FREEDOM IN THE LIVES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSICIANS

Abstract

For hundreds of years the French horn was a symbol of aristocracy in Europe, not for its affiliation with concert music, but for its use by huntsmen. When American sons of European immigrants sponsored hunting parties on their estates, enslaved persons performed the duties of huntsmen. George Washington, the quintessential Founding Father, enslaved a huntsman named William Lee who served at his side during the Revolutionary War. A horn made by George Henry Rodenbostel currently resides at Mount Vernon, purportedly having belonged to Washington. The horn is an interesting artifact in the history of horn playing in America. </DISS_para> <DISS_para>French horn player, bandleader, and bugler Francis Johnson established the beginning of the African American brass band tradition in the early 19th century. The United States Colored Troops were formed during the Civil War, and bands played an important role in the USCT, but the horn’s importance had declined. Postbellum minstrel bands brought the French horn back into widespread use, by African American and white people. The years between Reconstruction and the Civil Rights Movement saw a great deal of musical expression and experimentation from African American musicians; French horn players like Julius Watkins and Willie Ruff created opportunities in the jazz idiom. In the late 20th century, Robert Watt and Jerome Ashby opened the door to full-time orchestral jobs for African American horn players. African American musicians were fettered for over a century with Jim Crow, segregation, and institutional structures that did not allow them to succeed or to pursue success. This document fills in gaps in historical knowledge, and provides a narrative for the history of African American horn playing.