How are the 4 French Horn parts in an orchestral piece paired/arranged range-wise?

Question

I am composing a piece for full orchestra and want to make sure that my parts are conventional. I know that there are typically four horn parts, but are 1 and 2 high parts, 1 and 3, or something else?

Answer 1

The answer depends on the type of composition you are creating. In older orchestral works, high horn parts were composed for the 1st & 3rd horns; lower parts for the 2nd & 4th horns. This was due to the "keys" that the horns were fashioned since there were no valves on horns. In Concert Band music or Wind Ensemble music, it is more traditional to have the higher horn parts for 1st & 2nd horns; and lower parts for 3rd & 4th horns.

Answer 2

I hope this response isn't too late! Horn parts work in pairs, so 1st and 3rd are typically the "high horns" with 2nd and 4th adding the lower support. This goes for added horn parts as well; if we had a 5th horn they will be high while 6th would typically be low.

This dates back to the days of needing to change crooks for keys/slowly changing from hand horn to valved instruments. A fantastic is example is Brahms - you will notice the 1st and 2nd horns are commonly in the key for the movement while the 3rd and 4th are in a complimentary key. This doubled his key areas that the horn could participate in his compositions.