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Glite Dictionary
cor anglais

cor anglais

9.9
A musical instrument like an oboe but lower and with a mellow tone
  • noun
  • /kɔr æŋˈleɪ/
translation icon : corno inglés
  • She played the cor anglais beautifully during the concert, captivating the audience with its unique sound.

Examples

  • Some may not know that Kieron started his career in the Halle orchestra as a very fine cor anglais player, and again I drew inspiration from hearing him on a few occasions.

    Blog text (18)

  • Playing Cor Anglais for him in the Symphony Orchestra was a highlight.

    Blog text (18)

  • (Cor anglais solo)

    Children (1976)

  • The cor anglais adds a rich, warm tone to orchestral pieces that the oboe cannot match.

  • In the symphony, the cor anglais often plays the melancholy melodies that express deep emotion.

Synonyms

English horn
vscor anglais
1 6.1

A woodwind instrument like an oboe that has a lower, warm sound

specifies the same instrument pitched lower typically in F

Surface Forms

cor anglais singular
cor anglais plural

Morphology

cor + anglais

The phrase is a French loan literally meaning 'English horn' (cor = horn, anglais = English), so a learner who knows the constituents can infer it denotes a horn-like musical instrument. However, the specific technical sense — a double-reed woodwind similar to but pitched lower than an oboe — is not predictable from 'horn' + 'English', and the components are in French rather than English, so only partial comprehension is likely.

Etymology

Cor anglais literally means cor 'horn' and anglais 'English' in French, even though the instrument is not a true horn and is not really English. One popular story says the name may come from an old word meaning 'angled' because early instruments had a bent tube, and that's why today cor anglais means the lower, mellow instrument similar to an oboe.