© 2026 WMRA and WEMC
NPR News & NPR Talk 90.7 Central Shenandoah Valley - 103.5 Charlottesville - 89.9 Lexington - 94.5 Winchester - 91.3 Farmville
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Alphorns Are The Perfect Instrument For Social Distancing

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Rachel Martin. Germans are reviving the perfect musical instrument for social distancing - alphorns.

(SOUNDBITE OF ALPHORNS PLAYING)

MARTIN: The large wooden horns can be more than 10 feet in length. They are traditional in the Alps, and they sound like this.

(SOUNDBITE OF ALPHORNS PLAYING)

MARTIN: These professional alphorn players serenaded the German city of Dresden from the top of a towering apartment building this weekend - a very 2020 use of an instrument built to be heard from miles in the 19th-century Alps. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.