And, of course, Mozart is often played on period instruments, in which case we absolutely *do* expect the players to turn their horns into a horn in G or horn in E flat, even in the 21st century.
I believe the origin of not using key signatures is this. Since the original notation was transposed to the key of the piece, the horn parts (and trumpet parts for that matter) almost never needed key signatures. The practice of omitting key sigs for horns and trumpets continued into the 19th century, for the most part, even though by then the instruments had grown valves and no longer were necessarily transposed to the key of the piece. (An interesting situation *with* a key signature is the 3rd movement of the Brahms Horn Trio.)
I agree with Aaron Sherber to a point. Horn players certainly receive no special training that omits learning keys. (It is to laugh.) But orchestral horn players do not see them that frequently, either, so we end up penciling in many cautionaries when we have them. If the style is highly chromatic or has ambiguous tonality, you are better off omitting key sigs. Much band music, brass ensemble music, ad jingle music, and essentially all Nashville gospel music has utterly unambiguous tonality. Horn parts in these styles routinely have key signatures, and they present absolutely no problem to anyone. Indeed, I would argue that key sigs are preferable in these styles (provided they appear at the beginning of every line.)
Taris L Flashpaw wrote:
One other option would be that in newer editions of such music, key signatures should be added to the music. I mean, we don't expect horn players to be able to turn their horns into a horn in G or a horn in E flat just because that's what Mozart asked for, so why shouldn't we add the proper key signatures to his music to bring it into line with modern notation standards?
-- Robert Patterson
http://RobertGPatterson.com
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