South Asia—A World Premiere in Sri Lanka
by Vidhurinda Samaraweera
Introduction
The southern coast of Sri Lanka will provide a picturesque backdrop for the world premiere of a captivating new composition by Italian composer Niccolò Faraci. Titled On the Wings of Music, this ten-movement work for horn, vibraphone, and strings offers an auditory feast that will resonate within the historic walls of the Dutch Reformed Church in Galle. The event will serve as a testament to the nation's growing reputation as a hub for premiering contemporary classical works.
Composition and Composer
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| Composer Niccolò Faraci |
Niccolò Faraci, a contemporary Italian composer, will be present in Sri Lanka to witness the work’s debut, an eloquent synthesis of serial writing and jazz harmonies. His piece harnesses the horn's versatility, color, and range, including its lower registers which border trombone timbres. The composition is also notable for the engaging interplay between solo horn and the complementary sounds of a vibraphone set against the backdrop of a full string orchestra.
Performance
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| Srimal Weerasinghe, Conductor |
The Gustav Mahler Orchestra of Colombo, under the musical direction of Maestro Srimal Weerasinghe, will bring the complex and nuanced score of On the Wings of Music to life. I have the privilege of playing the solo horn part which is central to conveying the expressive potential of Faraci's work.
Cultural Significance
This premiere, a collaborative presentation of UNESCO, the Embassy of Italy in Sri Lanka, and the Gustav Mahler Society of Colombo, highlights a flourishing period for Sri Lankan music, as local and international composers increasingly choose the island as a locale for first performances. The Gustav Mahler Orchestra of Colombo has become a cornerstone in this cultural landscape, providing a platform on which new compositions may be heard and appreciated.
Venue and Attendees
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| The Dutch Reformed Church, Galle |
The Dutch Reformed Church in Galle, recognized as a UNESCO heritage site, adds to the event's splendor, enhancing the cultural and historical significance of the occasion. The premiere will be attended by distinguished guests, including the Honorable Ambassador of Italy to Sri Lanka, the President of UNESCO—Sri Lanka, and numerous music aficionados, all of whom will bear witness to this unique premiere.
Remarks
On the Wings of Music is more than just a new addition to the horn repertoire; it is a symbol of the vibrant international collaboration and cultural exchange thriving in Sri Lanka. The performance will celebrate not only the horn's rich sonority and versatility, but it also affirms the country's position as an important destination for the arts. The premiere signifies a bright future for contemporary composers in Sri Lanka and for the audiences who come to revel in their works.
Student Column—Getting Started with “Gig” Opportunities
by Inman Hebert
Many horn students seek paid opportunities to play the horn as they become more advanced. Finding these “gigs,” which can range from part-time orchestral work to playing at churches, can prove challenging. For students starting this search, understanding what is available in one’s local region and building interpersonal connections can unlock your first opportunities.
Research will help students identify opportunities in a geographic area. Students who live in a city will not need to look as far as those in more rural locations who may need to broaden their region to include nearby counties or parishes, states or provinces. Become familiar with the smaller, part-time orchestras, their schedules, principal horn players, and personnel managers. Also, delve into non-orchestral work possibilities, such as church performances, particularly in holiday seasons. Engaging with teachers and other professionals in the field can provide valuable insights into what is available, where and when.
Relative to orchestral playing, students can utilize websites (such as musicalchairs.info) for auditions available in their area. Some of these auditions will be for per-service work, and others may be for salaried positions. Additionally, some orchestras hold auditions for their sub lists, providing top players the chance to obtain work as substitute and extra players.
Opportunities can also be obtained through forming and maintaining interpersonal connections. Many orchestras do not hold auditions for their sub list, meaning players often land on these lists by knowing the principal horn player or the orchestra's personnel manager. Asking the principal horn players of local orchestras for lessons can initiate this connection. If one plays well, these lessons can secure them a place on the sub list for the orchestra. Also, be aware of the role of the local musicians’ union. Local unions often maintain lists of musicians from which employers hire. The horn community is interconnected, so our interactions with our peers, mentors, and others in the music community can determine whether we get referred for a “gig.”
After obtaining these first opportunities, we must always bear in mind that professionalism on the job influences subsequent invitations and future success. Professionalism often boils down to being prepared, on time, easy to work with, and respectful to new colleagues. While these steps sound simple, they are critical to building a positive reputation. Securing paid work performing as a horn student hinges on reputation and networking. It is crucial to establish yourself as a skilled, collaborative, and professional musician.
Research to Resonance—The Power of Good Questions
by Katy Carnaggio
When a horn player gets a request to teach a soprano singer, you know things are about to get interesting.
One chilly January morning, I opened my inbox to find a life-changing email. The sender, who we'll call “Beyoncé” for the sake of anonymity and dramatic flair, had spent the previous year auditioning for graduate programs in vocal performance. Though stunningly talented and powerfully expressive (as I’d soon learn), she had received no offers. Now back on the audition circuit with another disappointing audition under her belt, she was on the hunt for a teacher.
Her message melted my heart:
I find it virtually impossible to sing freely and openly. It’s a losing battle between my mind and body. I’ve tried breathing exercises and positive thinking, but no matter what, I end up in the same terrified, tense state.
I knew instantly that I was perfect for the job.
Of course, I had no singing skills and zero experience teaching vocalists, let alone the ability to speak loudly enough to be heard in a crowded restaurant. And opera? Not my specialty. But so what? I know a thing or two about body vs. mind battles, and I was determined to help.
What I didn’t know was what to expect for our first lesson. So naturally, I panicked and did what any rational person would do: I tried to learn everything! With her next audition just a week away, I spent 48 hours in impassioned hyperfocus, writing out everything I knew about performance science, organizing it into an easy-access database, and frantically filling in my knowledge gaps.
Now, before you get too excited, I should mention she ended up getting into her top-choice program, but it had almost nothing to do with my heroic database of answers. What quickly became clear was that she didn’t need answers. She needed questions to help her notice, trust, and follow the tiny sparks already within her that lit her path forward better than if the real Beyoncé herself had been in the room coaching her instead!
As a musician (and, really, in life), I’ve learned that when I’m struggling to move forward, it’s often because I’m trying to force an answer that just isn’t there. Instead, I need to step back and ask a different question. Interesting questions help us uncover approaches which are uniquely and perfectly suited to us—ones that no one else could ever offer. It’s not just our music that reflects our artistry. When we take a break from searching for answers externally and instead look within, our process, our way of being, and our connection with the audience all become expressions of our artistry, too.
So if you are trying to change something in your practice or performance, but you’re feeling stuck, I made this monthly reflection and planning guide for you! (Well, actually, I made it for “Beyoncé,” but you all can use it, too!)
It’s a simple start to help you track your wins, leverage your lessons, and give you essential info about how to get to where you want to go next.
Who knew that asking just the right questions could make designing a strategic plan for the month ahead easy, breezy, and fun!?
Click here to save it to your Google Drive for when you’re ready to knock out a planning session for June!
Meet the People—Myrddin Rees Davies
by Myrddin Rees Davies
Hi! I’m Myrddin (a Welsh name pronounced Mur-then, which is normally the first question people ask me), and I’m the new assistant to the executive director. I’m really excited to be working for the IHS, and I will be your point-of-call should you have any questions about your membership.
I’ve been around brass instruments for most of my life, growing up as part of the UK’s wonderful tradition of brass banding and eventually finding my way onto the horn. After studies in Oxford and London, I joined the Cairo Symphony Orchestra and spent three adventurous (both on and off stage) years as principal horn, performing across Egypt and the Middle East.
In 2022, I left Cairo to move to France to be with my partner, a decision which those of you familiar with British politics will know is more difficult than it has been in the past. However, it was a wonderful year, getting up early every day to take French lessons at the town hall, looking after two children as an au pair, and taking on an internship at a leading Parisian classical agency.
Having enjoyed this taste of arts management, I joined UK-based agency Avanti Arts in 2023 as an assistant artist manager, a job in which I feel tremendously fortunate to be able to work with a wide range of world-class musicians—and to go to plenty of concerts.
I am terrifically excited to be starting in this new role at the IHS alongside my other position, and I am very much looking forward to helping and connecting with you all in the future!
Composer Spotlight—Margaret Bonds
by Caiti Beth McKinney
Hi everyone!
This month, I’ll be sharing about another orchestral composer, Chicago-born Margaret Bonds. Born in 1913, Bonds was an integral part of the African American arts and cultural movement known as the Chicago Black Renaissance. You may recognize the name of one of Bonds’ dear friends and musical companions, composer Florence Price (1887-1953). In fact, Bonds was such a skilled pianist that she performed Price’s Piano Concerto in 1933 with the Chicago Symphony at the World’s Fair, making her the first African American woman to be featured as a soloist with a major American symphony orchestra.
Lately, Bonds is becoming a household name for vocalists and choral directors thanks to her extensive compositional output for voice, but she also composed several substantial pieces for orchestra, musical theater, and piano. Many of her works were written in collaboration with noted poet, author, and fellow member of the Chicago Renaissance, Langston Hughes (1901-1967), by setting his words to music.
When it comes to the horn, orchestral music doesn’t get more brass-heavy than the opening of Margaret Bonds’ Montgomery Variations (1964). Trumpets, horns, and trombones perform the unbroken and unapologetic melody based on the Negro spiritual I Want Jesus to Walk with Me, while the strings punctuate with accented bursts of sound. For a piece about the Civil Rights movement and the bravery of Black Americans who fought for their rights and equality, Bonds’ emphatic use of the brass is incredibly appropriate for the first movement, which she titled Decision, named after Black Americans’ decision to defy the infamous Jim Crow laws of the South. The piece is named after the Montgomery bus boycotts of the mid-1950s and was written in the immediate aftermath of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing of 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama. Very recently, Bonds’ work has been garnering recordings and performances by orchestras like the Boston Symphony and Minnesota Orchestra, but it is still, unfortunately, relatively unknown in the broader orchestral world.
Chamber Music Corner—Joachim Nicolas Eggert’s Sextet in F minor
by Layne Anspach
Hello musicians!
Joachim Nicolas Eggert (1779-1813) was a Swedish composer and conductor, born in Gingst, Rügen, which is now part of Germany. Eggert started his formal musical studies in Stralsund and Brunswick; he held his first music director post in Mecklenburg-Schwerin in 1802. Shortly after, he left for Sweden as he took a position in the Royal Court Orchestra, first as a violinist (1803-07), then as the hovkapellmästare (chief conductor; 1808-12). Eggert’s health deteriorated during the winter of 1813 and, shortly thereafter, he died at the age of 34.
Eggert focused most of his chamber writing on string music: a string sextet, a piano quartet, and at least twelve string quartets. He also wrote a sextet for clarinet, horn, violin, viola, cello, and bass, which will be our focus. It is hypothesized that the work was inspired by Beethoven’s Septet, op. 20, as the septet was quite popular in Stockholm during this time. The work was to be performed on a concert in May 1807 but was not performed when some of the musicians became ill.
Written in a sonata form, the first movement, Adagio - Allegro, begins with the lowest strings in a somber, slow introduction. The horn then interjects the first theme, and a second theme is presented by the clarinet and violin. The development is melodically carried by the clarinet and violin while being pushed forward by the low strings. The recapitulation is marked, as expected, by the return of the first theme. In a change from the exposition, the horn and violin play the second theme, with the clarinet eventually taking over from the horn.
The second movement, Adagio, begins, in a similar fashion to the first, with the low strings. The clarinet emerges with the melody, periodically relinquishing the role to others as the movement progresses, but always regaining it. In the closing, the horn is heard with a countermelody as the clarinet brings the movement to a gentle conclusion.
The Menuetto follows the compound ternary form typical of a minuet and trio. The menuetto starts, yet again, with the low strings, but it is quickly spurred on by the clarinet and violin, either in tandem or in turn. The trio is characterized by a lighter, quieter character. The violin and clarinet alternate two-note figures while the horn plays a running passage. The trio continues with the three top voices carrying the melodic content before the da capo.
The Finale is a light and quick concluding movement. Interspersed with fermati which allow the movement to restart at regular intervals, the clarinet and violin present the vast majority of the melodic content. Sprightly passages jolt additional excitement into the movement, which concludes in a familiar classical style.
The reference recording is by the Consortium Classicum.
The Ambitious Amateur—Efficient Playing
by Marty Schlenker
Dear Fellow Amateurs,
Last month, I shared some of the results of a longer stretch of daily practice than my business travel had been allowing. I was able to make some progress reshaping my oral cavity, with positive effects to tone and flexibility. I have a much longer journey ahead to strengthen my embouchure after many years of substituting large muscles for small muscles, basically squashing my lips onto the mouthpiece to achieve a narrow aperture.
This month, I’d like to stay with the subject of horn playing as physical activity. We all know and appreciate that horn playing is physical. We’ve concluded marathon rehearsals with sore ribs, swollen embouchures, and, ideally, a sense of relief, appreciation for the music we helped make, and the satisfaction that comes from having accomplished something.
And yet, as I’ve resumed lessons and paid new attention to playing tips I discover on the internet and elsewhere, the subject of efficiency has come up more and more often. We pursue efficiency not to expend less effort, but to maximally realize the effort we expend as musical effect.
After 16 months of living in central Pennsylvania, I finally caught the Harrisburg Symphony, attending two premier performances of the oratorio Saul by Jonathan Leshnoff. The symphony was joined by the Susquehanna Chorale and the Messiah University Concert Choir.
It was a big work, with fine horn writing and equally fine execution by the Harrisburg section. With choirs, the typical complement of orchestral winds, and a very large string section, the horns had a challenge to be present but not strident, or at least only strident when called for. They worked hard, and the performance worked musically.
What I took home from this is a reminder that, in seeking to become a more efficient player, I should not let down my effort on breathing. Early in my latest lessons, I’d received feedback that I was overplaying. Between that, and concentrating hard on the tonguing, oral cavity, and embouchure changes also underway, breathing had taken a back seat. This wasn’t deliberate, but my visit to Harrisburg made me think, “Am I doing what they’re doing?” In the breathing department, the answer was no. So, I picked up my effort, and it seems to be helping. In many contexts, we hear “work smarter, not harder.” In my playing, “work smarter, but work nonetheless” seems to fit.
Coincidentally, the May 2024 edition of Marilyn B. Kloss’ Cornucopia newsletter has an interesting piece by Dylan Skye Hart on breathing physiology, Breathing with the Whole Body. It’s a quick read and includes additional resources.
I’ll close by asking you all once again to get in touch and share your own journeys as amateur hornists. You know things that can help others. Share your gifts. marty.schlenker@cavaliers.org.
Your servant and kindred spirit,
Marty Schlenker, Amateur Hornist
