Horn on Record
by Ian Zook
Volume 1 – Ádám Friedrich
Welcome to a brand new and ongoing series of articles dedicated to re-discovering and preserving recordings from a bygone era.
For each installment of Horn on Record, we will examine a recording which has existed only on vinyl record and which has not yet been commercially digitized. For each featured album, a retrospective of the artist and album contents will be provided along with comments about historic style and influence—and there will be audio excerpts!
Our first album, produced by Hungaroton in 1973, comes from Ádám Friedrich, and it features a program of standard repertoire: Brahms’ Trio, Op. 40, Schumann’s Adagio & Allegro, and Dukas’ Villanelle, alongside a less-frequently performed work, Duvernoy’s Trio No. 1 for violin, horn, and piano. The collaborating musicians are pianist Sándor Falvai and violinist Miklós Szenthelyi.
Ádám Friedrich (1937-2019) was a Hungarian hornist who grew up in Hajdúböszörmény where his mother was a music teacher. From 1951-1956, he studied at the Miskolc Conservatory. He then entered the Academy of Music in Budapest, where he was a student of Ferenc Romagnoli and Zoltán Lubik.
He joined the Hungarian State Symphony Orchestra in 1960 and served as a first horn from 1966-1991. A founding member of the Budapest Festival Orchestra, Friedrich also performed throughout his career with the Ferenc Liszt Chamber Orchestra and the Hungarian Chamber Orchestra.
Friedrich held numerous teaching positions as well. He began teaching at the Béla Bartók Conservatory in 1973, and then from 1983-1997 at the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music. Between 1994-2002, he was an associate professor at the Béla Bartók Institute of Music at the University of Miskolc.
In 1994, Ádám Friedrich was elected vice-president of the International Horn Society, and the following year, he organized the 1st Hungarian International Horn Festival.
Listening to Ádám Friedrich’s recordings, we can tie the artistry of his interpretations to many of the qualities that make his playing so unique: a vocal and shimmering arc to the phrasing, a compact and precisely crafted tone, and an absolute tidiness in articulation.
Concerning tone color in particular, we can hear that much of the playing is on the Bb horn, with a fair amount of use of the high F horn too. The range of tone colors that Friedrich is able to explore on these shorter tube lengths is illuminating, and it demonstrates that his authentic and graceful sensibilities are only heightened by these choices.
In Dukas’ Villanelle, we will listen as Friedrich floats through the opening espressivo melody:
Later, in the section marked en echo, we hear the ghostly muted effect effortlessly and subtly meld into the ouvert pianissimo:
This recording of Villanelle ends with a jaunty tempo, propelled by Friedrich’s sparkling single-tongue articulations:
The Duvernoy Trio No. 1 in C major only has two movements. As we listen to the opening of the piece, notice the intensity of sound created by the rhythmic and melodic unisons of the performers. This tension gives way to a beautifully spun main theme in the horn. Both Friedrich’s lyrical phrasing and velvety articulations bring this music to life:
Our last excerpt comes from the allegro. Duvernoy’s breezy melodies and idiomatic horn writing further showcase Ádám Friedrich’s nimble style and his blend with the piano’s rhythmic pulsation:
I hope you enjoyed our first installment of Horn on Record! If you would like this vinyl album for yourself, they are available at Discogs. Also, you have the opportunity to help guide the content of this column! Follow this blog link to vote on more upcoming vinyl reviews!
The Eastman School of Music
by Peter Kurau, with Morgan Chalmers
The School
Greetings from the Eastman School of Music Horn Studio! I’m Peter Kurau, Professor of Horn at Eastman where, since 1995, I’ve had the great honor of succeeding my own undergraduate teacher Verne Reynolds in this capacity. This year, I have the pleasure of working with 24 magnificent horn students and collaborating with esteemed horn colleagues William VerMeulen (Visiting Professor of Horn), Jacek Muzyk, Maura McCune Corvington, and Stephen Laifer (Adjunct Instructors of Horn), and Derek Conrod (Visiting Instructor of Natural Horn). The students hail from 15 states and 4 countries and are pursuing Bachelor’s, Master’s, or Doctoral degrees in horn performance and/or music teaching and learning, with many students pursuing a second degree or minor field within Eastman or at the main campus of the University of Rochester, approximately a 15-minute shuttle ride from the Eastman campus in downtown Rochester. Ensemble offerings in the curriculum include 2 full symphonic orchestras, a chamber orchestra, a new-music ensemble, and 2 wind orchestras—including the venerable Eastman Wind Ensemble—plus a full array of chamber-music opportunities and Horn Choir. Most of the performances are live-streamed, so please join us as your interests and schedule allow. Wishing you all a most successful and enjoyable season and year! Most CORdially, PK
Student Highlights
-Spencer Bay graduated in 2021 and is a second-year fellow in the New World Symphony.
-Kira Goya graduated in 2021 and won the fourth horn position in the Fort Collins Symphony.
-Emily Houston graduated in 2021 and is a private teacher at the Keller Independent School District Division of Fine Arts in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.
-Claire Bradley graduated in 2020 and won a position in the United States Army “Pershing’s Own” Ceremonial Band.
-Ava Conway graduated in 2020 and won a position in the United States Navy Band.
-Jessica Elder graduated in 2018 and recently won the principal horn position in the Utah Symphony.
-Senior Joseph Alberico is currently performing a one-year contract position as second horn in the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.
-Nikkolette LaBonte is pursuing her doctorate at Eastman and is currently guest principal horn for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. She has also served as principal horn for Music in the Mountains in Colorado, and she is on faculty at the Kendall Betts Horn Camp, Eastman Horn Institute, and the Natural Horn course at Eastman.
The Horn Studio
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The 2022-23 Eastman School of Music Horn Studio, with Professor
Peter Kurau (far left, front), and adjunct horn faculty Stephen Laifer and Maura McCune Corvington (far right, front). |
Enjoy the Eastman Horn Studio performing the world premiere of Out of the Depths, by Pamela Marshall, written in celebration of the School’s centennial year in 2021 and performed this past March during the Women in Music festival held on campus.
Professor Kurau
Peter Kurau’s principal teachers included Verne Reynolds, David Cripps, William Capps, and Horace Fitzpatrick (natural horn). He has been an active member of the International Horn Society, having served on its Advisory Council for eight years and as Vice-President, Secretary-Treasurer, Pedagogy Editor, and member of the Editorial Board for The Horn Call. Prof. Kurau also hosted the 29th Annual International Horn Symposium, held in 1997 at the Eastman School. In 2016, he was honored with the IHS Punto Award. To learn more, read his full biography.
Composer Spotlight
Faye-Ellen Silverman
by Caiti Beth McKinney
Hello all!
I am so excited to be introducing diverse composers and their works for horn every month in Horn and More! Our first feature is on prolific composer, author, and educator Faye-Ellen Silverman.
Born in New York City, Silverman has studied music since childhood, including piano, clarinet, viola, and composition. Having attained advanced degrees from Harvard and Columbia University, Silverman has been a faculty member at The Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University and The Mannes School of Music at the New School, and she is currently teaching at New York University and Juilliard Extension. Additionally, she is a founding member of the International Women’s Brass Conference and currently serves on their Board of Directors, and she is the Board Secretary of New York Women Composers, Inc.
Silverman has written many pieces which feature the horn in combination with other instruments. One of her more recent works, Singing to My Mother (2018), was commissioned by Julie Landsman in memory of her mother. Melodic material in this solo horn piece is based on the Jewish lullaby “Raisins and Almonds,” which was popularized in 1880 by poet and playwright Abraham Goldfaden for his Yiddish musical Shulamis. Singing to My Mother takes the horn on an emotional journey across the range of the horn, frequently dipping into bass clef as the melody varies and transforms.
Another of Silverman’s notable works is entitled Protected Sleep, for horn and marimba. The music is also based on a Jewish melody, “Durme, Durme,” a Judeo-Spanish lullaby which translates to “Sleep, Sleep.” Drawing on the incredible colors created by such a combination, Protected Sleep allows both the horn and marimba to shine individually and as a duo through alternating moments of unison, solo, and complex counterpoint.
Left Behind for horn and mezzo-soprano sets the poems “The Dream” and “Sonnet II” from Renascence and Other Poems (1917) by Edna St. Vincent Millay, is a tour-de-force of communication. In particular, the challenging third movement, “Solo Horn Interlude,” is highly emotional but richly rewarding for the performer.
Silverman’s other works for horn include Dialogue for horn and tuba, Dialogue Continued for horn, trombone, and tuba, From Sorrow for trumpet, horn, and bass trombone, and several brass quintets and woodwind quintets. Many of these pieces can be heard on her album Manhattan Stories recorded by horn players David Jolley and Ann Ellsworth.
For more information, please visit Faye-Ellen Silverman’s website at https://www.fayeellensilverman.com or visit www.subitomusic.com to purchase her music.
Album Release: Sound Vespers
Album Release: Sound Vespers
To my dear friends in IHS land, Hello! I’m excited about my new CD (my 16th recording…I think) Sound Vespers, a new work for six brass (cornet, three trumpets, horn, trombone), one percussionist/tuba, and two electronics/field recording artists. It is now available on CD and for download at my Bandcamp page, www.tomvarner.bandcamp.com, or you can contact me on Facebook for a CD as well. The CD has six tracks, and there are also 2 extra (long!) tracks only on Bandcamp. Here are some excerpts from my liner notes:
For several years now, I have been fortunate to present a series of annual concerts at Seattle’s Good Shepherd Center Chapel Space, inspired by the idea of “combining forces” from within our local improvised-music community and members of the Seattle Phonographers Union, a group that presents improvised multi-laptop field recording sound collaborations. When I first heard an example of Steve Peters’ close-mike recordings of termites munching on an old Portuguese church pew, I was hooked, and I immediately had the idea of combining “live” improvisers with field recording/electronics artists. Of course, the Phonographers are also “live” and improvising as well, just like the other instrumentalists.
For our first concert in February 2015, I thought of multiple brass ensembles in a church and those wonderful, strange field recording sounds, and giving our concert the name Gabrieli and the Holy Termites. For me, it was magical, especially because all the improvisers, whether on brass, percussion, or laptops, knew when to play, when to not play, when to blend in, when to clash, when to truly leave silence, and when to blast that silence with something new.
Almost all the other concerts that we’ve done since have been in late August (2016 to 2022), and they have had a meditative, transitional “summer is over, fall is coming, day-changing-to-night” feel. The beautiful light in the Chapel Space would slowly change to dark as the concerts ended, forming a kind of reflective “sound creation vespers service for all”—or, Sound Vespers.
By 2019, I realized that I really should record one of these events, but instead of simply “live in the Chapel,” I would try to record in Seattle’s Jack Straw Foundation recording studio, with everyone miked up-close. We would have the chance to be more creative in the mixing, with reverb and panning, as well as with “close ups,” and, I thought we might experiment with one or two of the takes. Steve Barsotti recorded a “brass only” take, and with reverb treatments turned it into something else entirely for Brass Band in Marianas Trench. Steve did some other treatments on Sewing Machine Water Train, but all the other tracks are simply “as they were.”
And those sounds! I gave up at a certain point trying to figure out “what was what.” That’s not the point. There were sounds from microphones stuck into the sand at low tide, tap dancers practicing overhead in a parking garage, factories, unknown animals, crackling ice, heartbeats, slabs of quartz for a kitchen counter, along with assorted hand percussion, muted trumpets, low brass long-tones, and a lots of brass player air sounds. During the mixing, I told Steve Barsotti, “I loved those weird crickets at the end of that take!” And Steve answered “Tom, that was not crickets…that was my old Chicago radiator.”
Other than my suggestion that duos begin certain takes, there was no “structure” planned—the forms took care of themselves with such experienced improvisers. Each take had a different focus, each one creating something new. As percussionist Greg Campbell told me last week, “Tom, you had your two big ingredients: beauty and crunch!”
This project would not be successful if it were not for the incredible and unique players: Greg Kelley, Samantha Boshnack, Jim Knodle, Ray Larsen, Haley Freedlund, Greg Campbell, Steve Peters, and Steve Barsotti—all were so human and expressive in their own ways, and I was blessed to be playing with them in the studio that day. And, they “got it,” with no rehearsal, no explanation, we just laid down the tracks. There were no out-takes.
It has been a rough three years for so many of us. I hope these Vespers can bring you some beauty, humor, reflection, and joy.
Tom Varner, August 25, 2022.
Grupo de metais e percussão “José Félix Ribas”
by Gabriella Ibarra (Tradução para o português de Israel Oliveira)
O maestro José Antonio Abreu, fundador do El Sistema e amante dos instrumentos de sopro, que também idealizou o Sistema Nacional de grupos de Metais, dando vida e projeção a este belo macroprojeto de formação musical venezuelana.
O Conjunto de Metais e Percussão "José Félix Ribas" nasceu em 2008 pelo maestro Carmelo Cacioppo na cidade de Maracay após ter formado a orquestra regional do estado de Aragua "José Félix Ribas" dirigida pelo maestro Christian Vásquez.
O Ensemble foi criado com o objetivo de unificar os critérios técnicos, musicais e artísticos de todos os instrumentistas de metal e percussão do estado de Aragua para alcançar a excelência interpretativa no palco.
Este conjunto faz parte dos programas de formação pertencentes ao Sistema Nacional de Orquestras e Coros Juvenis e Infantis do Estado de Aragua que contribui para a transformação do ser humano através da música como ferramenta de vida.
O nível de compromisso que supera - se as condições socioeconômicas críticas da Venezuela de hoje é notável e, portanto, o cumprimento de tal missão tem um valor incalculável, onde a frase: "TOCAR, CANTAR, E LUTAR" se torna um verdadeiro estilo de vida.
Entre os diretores convidados, vale destacar a participação constante do maestro alemão Thomas Clamor e do jovem diretor venezuelano Ángel Caldera. De - se referir ainda a participação do JFR Ensemble em um concerto juntamente com um dos mais reconhecidos ensembles da Venezuela, o Venezuela Horn Ensemble, do qual surgiram muitos dos músicos que hoje são dignos de reconhecimento internacional.
O conjunto JFR é formado por crianças e jovens entre 13 e 15 anos e conta ainda com o apoio de professores e ex-integrantes das primeiras gerações. Atualmente é composto por um total de 38 membros.
Recentemente, eles se apresentaram em importantes salas da capital, na Ópera de Maracay, e em breve planejam um show na Sala de Concertos Fedora Alemán em Caracas, e uma turnê nacional.
“José Félix Ribas” Brass Ensemble
by Gabriella Ibarra
Maestro José Antonio Abreu, the founder of El Sistema and a lover of brass instruments, created the National System of Brass Ensembles in Venezuela, bringing life and prominence to Venezuelan musical training through this invaluable project. The Brass and Percussion Ensemble "José Félix Ribas" was founded in 2008 and conducted by Maestro Carmelo Cacioppo in the city of Maracay—following the formation of the regional orchestra "José Félix Ribas," conducted by Maestro Christian Vásquez, in the state of Aragua.
The Ensemble was created with the purpose of unifying the technical, musical, and artistic criteria of all brass and percussion players in Aragua in order to achieve performance excellence on stage. This ensemble is part of the training programs belonging to the National System of Youth and Children's Orchestras and Choirs in Aragua which contributes to the transformation of the participants through music as a life experience.
The level of commitment which overcomes the current difficult socio-economic conditions in Venezuela is remarkable; therefore, the fulfillment of the organization’s mission has incalculable value. Their motto, "Play, Sing, and Fight!" has become a true lifestyle.
Among the invited directors, it is worth mentioning the ongoing participation of German Maestro Thomas Clamor and of the young Venezuelan director Ángel Caldera. It is also important to mention the participation of the JFR Ensemble in a concert with one of the most recognized ensembles in Venezuela, the Venezuela Horn Ensemble, from which many of the players who today have gained international recognition have emerged.
The JFR ensemble is made up of children and young people between 13 and 15 years old, and it also has the support of teachers and former members of its early generations. Currently, the ensemble has a total of 38 members. They have recently performed in important halls of the capital city as well as in the Maracay Opera House, and soon they will perform a concert in the Fedora Alemán Concert Hall in Caracas and embark on a national tour as well.
Ensamble de metales y percusión “José Félix Ribas”
em português
in Englishpor Gabriella Ibarra
El maestro José Antonio Abreu fundador de El Sistema y amante de los instrumentos de viento metal ideó también el Sistema Nacional de Ensambles de Metales aportándole vida y proyección a este hermoso macroproyecto de formación musical venezolano. El Ensamble de metales y percusión “José Félix Ribas” nace en el año 2008 de la mano del maestro Carmelo Cacioppo en la ciudad de Maracay luego de haberse formado la orquesta regional del estado Aragua “José Félix Ribas” dirigida por el maestro Christian Vásquez.
El Ensamble fue creado con el propósito de unificar los criterios técnicos, musicales y artísticos de todos los instrumentistas de metal y percusión del estado Aragua para alcanzar la excelencia interpretativa sobre el escenario. Este ensamble es parte de los programas formativos pertenecientes al Sistema Nacional de Orquestas y Coros Juveniles e Infantiles del Estado Aragua que contribuye a la transformación del ser humano a través de la música como herramienta de vida.
Es notable el nivel de compromiso que supera las críticas condiciones socioeconómicas de la Venezuela actual y por ello el cumplimiento de tal misión tiene un valor incalculable y en donde la frase: “TOCAR CANTAR Y LUCHAR” se convierte un verdadero estilo de vida.
Entre los directores invitados cabe destacar la constante participación del maestro alemán Thomas Clamor y el joven director venezolano Ángel Caldera. Cabe destacar también la participación del Ensamble JFR en concierto junto a uno de los ensambles más reconocidos de Venezuela, el Venezuela Horn Ensemble de donde han surgido muchos de los músicos que hoy día son dignos del reconocimiento internacional.
El ensamble JFR está conformado por niños y jóvenes entre 13 y 15 años de edad y cuenta también con el apoyo de los profesores e ex-integrantes de las primeras generaciones. Actualmente está conformado por un total de 38 miembros.
Recientemente se han presentado en importantes salas importantes de la ciudad capital, en el Teatro de la Ópera de Maracay y próximamente tienen planteado un concierto en la Sala de Conciertos Fedora Alemán en Caracas y una gira nacional.
