Special Sound at the Sauerland Horn Festival

By Mathias Pfläging

The 8th Sauerland Horn Workshop attracted 60 musicians from all over Germany, Luxembourg, and Switzerland to the Sauerland region. The two leaders of the horn workshop, Uwe Becker and Mathias Pfläging, were once again able to bring in top-class coaches:

Team of the Sauerländer Horn Day

Kristina Mascher-Turner and Geoffrey Winter are among the most renowned horn virtuosos of today and are recognized worldwide for their outstanding ability. Denise Tryon is also currently one of the most sought-after soloists, particularly as a low horn specialist. She agreed to the long trip from Baltimore to get to know the Sauerland Horn Festival. Jean-Christophe Naas from the German Wind Philharmonic rounded out the team of outstanding teachers.

As in past years, with much love and pedagogical skill, Chris Brigham (Folkwang University of the Arts) and Lukas Krämer (Pro Musica Sacra) led a course for 15 young “future hornists” in two groups. Education specialist Lena Dawidowski and supervisor Marco Hildebrand accompanied the junior project of the Sauerland Horn Festival, ensuring a fun and safe environment for the young musicians.

Klaus Fehr (Fehr French Horns, the Netherlands), Harm Roestenberg (Willson Band Instruments, Switzerland), and Norbert Riedel (Music Kontor Overath) took over the international horn exhibits. Riedel represented Hans Hoyer Horns (Germany). All three demonstrated the innovative ideas and the special craft of horn building that distinguishes these manufacturers.

The theme of the musical program was “Heroes, Tales, and Myths” and included several pieces that were especially arranged for the Sauerland Horn Workshop. At the beginning of this year, talented horn player and arranger Josef Kahle started working on enriching the festival‘s repertoire with tailor-made heroic film music.

Horn Orchestra

After kicking off with a large horn orchestra rehearsal on Friday evening, Saturday morning’s session emphasized ensemble playing in groups of 8-10 horn players. The instructors had the responsibility of rehearsing and preparing at least one piece for the final concert with their smaller ensembles.

The program for Saturday afternoon comprised master classes and private lessons. Each participant had the opportunity to sign up for a lesson with the guest instructors in order to ask for tips and tricks, as well as to put them into practice. At the same time, the instrument exhibitors gave a lecture. Klaus Fehr of Fehr French Horns answered the participants’ questions and was also able to offer advice on all kinds of matters. After the dress rehearsal for the ensembles, all the instructors met together, professionals and very ambitious amateurs, to rehearse an extremely challenging work: the film music from “Braveheart” - a work demanding the highest level of playing - a composition spanning over 4 octaves!

So large an audience streamed into the concert on Sunday morning that extra chairs had to be brought in, and every last seat was filled.
The horn orchestra got off to a heroic start with the theme to “Star Trek: Voyager,” taking the audience on a distant journey through the galaxy and through the world of the sound of the horn. After the Baroque “Sonata Pian e Forte” by Gabrieli for two antiphonal horn choirs came “Robert the Bruce,” a composition about the fight to free Scotland.

Future Hornists with Lecturers

The “Future Hornists” kicked off the smaller ensemble portion of the program and reaped enthusiastic applause for their presentation. The ensembles that followed played (with passion) film music from “Harry Potter” and “Pirates of the Caribbean” as well as classical arrangements such as “Hunter’s Delight” and “Panis Angelicus.” With “Braveheart,” the team of teachers brought the ensemble portion of the concert to a rousing close, delighting the audience with skill and a lot of fun. After the film music medley “James Bond 007” and “Andreas Hofer” (a musical tribute to the Tyrolean freedom fighter), came the grand finale featuring all participants: the adult course, “future hornists,” and teachers all played the wonderful sonorous canon, “Dona Nobis Pacem.”

The final concert was presented under the alternating conducting baton of Kristina Mascher-Turner, Denise Tryon, Geoffrey Winter, Jean-Christophe Naas, and Mathias Pfläging. Each of them brought out their own vision of sound, phrasing, and articulation with this extraordinary ensemble. The participants, teachers, and organizers all agreed: it was a successful conclusion to a memorable horn festival, in which music and passion, paired with fun and great conversation, built bridges between people of different ages and origins.

The 9th Sauerland Horn Festival in 2018 already has its first registrations, and the first instructors have been secured, so that the horn symposium from September 21-23, 2018 in the heart of Sauerland will once again be a highlight for all participants, teachers, and exhibitors.

Translation: KMT

English version

Besonderer Sound bei „Sauerländer Horntagen“

Von Mathias Pfläging

Das achte Symposium rund um das Horn lockte 60 Musiker aus ganz Deutschland, Luxemburg und der Schweiz in das Herz des Sauerlandes. Auch in diesem Jahr konnten die beiden Leiter der Horntage, Uwe Becker und Mathias Pfläging, hochkarätige Dozenten gewinnen:

Kristina Mascher-Turner: First of all, it seems your life may have taken an exciting turn recently...a huge congratulations on behalf of the International Horn Society on your first prize at the International Horn Competition of America! Has the high worn off yet?

Josh Williams: I think it has! As amazing as this accomplishment was, it has only motivated me to get back to work!

KMT: Please tell us a bit about how you came to play the horn in the first place, and about that moment when it all "clicked" for you - when you decided to dedicate yourself to becoming a professional musician.

JW: I decided to join the band in 7th grade because I honestly had nothing better to do. My family moved to Tuscaloosa, Alabama in the middle of the school year, so I could not play football. My dad told me to play the horn because the school would have one available to rent. He and I both saw band as a temporary thing. I guess we were both wrong! I decided to dedicate myself to becoming a professional musician in the 10th grade after being selected for the Honor Band of America. Being around some of the other top high school musicians in the country was a humbling and life-changing experience.

KMT: Preparing for a solo competition is a very specific and personal process. How far in advance did you start practicing for the IHCA? How many hours a day did you put in during the most intense period?

JW: I started preparing for the IHCA in early May. I actually quit my summer job to prepare for the competition! I was a literal depiction of a “broke college student,” but it paid off. I honestly do not know how much I practiced during the most intense period of preparation. I often get lost in the music and several hours go by. I cut the sessions down to an hour a day starting in mid-August.

KMT: Were there any passages in the competition repertoire that were particularly challenging for you? Why?

IHS Members Only feature

The Creative Hornist

Jeffrey Agrell, Series Editor

This is my last Creative Hornist column. After seventeen years, I’m turning over the reins to an extremely creative team: Dr. James Naigus and Dr. Drew Phillips. Both are college horn teachers who also compose, play piano, and who have their own performing duo (“Cor Moto”) where they switch off playing each other’s compositions while the other accompanies on piano.

I’m not going anywhere, I’m just going on to other things. One of the catalysts for the change is the sabbatical I had during spring semester 2016. It was a transformative time for me in a number of ways. I got to be a beginner at something for the first time in a long time (drums/rhythm study), and that part of it was both scary and exhilarating. I was used to giving lessons where I was the expert. Now I was the novice, making imperfect efforts to imitate the master. I was nervous about my mistakes, all too aware of how far I had to go, but I couldn’t wait to get back to the drum to practice more after every lesson.