Professor de trompa, integrante do Quinteto de Metais UNIRIO, maestro Banda Sinfônica da Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro-UNIIRIO. Doutorando em Educação Musical pela Universidade Federal da Bahia – UFBA, destaca-se por sua carreira como instrumentista com CDs lançado pela Orquestra de Sopro Brasileira em Tatuí - SP e Orquestra Jovem de Sopro de Karlsruhe-Alemanha na qual realizou turnê pelo Brasil e Alemanha. com grupo de música brasileira "Horn Brasil" – Tatuí SP .

Solista com grandes orquestras do Brasil e do exterior, Professor do Encontro Internacional de Metais da Universidade de La Serena - Chile, Festival Internacional de Inverno de Campos do Jordão (SP), Festival Eleazar de Carvalho (Fortaleza), Brasília (DF), Londrina (Pr) Tatuí (SP), Goiás (Go), Diretor Artístico do Coreto Paulista em Serra Negra (SP) – Festival de Bandas e Encontro de Maestros e Lideranças de Bandas do Estado de São Paulo – Tatuí (SP). Lecionou trompa no Conservatório Dramático Musical Dr. Carlos de Campos de Tatuí, onde formou vários profissionais que atuam nas mais importantes orquestras do Brasil. É Construtor e restaurador de Instrumentos de Metal com especialização em trompa natural. Horn Building e Brass Technology com o professor Lowell Greer pela William Cummings House, Toledo – Ohio (EUA).

Balance all'Ungarese (Hungarian-Style)

by Szabolcs Zempléni

At the friendly request of Ab Koster, I'm happy to gather together a few of my thoughts about my pedagogical work.

For me, nothing is more crucial than finding BALANCE - in life as well as in horn playing. Whether in teaching or performing, it's important to find a good blend of all the different aspects we need for these activities.

As my students call it, "Szabolcs' magic triangle":

It's interesting to look at the fundamental elements taught in various countries: in Italy, home of the opera, you can almost always find a singing horn sound and strong musicality. However, rhythm and intonation are not always cultivated to the same degree. (This should not be taken the wrong way as any kind of accusation!) ⯑ In Germany, articulation is very important, just as it is in the German language. In South America, where people are always dancing, rhythm is #1. And in Hungary? Music is king ⯑

If we wish to be successful in our career, we must be on top of all these elements or at least be working on them. A beautiful sound and good rhythmic feel are useless without good intonation, just as good intonation and sound are useless without rhythm. Furthermore, there are other very important things, such as articulation and, finally, the deciding element: MUSIC.

However, we cannot work on one element to the negligence of the others, since we then quickly lose the BALANCE. If we know our own tendencies, then we also know where we need to work. As Arnold Jacobs said, brass players must think like singers. If we are successful in this, then we can simultaneously improve our intonation and develop a good sound.

But... what is the definition of a beautiful sound?

In Germany, the current dominant concept is the Alexander sound, something I would describe as being rich in overtones. When I was a student, there existed in Germany many different ideas of sound. Hermann Baumann had a singing sound that amazed the entire world. Yet you also found a softer, smaller sound out of Dresden that was the trademark of Peter Damm. When I first came to Germany, my own sound was also much thinner and smaller. It was Johannes Ritzkowsky (former solo horn in the Bavarian Radio orchestra) Who first suggested I listen to more opera.

In my homeland, Hungary, top priority goes to having a beautiful tone. We had two professors at the Academy, Prof. Adam Friedrich and Prof. Ferenc Tarjani), Who each had very different but without a doubt equally wonderful horn sounds. For me personally, the sound of Dennis Brain was a perfect example. His tone was so endlessly flexible. Twenty years ago, I absolutely wanted to achieve this myself.

Finally, we cannot neglect the most essential element: music. A beautiful tone can also sound empty and dumb without music. Therefore, I'd like to quote my "mentor," Frøydis Ree Wekre: "Always remind yourself why you started to play the horn in the first place." And: "Have fun!"

With these quotes, I try to cook all'Ungarese, so that it tastes good to everyone. ⯑

Here is a little taste for you – I hope you like it

Fond greetings,
Szabolcs

Szabolcs Zempléni has won many competition prizes in his career, including prizes in the Concerto Praga, Markneukirchen, Brno, and the ARD Competition in Munich. Since then, he has appeared on the great stages around the world and has been a dedicated chamber musician. He is currently professor of horn at the Hochschule für Musik in Trossingen, Germany.

(translation: KMT)

 English version

Balance all’ Ungarese

Auf die freundliche Anfrage von Ab Koster, komme ich der Bitte, ein paar Gedanken über meine pädagogischen Arbeit zusammenzufassen, gerne nach. So versuche ich einige Gedanken über meine pädagogischen Aspekte zusammenzufassen:

Für mich gibt es nichts Wichtigeres als BALANCE zu finden - im Leben wie im Hornspiel. Es ist beim Spielen wie beim Unterrichten wichtig, eine gute Mischung von allen Bereichen, die wir dafür brauchen, zu finden.

Wie meine Studenten es nennen:

Szabolcs` magic triangel:

Interessant sind die Eigenschaften von den grundlegenden Elementen in Bezug auf verschiedene Nationen zu betrachten:

• In Italien, der Heimat der Oper, ist eine singende Hornstimme und Musik fast immer vorhanden. Jedoch ist Rhythmik oder Intonation nicht immer gleichzeitig stark ausgeprägt. (Bloß nicht dass ich jemand beleidigen möchte!)
• In Deutschland ist die Artikulation wie in der Sprache, sehr wichtig.
• In Süd-Amerika, wo immer getanzt wird: Rhythmik ist der Nr1.
• Ungarn? Musik at all...J

Kristina Mascher-Turner: The horn seems to be a popular instrument in Brazil. Can you tell us about how the horn tradition in your country began? Were there well-known teachers or performers who came over and got things started, for instance?

Radegundis Feitosa: The French horn started to become a more popular instrument especially in the last decades. Although the first mentions of the French horn in Brazil date from the early 18th Century, the instrument was better known in the orchestral/chamber music world at this time and didn’t become so popular for the general population at first. During the late 19th Century and early 20th century, in comparison to the Trombone and the Trumpet, for example, the French horn was not regularly used in Brazilian popular music ensembles. Many wind ensembles/military bands used to have a Saxhorn in E flat instead of a French Horn. These facts probably made a huge difference especially in the first part of the 20th century, when Trombones and Trumpet became more popular instruments. It started to change especially in the 1980s along with the developing and creation of new orchestras and undergraduate degree courses in public universities. At the same time, classical music festivals were receiving more resources and becoming bigger, and new festivals all over the country were being created. It stimulated more people to choose the horn as their instrument and to explore its possibilities. Nowadays, the horn is more established in Brazil not only in the Orchestral and chamber music formations but also in wind ensembles and military bands. It’s possible to hear some individual initiatives to have the instrument in choro, frevo, samba and other Brazilian music formations, as much as in big bands.

In the last few decades, we’ve had horn players coming from many parts of the world to teach and play the instrument in Brazil, such as Daniel Havens (USA) and Zdenek Svab (Czech Republic) that taught many of the principal horn players in Brazil now. Especially during the 1980s and the 1990s, many Brazilian horn players went to study abroad as well, particularly in the USA and Europe. This had a big influence on horn playing in Brazil.