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.

By Frank Lloyd

Planning a recital?

Whether for your end of year exams, a concert in your local church, or as a professional looking for an all-in ‘tour de force’ programme, planning a recital can be for some a huge task, considering the many elements of a programme which need to be taken into account – not least building the stamina required to be able to get through it!

Recitals are hard, far harder in my view than playing ‘just’ a concerto, as you can be playing up to an hour or more of music in a full-length concert recital. Bearing this in mind, preparation on many levels is of utmost importance.

Like training running for a marathon, you need to start in plenty of time to build the necessary stamina and endurance. Unfortunately, there is no quick way to build playing endurance other than working on pieces and exercises that are taxing. Working the embouchure hard (but not beyond exhaustion) is the means in which demanding something from your body will result in it responding by building strength in the area you are working – in this case the embouchure.  Demanding more = response & improvement.

As with any hard training regime, rest is an important part, as rest = recovery. We have to respect the muscles we are working and not demand/expect too much. Recognise the signals you are getting when you practice, and be aware that when you start feeling tired it’s time to take a break. Overdoing it will damage the muscle fibres, prolonging the recovery and lessening the training effect – and can even jeopardise the concert. In this respect, leaving anything to the last minute is a recipe for disaster, as too late is simply too late. Don’t put yourself under pressure by trying to do everything in a week. Plan your programme following the tips below, and start your preparation in plenty of time as this will lessen the stress when the concert approaches.

Hello, dear colleagues of the Horn! I am a life member of the IHS and would like to congratulate all involved with our society for the fantastic work that has been done for almost a half century.

I was born in London, and after studying with Adrian Leaper, came to Brazil in 1977 and started playing in the Orchestra of the Municipal Theatre in Rio de Janeiro. It took me a while to get used to the heat, but I learned to love the rich culture and to appreciate the good-natured “carioca” people. I continued my studies in Rio with João Jeronimo Meneses and Zdenék Svab and became more involved with the music scene in Brazil, playing in other orchestras, namely the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra and The Petrobras Sinfônica, as well as solo, chamber work and commercial recording. In 1987 I joined the Villa-Lobos Wind Quintet, which this year celebrates 55 years of existence, and since then am proud to have been able to divulge Brazilian music with this group, recording many CDs, touring extensively, and playing over 1000 concerts in Brazil and overseas.

I have been teaching horn at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro since 2010 and have been lucky to have had some very talented students, some of which I hope will be able to attend IHS49-Natal. I was very fortunate to be able to find a gap in my busy schedule to participate in the IHS47-LA, and had a grand time with my Brazilian friends: Radegundis Tavares, Marcus Bonna, Adalto and Lucca Soares, whilst marveling at the amazing virtuosity of the international horn all-stars.

I have an obligation to play Brazilian music in the symposium, and one of my passions is the work of the wonderful Moacir Santos, an underated jazz composer from Pernambuco who immigrated to California in the 60´s. I thought it would be appropriate to play his “Melodia” for Horn and Orchestra. Moacir´s work has had somewhat of a revival, due to the research of Mario Adnet, Zé Nogueira and Andrea Ernest Dias, and I have been lucky to be able to have known Mr. Santos´s music as a member of the Ouro Negro band, a group created especially for playing this brilliant composer´s music.

Other works I will be playing are by Alexandre Schubert, a composer resident in Rio de Janeiro who is writing a piece especially for the symposium, and Orlando Alves, a professor of composition in the Federal University of Paraíba.

 I hope that everyone will enjoy the hospitality of the “potiguar” people of Natal and would especially like to thank my friend Radegundis Tavares on organizing our IHS49-Natal!