Horns A Plenty Christmas
By Donald Krause
HAPC started about 15 years ago. Before that, we just had some horn players showing up to play Christmas music for 5 years. We started in downtown Appleton at a shopping mall with a three-story open area. The first few years, we had maybe 8-12 horn players perform and were supplemented by the Lawrence Conservatory horn studio (with James De Corsey.) He provided master classes for a few of my students, and then Bruce Atwell from the UW-Oshkosh horn faculty joined us for more classes. Bruce and I discussed making our own book, so he did that - we performed out of it for a couple years. The second time we were in Milwaukee, I asked Cynthia Carr to come and do a master class. She said that since we had no Jewish music, she wanted to redo the book and add some additional selections. Our first out-of-the-area guest was Jeff Nelsen. A couple years later, Geof Winter came to town with more performances and classes for my studio. He also arranged a version of the Cherry Tree Carol that is a favorite with our horn players.
A major revelation happened in the early 2000’s. I had contributed a personal check to a graduating senior horn student from the Fox Valley Youth Orchestra when the board invited me to come to a meeting to discuss something. The Youth Orchestra board said I could no longer make a contribution to a graduating horn senior: I could continue the fund, but they would decide which graduating musician would get the scholarship. I thought that since the entire horn section came from my horn studio, I could decide who would receive the money. That year (about 15 years ago) I decided to change how things were happening…thus Hornsaplentychristmas was born. We also did some HAPC events in the afternoon at the downtown mall, and then we all went over to the new Performing Arts Center to perform on the huge balcony for the audience waiting to watch the Nutcracker. I had done a little research about Guinness records and did not find any about horns, so in 2007 we had 85 horns plus myself to set a Guinness record.
Lesson from Young-Yul Kim
A few simple suggestions to help you play better, yet easy to forget
- Left fingers flying on the keys
- While teaching the horn for many years, I have met quite a few students who play the horn with “flying fingers”. They often have great tension in their left hand and in their whole body as well. As they play, often there is no cooperation with tongue and fingers. They also have difficulties mastering a fast passage safely.
I ask students who have a flying fingers problem to play a scale slowly while slurring. They should concentrate on the finger position of the left hand over the keys until they feel comfortable. Once the left hand fingers are on the keys like a pianist would play on the piano keys correctly, the students usually become much more relaxed and their breathing is enhanced.
While I was a student of Verne Reynolds, I did not recognize my left fingers flying once. Mr. Reynolds suggested to me to practice my scale slowly with left fingers taped to the keys until I felt comfortable playing scale without flying fingers. I still remember how that helped me a lot to relax and breath well when I played the horn.
Come and Blow the AFC's 40 Candles Out!!
In 2016, the Association Française du Cor - that stands for France’s Horn Society - celebrates its 40th anniversary through four very different and complementary horn festivals in France :
1st Highlight : AULNAY early February gathered many international (Marie-Louise Neunecker, Kristina Mascher and Kerry Turner, Bruno Schneider..) and French horn players (quite a challenge to name all the contributors invited by organiser and former AFC president Daniel Catalanotti) up around an eclectic programme on modern, natural, hunting, marine, jazz, Alp horns, and a special tribute to the female horn players, culminating in a 4 hours concert.
2nd Highlight : PARIS mid-March successfully pursued 2 innovative objectives : first, enhance the relationship between the French provinces and Paris horn classes. It for instance offered students from everywhere the opportunity to participate in master-classes with Benoît de Barsony (Orchestre de Paris principal, AFC President), Vladimir Dubois (Opéra de Paris principal), Hervé Joulain (Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France principal) and André Cazalet (Orchestre de Paris principal, Professor at the Conservatoire de Paris). Or to attend a fascinating lecture by Michel Garcin-Marrou (IHS Honorary Member, former Orchestre de Paris principal and Professor at the Conservatoires de Lyon and Paris) on Emmanuel Chabrier’s Larghetto, etc. Second, enable the very first performance of a grand ensemble of more than 20 leading horn players from Paris’ best orchestras - joined by the students upon the final concert.
3rd Highlight : SALLAUMINES (abutting LENS, Northern and formerly mining area of France) will late May propose in a warm atmosphere, upon initiative from Vincent Huart (previous AFC president) : quartets and large horn ensemble concerts, original masterclasses, a composer score signing session, a competition for young hornists, exhibitions and educational presentations to the schools around our instrument.
4th Highlight : AVIGNON end of June will also celebrate its 20th Horn Festival (host Eric Sombret) since the memorable 1982 IHS Symposium that had taken place in the Popes’ Palace. With numerous concerts and shows by horn ensembles and soloists, prominent horn players, students and amateurs from Southern France and Europe will have the horn resound to its fullest in the heart of this historic city.
Like the IHS, the Association Française du Cor promotes the art, craft and fun of horn playing. It regroups numerous interprets, teachers, students and amateurs who love their golden horn. The language is usually French, but its focus is definitely on both international and French-speaking horn players. The AFC supports or organises festivals, exhibitions, concerts around the horn. It also publishes a generous magazine - La Revue du Corniste - newsletters, and acts as an information network for its members.
More information on www.associationfrancaiseducor.fr and on Facebook.
Any idea to further develop the IHS – AFC (research, editorial, events .. ) exchanges most welcome ! Please contact :
Matthieu Arnaud, member of the AFC Advisory Board
Vincent Andrieux, AFC vice-president
Soufflons ensemble les 40 bougies de l'AFC !
English version
En 2016, l'Association Française du Cor fête ses 40 ans d'existence au travers de quatre festivals très différents et complémentaires en France :
- AULNAY a rassemblé début février de nombreux cornistes, internationaux (tels Marie-Luise Neunecker, Kristina Mascher et Kerry Turner, Bruno Schneider) et français (impossible de célébrer ici nommément chacun des merveilleux contributeurs invités par Daniel Catalanotti, ex président AFC) sur une scène éclectique et festive mêlant cor moderne, cor naturel, trompes de chasse, cor des Alpes, conques marines, jazz… Un hommage particulier fut rendu aux femmes cornistes, le tout culminant dans un superbe concert de près de 4 heures.
- PARIS fin mars a réuni avec succès de très nombreux passionnés pour ses « Rencontres du Cor » autour de deux objectifs novateurs : en premier lieu, développer les relations entre les classes de cor de province et de Paris. Par exemple, elles offrirent à des étudiants de tous horizons l’opportunité de participer à des classes de maîtres avec Benoît de Barsony (cor solo Orchestre de Paris, président de l’AFC), Vladimir Dubois (cor solo Opéra de Paris), Hervé Joulain (cor solo Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France) et André Cazalet (cor solo Orchestre de Paris, professeur au Conservatoire de Paris). Ou encore d’assister à une conférence passionnante de Michel Garcin-Marrou (membre honoraire de l‘IHS, cor solo Orchestre de Paris, professeur aux Conservatoires de Lyon et Paris) sur le Larghetto d’Emmanuel Chabrier, etc. Ces rencontres ont ensuite permis pour la première fois en France de constituer un grand ensemble de plus de 20 cornistes issus des pupitres des meilleures orchestres parisiens - rejoints par les étudiants pour le concert final.
- SALLAUMINES (qui jouxte la ville de LENS dans l’ancien bassin minier du nord de la France) proposera fin mai à l’initiative de Vincent Huart - précédent président AFC - des concerts de quatuors et grands ensembles de cors, de cor des Alpes, des classes de maîtres originales, le tout dans une atmosphère chaleureuse propre à cette région. Ce festival offrira aussi une séance de dédicace avec un compositeur et interprète, un concours pour les jeunes cornistes (niveau 3ème cycle), des expositions ainsi que des présentations éducatives pour les écoles autour de notre instrument.
- AVIGNON célébrera aussi fin juin son 20ème Festival du Cor organisé par Eric Sombret, depuis le mémorable Symposium IHS qui eut lieu en 1982 dans le cadre du Palais des Papes. Au travers de nombreux concerts et spectacles de solistes et d’ensembles de cors, des cornistes de premier plan, étudiants, amateurs du sud de la France et d'Europe feront retentir notre instrument dans le cœur de cette ville historique.
Rainbow Symphony Cologne
by Sherry Wegner
As an amateur musician, I often play my horn for fun and have many unique opportunities to play with a variety of groups. I have been living in Bonn, Germany for 8 years and have had many opportunities to travel with a few different orchestras to places like China, France, Ireland, Austria and Germany.
I would like to talk to you about my experiences playing with the Rainbow Symphony of Cologne in Cologne Germany. I was asked to play with the RSC because they needed a few more horns, and a friend of mine asked if I would be interested. I said..."I'm not gay." She said that they are also a gay friendly orchestra, so if you support the gay community in any way, you should play. I have many friends in America that are gay and have always felt very comfortable around them - so I figured why not.
The RSC has about 35 members. They play just a few times a year in which they get together and have a rehearsal weekend and play a concert. We have members from all over Europe. Our percussionist brings her own timpani all the way from Basel, Switzerland. The Harp player comes from Paris, and we have a few string players from other parts of Germany as well.
"Meet Your Makers" - Engelbert Schmid
The story of how I came to the horn is a funny one. It shows how tiny incidents can alter the course of a life. My father had played trumpet in his local brass band. Though he was a war invalid and didn't play any more by the time I was small, he told me, “My boy, when you get bigger, I’ll buy you a trumpet!” Simple and clear – it was decided! But a few years later, when I was 11, he died, the plan for me to play the trumpet dying with him. I don't know why.
I was born in 1954 in the village of Mindelzell in Bavaria, the third son on a small farm – too small to make a living from, but just big enough for our family to live off. Since my father was wounded in the war, we 3 sons had to do all the work, together with our mother. We all had to toil hard to make ends meet. It was a hard but happy childhood, full of lessons for life!
When my older brothers were big enough to work alone, our village teacher insisted on sending me to high school (Gymnasium in German,) a boarding school 50 km away. Since my father couldn't afford the 150 Deutschmarks for tuition, the director agreed to take half of the fee for 6 months, pending my exam results. I was top of my class and received a scholarship up till the age of 16. After that, I made my living playing the horn.
But what brought me to the horn? At the boarding school, there was a tradition (still is) that every pupil had to learn an instrument. By the way, this is the St. Stephan School in Augsburg, and the school orchestra travels to the USA almost every year on a concert tour. The music teachers at that time had all studied piano and violin, and they made the good singers study those instruments too. I was a bad singer, so to my great good fortune, was allowed to choose an instrument for myself.
Why was I a bad singer? I sang a lot before I went to high school, and many professional vocalists tell me I would have been good, based on my speaking voice. Our teacher, however, was of the opinion that only girls could sing well. She was rude to the boys, so we boys didn't like to sing. And when a boy would enjoy singing, the others would beat him after school. So I unlearned how to sing. This was the luckiest thing that happened to me, as it turns out.
Miklós Nagy Interview
For our Hungary issue, I needed look no further than the cantina of our Philharmonie. My good friend and colleague Miklós Nagy (Miki to his pals) is solo horn of the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, as well as being a renowned soloist and member of the Budapest Festival Horn Quartet. We met recently and discussed his education, influences, philosophy, and of course, those famous high notes. Egészségére! -KMT
Kristina Mascher-Turner: So, Miki, the first thing our readers will want to know is, how do you play those high notes? What's your secret?
Miklós Nagy: There is no secret, I think. When I was young, I loved Baroque music very much. I listened to more trumpet than horn music. I especially loved Maurice André - his recordings, his performances, his high playing. I tried to translate this kind of playing to the horn. Unfortunately I couldn't play the trumpet, but I looked for Baroque horn music and bought a lot of Hans Pizka's editions of unknown Baroque concertos, over 20 pieces. This influenced my high horn playing. Objectively, the high horn needs a trumpet-style embouchure. The horn embouchure makes it very difficult to play above high C or D - even the best players have trouble with this. Another factor is the descant horn. If you play above the 12th natural overtone, it's hard, and a lot of mistakes can happen. When I was 18 years old and went to the Music Academy, I didn't have my own instrument. There was an old Alexander 107 descant horn in storage at the school. The valves didn't work, and it was in bad shape. I rebuilt it and started to play it, and immediately the high notes came easier and better than before. Also, my first teacher at the Music Academy, Imre Magyarí, was a good high horn player who could play many Baroque concertos without mistakes. He told me I could do it too. I wanted to imitate him. I trained myself day by day, always one half tone higher, one half tone higher, played Bach and Handel orchestral excerpts, found exercises to train the high horn. I trained almost every day in this way.
KMT: So, in other words, there's no shortcut - you don't wake up in the morning and go, "Ding! I've got that top octave!"
MN: No, unfortunately not. (laughs)
KMT: While we're talking about that, can you tell us about your early musical education? I understand in Hungary, this begins at a very young age.
MN: In my day, in the 1950's-1980's, we had the Kodály pedagogy system. All children had to study music. At the elementary school, there were two separate classes, the normal and the music classes. And the parents could select one of them.
KMT: So, it was the parents who chose, not the child?
MN: The parents chose. My mother loves classical music. She had season tickets for the Budapest Opera House. She never played an instrument, but she loved it. So she chose the music class for me. Every day we had music lessons - singing, solfège, chorus - and from the second grade (age 7) we started a musical instrument. My music teacher told me, "You are quite tall, left-handed...go to the horn teacher." So she took me to the horn teacher. The horn teacher gave me a horn and a mouthpiece, and said,"Come next week and play." This is my short story of starting the horn at the age of 7.
KMT: What was your first instrument?
MN: It was a Josef Lidl Brno F/compensating Bb horn. Lidl Brno, very bad instrument. I have one at home now. (Laughter)
KMT: You still have it!
MN: On the wall!
KMT: Who were your most influential teachers?
