Transitions
by Kami Harcrow
When I was eleven years old and about to enter sixth grade, the middle school band director came to visit my school. His job was to help students select an appropriate instrument for band class. I wanted to play the French horn, but my older brother was already playing horn and was first chair in the eighth grade band. Our parents would not allow me to play the horn because they didn’t want us competing against one another, so they said I had to choose a different instrument. My mother had a flute from her high school days and urged me to play that, but I did not want an instrument with so many keys. After a lot of back-and-forth discussion, my brother, in his eighth grade wisdom, suggested I play the bassoon because “you’ll always be first chair and never have to practice!” So, despite my flute trepidation, I took up an instrument with significantly more keys that was also much heavier to tote around. I often was first chair, but I did have to practice. I played bassoon through high school and for a year in college but quit after that. Since they were so expensive, I never had my own instrument, and did not play again for many years.
As I approached fifty, I prepared to retire from my career as an air traffic controller and searched for activities to occupy my time. I decided to take up playing bassoon once again. Craigslist offered up a nice, lightly-used Fox Renard bassoon which I purchased without playing (being too embarrassed to try it in front of its owner). I bought some reeds and a Weissenborn method book and started playing again. Fortunately, it came back more quickly than I expected, even after 30 or so years. I joined a community band—which was thrilled to have a bassoon player, and they did not require auditions.
Several years after retiring, I moved to a different city and joined a different band where I was once again the only bassoonist. As a small band, it had only a few of each instrument and no horns at all. Frequently, the conductor bemoaned the lack of horns and tried to cajole local horn players to join us. The band also played marching music, which usually has no bassoon part, so I pondered picking up a different instrument for those occasions. I toyed briefly with the trombone, but one day it occurred to me that I could buy a horn and learn to play. Again I perused the ads, this time on the International Horn Society classifieds, and after a little consultation with my brother (who by that time was a horn professor), I decided on a used Holton H179.
When the horn arrived, I found a teacher at a local music shop and began taking lessons at the age of fifty-six. I worked my way through Getchell’s First Book of Practical Studies for French Horn and, at the suggestion of a fellow student, joined a second local community band that didn’t require auditions. There, I joined several other horn newbies and was seventh horn. After a month or so in this band, I casually mentioned to the conductor in my first band that I was learning horn. She was very excited and encouraging, and before I knew it, I was playing horn in two bands. Meanwhile, in my lessons, I had moved on to a Kopprasch Studies book.
Playing music for two bands and keeping up with my lessons, I practiced at least two hours every day. My thumb developed a large lump where it joined my hand. To ease this, I purchased the hand strap my brother recommended. In February 2020, I played my first concert on horn. A newly-joined bassoonist had a family emergency, and this resulted in me playing both bassoon and horn for the concert. After the performance, as I helped to clean up, I lifted a table and realized that I could not lift my left arm higher than eye level. Just days later, the entire state—and therefore both bands—shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic. With no band and no horn lessons, I stopped practicing as I realized that the position of the horn was either causing or exacerbating the pain in my shoulder. Three doctor visits resulted in a diagnosis of frozen shoulder. They gave me two very large shots of steroids in the joint, and I began visiting a physical therapist. I stopped playing both horn and bassoon, hunkered down to do PT, and waited for things to reopen.
A year and a half later I had not played either instrument at all.
Then, my original band began to have rehearsals outside in a courtyard and I decided to play the bassoon, thinking it would not hurt my shoulder. As I practiced, I often played the band music along to YouTube videos to make it less boring. Hearing the horn parts in the songs made me melancholy for playing horn again, but I was nervous about losing the shoulder flexibility I had worked so hard to regain. As rehearsals continued, I decided I would try the horn again. I picked one song—ironically, a medley of tunes from the movie Frozen—and I asked the conductor if I could try to play the horn part on it. She happily agreed, and I began to practice the part, always followed up with my forty minute PT routine. By concert time, I had three horn parts and ten bassoon parts to play.
Now I am back to practicing mostly horn. I set a thirty-minute timer to ensure I do not practice too long, and I do my PT afterwards. Playing the horn brings me more joy than does the bassoon (even if I sound like a distressed cow sometimes). Being in small bands means that often I am the only person playing horn. It is not as easy to hide in the texture; but being older, I do not care nearly as much if my occasional wrong notes are heard. For me, it is all about the fun of being in band and making music with others, no matter how old I am.
Vienna Calling - Videos
Notas da América latina
por Gabriella Ibarra
Venezuela: Durante 2021 a comunidade latino-americana de trompistas desenvolveu diversos projetos e um deles se destacou por se dedicar à união dos trompistas venezuelanos que emigraram devido à difícil situação que atravessa a Venezuela. Muitos destes músicos foram formados no conceituado Sistema de Orquestras da Venezuela, onde a orquestra passa a fazer parte imediatamente do quotidiano de cada uma das crianças que crescem nesta numerosa “família musical”. A necessidade de se conectar novamente para tocar originou o grupo Venezuelan Horns durante 2019. Depois de várias gravações remotas, Venezuela Horns dá um passo à frente para oferecer “Cornada 2021” um festival virtual que proporcionou uma grande oportunidade para tantas crianças e jovens participarem do masterclasses dos professores Joel Arias, José José Giménez, Hugo Valverde, Will Sanders, Jean Philippe Chavey e David Cooper. A organização estava a cargo de uma equipe de jovens: Ángel Eduardo Mendoza, David Mendoza, Javier Mijares e Nelson Yovera, além de contar com o apoio de professores e trompistas venezuelanos: Luis Fernando Ruiz, Javier Aragón, Luis Valladares, Liber Oscher, Alberto Arias e Juan Sebastian Gimenez. Cada professor deu sua contribuição de conhecimento e orientou cuidadosamente cada criança e jovem selecionado para brincar. A ideia do festival era torná-lo acessível e sem custo para todos os participantes e graças à coordenação do professor Joel Arias como representante da Venezuela junto ao IHS, este evento se tornou uma realidade. A Escola Nacional de trompa da Venezuela e o El Sistema também estiveram presentes na “Cornada 2021”, que prevê uma nova edição a partir de agora para 2022.
Argentina: O professor Miguel Angel Gimenez tem trabalhado com seus cursos de trompa e trombone na Escola Superior de Música da província de Salta, apresentando um recital de todos os seus alunos com arranjos adaptados por ele mesmo no dia 24 de novembro.
Colômbia: O naipe de trompas da Orquestra Sinfônica de Bogotá: Dante Yenque, Diego Parra, Oscar Alvarez e Daniel Bello planejam um concerto com música de Natal para 12 de dezembro às 14h00.
Notas desde Latinoamérica
by Gabriella Ibarra
Venezuela: Durante el 2021 la comunidad latinoamericana de cornistas ha venido desarrollando varios proyectos y uno de ellos se ha destacado por dedicarse a unir a los cornistas venezolanos que emigraron por la difícil situación que atraviesa Venezuela actualmente. La mayoría de estos músicos fueron formados dentro del reconocido Sistema de Orquestas de Venezuela en donde la orquesta pasa inmediatamente a formar parte del día a día de cada uno de los niños que van creciendo dentro de esta numerosa “familia musical”. La necesidad de conectarse nuevamente para tocar originó al grupo Venezuelan Horns durante el año 2019. Luego de varias grabaciones a distancia el Venezuela Horns da un paso adelante para ofrecer “Cornada 2021” un festival virtual que le brindó la grandiosa oportunidad a tantos niños y jóvenes de participar en masterclasses por los maestros Joel Arias, José José Giménez, Hugo Valverde, Will Sanders, Jean Philippe Chavey y David Cooper. La organización estuvo a cargo de un equipo de jóvenes: Ángel Eduardo Mendoza, David Mendoza, Javier Mijares y Nelson Yovera, además de contar con el apoyo de los maestros y cornistas venezolanos: Luis Fernando Ruiz, Javier Aragón, Luis Valladares, Liber Oscher, Alberto Arias y Juan Sebastian Gimenez. Cada maestro hizo su aporte de conocimientos y guió con esmero a cada niño y joven seleccionado para tocar. La idea del festival era hacerlo accesible y sin costo alguno para todos los participantes y gracias a la coordinación del maestro Joel Arias como Representante por Venezuela ante la IHS, se hizo realidad este evento. La Escuela Nacional de Corno Venezuela y El Sistema también estuvieron presentes en “Cornada 2021” que se plantea una nueva edición desde ya para el 2022.
Argentina: El profesor Miguel Angel Jimenez viene realizando un trabajo con sus Cátedras de corno y trombón en la Escuela superior de música de la provincia de Salta presentando un recital de todos sus alumnos con arreglos adaptados por él mismo el pasado 24 de noviembre.
Colombia: La fila de cornos de la Orquesta Sinfónica de Bogotá: Dante Yenque, Diego Parra, Oscar Alvarez y Daniel Bello tienen previsto un concierto con música navideña el 12 de diciembre a las 14 horas.
Nobuaki Fukukawa—Mozart Concertos
Nobuaki Fukukawa’s latest release is Mozart’s complete horn concertos. It is well known that Mozart composed these concertos for his great friend, Joseph Leutgeb, and now Fukukawa has recorded these works with his great friend, Masato Suzuki. The recording was made at Suntory Hall in February 2021.
Fukukawa: In a way, this was also a by-product of the Covid-19 pandemic. I was asked whether I had a project I wanted to realize in Suntory Hall, as there had been a cancellation. I decided immediately that I wanted to record Mozart’s horn concertos. This had been a dream of mine for some time.
Astonishingly, Fukukawa had only a month to prepare the music and to put together an orchestra for the recording sessions. He immediately asked Masato Suzuki to conduct, and he gathered the players mainly from among his colleagues in the NHK Symphony Orchestra, including concertmaster Kei Shirai.
Fukukawa: Masato and I are the same age, and our first meeting was as composer and performer. I had commissioned him to write a new piece for horn; this was the beginning of our fruitful relationship, and we have since performed together on various occasions since.
In addition to the four concertos, the disc contains the Concert-Rondo K. 371.
Fukukawa: Music fans will no doubt be familiar with the stories regarding Mozart’s horn concertos which were written for his friend, hornist Joseph Leutgeb (1732-1811). By all accounts, they were very good friends; in the autograph score, for example, one can see Mozart’s teasing scribbles to him. It has, likewise, been a great joy for me to record these works with my musical friends.
Fukukawa says, “if Leutgeb gave the premiere of the horn concertos, Mozart himself most likely would have conducted and may have even joined in with the orchestra on the keyboard and done things to make the soloist giggle.”
One of the unique features of this complete Mozart set is that the cadenzas which were specially written for this recording by contemporary composers, including the cadenza for No. 4 (by Dai Fujikura), Concert-Rondo (by Miho Hazama), and No. 3 (by project conductor Masato Suzuki). As you will hear on the disc, each cadenza is distinctly characteristic of its composer.
Fukukawa: The cadenza by Fujikura makes use of the horn’s harmonic series, so it can also be played on the natural horn. In Suzuki’s cadenza, the harpsichord bursts in, which is perhaps how Mozart and Leutgeb might have done if they had performed together. Miho Hazama’s cadenza displays her unique vision of the world, but within that, she incorporates a Mozartian world. Frankly, I was amazed that we were able to assemble such a variety of cadenzas on such short notice.
The complete recording is available here: https://music.apple.com/us/album/mozart-horn-concertos-nos-1-4/1577498935
Sarah Willis—Holiday Surprise
IHS: the First 50 Years
by Jeff Snedeker
The story of the International Horn Society begins in 1968 and, fittingly, with a horn workshop. As William C. Robinson, freshly-hired horn professor at Florida State University (FSU), got to know his new students, “he became aware that his students, although talented, had very little knowledge of their instrument’s heritage. They were not familiar with the names of Anton Horner, Max Pottag, and others who were the founding fathers of horn playing in this country [i.e., in the USA]. Robinson’s growing awareness of this problem fostered the idea of bringing the world’s greatest horn players and teachers together for a workshop, including Anton Horner, Max Pottag, Wendell Hoss, and Carl Geyer. Robinson recalls, ‘Bringing them together would give all in attendance... the opportunity to get to know them and to learn an appreciation of the heritage of horn playing which is ours. Mr. Horner and Mr. Pottag were in their nineties and Mr. Hoss and Mr. Geyer were only slightly younger, so I knew that our time was limited if we were going to bring them, together.’” from David McKinley Hedgecoth, “The Life and Career of William Calvin Robinson” (MM thesis, Florida State University, 2003).
In the summer of 1968 in Aspen, Colorado, Robinson spoke with Philip Farkas, with whom he had studied 10 years before and who had become a friend and mentor, about the idea of hosting a workshop that would feature the horn, its music, and some prominent performers. Farkas, already a legend from his orchestral and teaching career, expressed strong support, lending credibility to the idea, something that Robinson maintained was critical to the mounting of this first event. Next, Robinson spoke to Joseph White, his predecessor at FSU who had moved into an administrative role at the school, about the possible event. White, a former student of Anton Horner and a Curtis classmate of Mason Jones and James Chambers, was very supportive and together they approached the Dean of the School of Music, Wiley Housewright. The school did not have a budget to support the event as conceived, so the duo was encouraged to present the proposal to the Division of Continuing Education. To their pleasant surprise, their proposal was met with enthusiastic support. (Jeffrey Snedeker, International Horn Society: The First 50 Years, page 14)
The First National French Horn Workshop was subsequently held in June 1969 at FSU. To learn more about this first workshop and how the IHS came to be, buy the book!
Want to know more? Take a listen to our podcast on the making of the book, Bonus Episode: IHS 50th Anniversary Book.
Introduction, Horn and More, November, 2021
Caros amigos,
Espero que esta mensagem vos encontre bem e positivos!
Com o chegar do Outono algumas boas notícias têm surgido, dando-nos uma renovada esperança que parte da vida da nossa comunidade regressará a alguma normalidade. Fiquei particularmente contente com o regresso à atividade de instituições musicais de fundamental importância, como por exemplo o Met de NY. Tenho assistido com entusiasmo ao regresso do público em maior escala às plateias e, é igualmente motivador constatar que as programações regressam à sua versão mais sinfónica. A atividade musical floresce um pouco por todo o lado, dando um sinal de maior confiança a todos.
Também os festivais, congressos e workshops de trompa estão de regresso, possibilitando que cada comunidade local possa interagir, conviver e compartilhar de novo, algo que todos sentimos muita falta nos últimos dois anos. Neste sentido, relembro-vos que coloquem já na vossa agenda para 2022 o IHS54. A anfitriã do evento, Jennifer Sholtis, está a preparar um evento vibrante e inesquecível, onde certamente ficará patente a energia e vivacidade da nossa comunidade.
A equipa de 'Horn and More' preparou uma Newsletter muito rica e diversificada: o virtuoso japonês Nobuaki Fukukawa dá-nos uma primeira amostra do seu novo CD dedicado a Mozart; Jeff Snedeker mostra-nos mais sobre o imperdível livro comemorativo dos 50 anos da IHS; Adam Nguyen partilha connosco o seu espírito radical...
Tome nota também de importantes anúncios das nossas iniciativas e vida em comunidade: bolsas de estudo e nomeações para o AC.
Uma última referência para o 'IHS53: Our One Horn Community', o nosso evento virtual foi um fabuloso êxito graças à dedicação e talento de muitos de vós. Eu continuo a vibrar com as muitas apresentações e performances, e ainda a descobrir mais. O conteúdo estará ainda disponível até dia 22 de Novembro, visita ihs53.com e navega !!
Envio um forte abraço desde Portugal!!
