Israeli Horn Day

by Aviram Freiberg

Jörg Brückner and pianist Raphael Skorka

On Friday, March 29, 2024, hundreds of Israeli horn students, professionals and amateurs of all ages and levels of playing gathered at the Charles Bronfman Auditorium in Tel-Aviv, home of the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra, for the bi-annual Israeli horn day. Due to the covid pandemic, this celebration had been postponed but finally took place after a hiatus of several years. Luckily, even the war outbreak last October couldn’t hinder this special event.

The Israeli horn day was organized by Mafte’ach (key) program, run by the IPO, whose aim is to allow children from the geographical and social periphery the opportunity to play musical instruments, and to learn and experience music. The program is held in collaboration with IPO members, and its concerts are named in memory of the late Ruth Gottesman.

The day opened with a recital by our special guest, Jörg Brückner, collaborating with pianist Raphael Skorka. Their program, fabulously executed, included Dukas’ Villanelle, followed by an Israeli piece for solo horn by Yitzhak Yedid, Lament in Memoriam of Ora Boasson-Horev, and it was brought to a rousing conclusion with Schumann’s Adagio and Allegro. The recital was hosted by IPO hornist Michal Mosek. As an encore, professional Israeli horn players joined Mr. Brückner for a moving performance of Ha’Tikva, Israel’s national anthem. After the recital, participants divided into different groups, according to age and level, to participate in various lectures, workshops, and playing activities. Among these events was a conversation with Jörg Brückner, hosted by IPO hornist Hagai Shalom, as well as workshops held by IPO assistant principal horn, Dalit Segal, and other leading Israeli horn players and teachers, including Ruti Rozman-Varon, Chezy Nir, Tsviki Moran, and Barak Yeivin, who conducted a play-along session for young players. A yoga class for horn players was conducted by IPO violist and yoga instructor Gili Radian-Sade and hornist Gal Raviv.

The finale was a concert by some of our professional players. Ruti Rozman-Varon, accompanied by her daughter Gal Varon on bassoon as basso continuo played a Telemann concerto for horn and flute (recorder) on the natural horn. Also participating were players from the IPO, ISO (Israeli Symphony Orchestra), leading pedagogues, and retired professionals like Tzippi Cheryl Pellat and myself. IPO trombonist Micha Davis conducted a horn choir of all participants to conclude this very special day.

Finale Concert

The horn day was an excellent opportunity to promote the IHS and its activities, and we even recruited a new IHS member, Aviad Meitar!

Ruti Rozman-Varon and young participants

I truly hope this day was significant for the young players, who, as one can see in the photo, are mostly very young beginners. I had seven of my own students participating, and they all had a wonderfully inspiring experience.

by John McGuire

Calling all horn players! Are you in the market for a new horn, mouthpiece, mute, accessories, or music to perform? Make IHS 56 in Fort Collins, Colorado, your summer destination to meet and network with exhibitors from all around the world. The exhibit hall will be open daily from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. throughout the symposium (July 29-August 2), so you will have plenty of time to test out different horns and equipment, ask questions, talk with horn makers, and peruse solos and etude books. All exhibitors, performances, and lectures/presentations will be housed at Colorado State University’s beautiful University Center for the Arts facility, making it easy to visit the exhibits every day.

Also, a quick reminder: regular registration pricing for participants will expire on June 30. Make sure to head to our website, www.hornsonthehorizon.com, to register now and save some money that you can later put toward purchases from our amazing vendors. Start making those shopping lists!

If you have never had the opportunity to visit Fort Collins, Colorado, you are in for a treat. Between beautiful mountain views and easy access to hiking trails, being Colorado’s largest producer of craft beers, and strolling through the Old Town Historic District, there is something for everyone to enjoy. To learn more about Fort Collins you can visit visitftcollins.com. Don’t forget to add a visit to Andy Warhol’s signed Campbell’s Tomato Soup Can to your itinerary, conveniently on display right outside of the University Center for the Arts!

IHS 56 Exhibitors

IHS 56 would like to take a moment to acknowledge and thank this year’s symposium sponsors. Without your very generous support, events like this would not be possible.

If you are a vendor who would like to join our esteemed list of exhibitors and/or sponsors, it’s not too late. Email exhibits@hornsonthehorizon.com for more information.

by Layne Anspach

Hello musicians!

Johannes Matthias Sperger’s Cassation No. 3 will be the focus of this month’s Chamber Music Corner. Sperger (1750-1812), a double bassist and composer, was born in Feldsberg (now Valtice), Czechia in 1750. His earliest training was from an organist in Feldsberg, but he went on to study with Johann Georg Albrechtsberger in Vienna. Considered a leading double bass player of his day, Sperger was employed in a number of courts but worked longest at the court in Ludwigslust from 1789 until his death in 1812.

Sperger’s compositional output is extensive, including 45 symphonies, 18 double bass concerti, and many chamber works. His Cassation No. 3 is also cataloged as Divertimento in D Major, M.C II:21. The work is for horn, viola, and double bass, and it is closely related to the trio for flute, viola, and double bass, M.C II:20.

The work is in four movements. The first, Moderato, rotates the primary melody between each instrument in a typical classical style. There are sixteenth note runs that add flourishes to the movement as well. Andante poco adagio begins with a horn melody which is passed to the viola. The double bass assumes the melody in the middle section before the opening material returns once more to close the movement.

The third movement, Menuett and Trio, begins with the viola leading the melody, then passing it to the horn with the bass continually supporting. The roles in the first trio are reversed as the horn takes the lead first followed by the viola. After a return to the menuett, a second trio features the bass (no doubt showing off Sperger’s own skill). The final movement, Andante con variazioni and Allegro, starts with the melody in the horn before the viola takes over in the first variation. Not surprisingly, in the second variation the bass takes over the melodic presentation. The third variation sees the return of the theme, carried by the horn, supported by active triplets in the viola. The work ends with the Allegro in compound meter and is propelled by the viola and bass with the horn as the supportive participant.

The reference recording features hornist Ab Koster on the album Rarities for Double Bass (Christophorus, 2007).

by Mike Harcrow

To articulate is to make distinct, more so or less so in music as the style and other aspects of a performing situation (acoustics, number of players, etc.) may require. A very basic articulation diagram for musical styles of the Classical and Romantic eras might look something like this:

How wind players accomplish these (and other) indicators is considered a function primarily of the tongue. If we think more thoroughly about what really happens as we articulate, however, we will discover at least five articulation activators: the tongue, the fingers, the rotors, the lips, and airflow.

THE TONGUE

A horn player’s tone is distinctive, in great part, because our bells face away from the audience and we have our hands placed in them for functional purposes (the subject of another discussion), including tone control and manipulation…not to mention playing nearly into our own concert attire and, possibly, into curtains! These factors contribute to some disadvantages in performance, most notably (in light of this discussion) to a loss in the clarity of tonguing.

Most horn players use a letter “T” as their articulation consonant—and occasionally a letter “D” if a more lyrical passage is made more beautiful by using the softer articulation. I was once, however, quite shocked and disappointed in listening back to a recording of myself in a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 in which all the repeated pitches in the famous solo were so unclear because of my choice to tongue softly that the measures [mm. 11, 15, 19, and 23] sounded like long tones rather than distinct rhythms!

Tonguing must not be mushy; neither ought it be harsh or explosive. The default concept for tonguing should be clarity.

THE FINGERS

Tonguing is quite often done while fingering different notes. If the tongue and fingers are not perfectly coordinated, the effect of articulating is that of popcorn popping. We must develop an ergonomically comfortable left-hand position that is relaxed—remembering that the hand is attached to the wrist and the wrist to the arm, in order to avoid any possibility of developing carpal tunnel syndrome or any other repeated stress injury—while maximizing our ability to move the fingers quickly in synchronization with the tongue. “Fly-away” fingers or fingers flattened onto the rotor levers are not efficient in their movement, so a grip which can hold an overripe tomato without rupturing it is most desirable. The fact that a majority of horn players have a dominant right hand, moreover, means that most of us have a bit more to overcome in developing the best facility in finger-tongue coordination. The easy solution is to practice single and multiple tonguing daily in conjunction with valve work (starting with scales).

THE ROTORS

Closely related to the fingers as articulators are the instrument’s rotors (or valves), since these are what the fingers operate. What really needs to be said here is that rotors must work well. Rotors must be well oiled so that they are quick (light oil) and quiet (more viscous oil). Linkages, mechanical or string, must be in excellent repair. Neoprene, rubber, or cork bumpers must be placed and trimmed so that the rotors open and close with the best possible internal alignment, and they should be neither too squishy nor too hard.

THE LIPS

Most of us will agree that every single pitch we play has a different and distinct “buzz.” The generation of sound by the aperture is how brass players create pitch; placement or positioning of the pitch in the buzzing aperture is how we accomplish note changes, with or without valves, and, to some extent, pitch control. I recall sitting in the front row in a small concert hall in Seoul, South Korea, to watch a very famous colleague conduct his own performance of a difficult modern horn concerto played from memory. In getting the chamber orchestra started, he completely mis-fingered much of the challenging opening passage yet still got every note right! That is the power of the buzz.

AIRFLOW

None of the first four articulators work their best without optimum airflow. Indeed, there is no buzz without it; but we must also use a copious amount of air for both power and nuance. Our entire torsos function as big air pumps. Additionally, as we read in chapter 2 of the well-known Yogi Science of Breath (made known to American brass players by Arnold Jacobs), “breath is life,” that is, oxygen makes every functioning part of our bodies work well. How much do we need the focus and concentration to multi-task as performers, the energy for the creation of sound and for stamina, and generosity of tone and beauty! We are generating little tornados in our horns every time we play well. Air is foundational to what we do; air gets us—as articulation masters—and the music going.