by Kerry Turner

Recently, during the deepest part of the Covid19 lockdown, a close friend of mine had a small breakdown. It’s not unexpected that this happened. I believe most of us have experienced a similar type of thing. I’m talking about this bizarre dilemma we find ourselves in when it comes to practicing our instrument during this terrible time in 2020. We unpack our horns, sit down and start warming up. We organise the music on our stands, choosing the various self-appointed projects that we have planned out. I mean, eventually this pandemic crisis will end, and things will slowly get back to normal, right? 

So there’s my friend, practicing religiously every day, even up to two hours in an afternoon, and that with no foreseeable opportunities to rehearse let alone perform any music whatsoever. After a couple of months of this, my friend, who has been very methodical, starts to really sound great. And then, of course, the reality hits- “When will I ever get to play my heart out in a concert again?” A hopeless feeling takes hold, mild panic and a sense of futility. 

And then I remembered my days in college. I so very much dreamed of being a grand soloist, travelling the world, performing the greatest concertos to packed halls. But I was young, naive and definitely at the bottom of the career ladder. There were really no opportunities to perform concertos with anybody. So what did I do? I plugged away at it anyway. I convinced myself, perhaps fooled myself, that in time, I would indeed take the stage and play Strauss, Mozart, Gliére, Haydn, Hindemith, Weber, and, and, and…

I would even go so far as to retire to the kitchen, acting like it was backstage. Then I would make my stage entrance into the living room to thunderous applause, taking a bow, nodding to the imaginary conductor and proceed to concertise. And I did this for a number of years before I actually had the chance to make this fantasy a reality. I worked hard during that time. I drilled the basics and studied every concerto I could get my hands on. 

When I finally began to actually tour and perform as a soloist (something I admit I have not done nearly enough of in my career), it came natural to me. It was as if I had been doing it all my life. Well, I kind of had been, in the privacy and determination of my own mind. 

So I advised my friend to simply rewind the life tape. Go back to that place of imaginary concerts. Warm up and do etudes as if you were booked to play the Weber Concertino with the London Symphony on Saturday. Drill the repertoire until you sound spectacular. Someday the “Archangel Raphael” will heal the world of this plague and you will once again find yourself standing in front of, or sitting in the horn section of an orchestra, waiting for the glorious music to begin. And you will be ready. It will feel natural. As if you had been already doing it all year in 2020. 

arranged for 11 horns and performed by TJ Viola

Thomas “TJ” Viola is a horn player from the Northern New Jersey area who is a student of Michelle Baker and Amy Emelianoff. He is currently a Senior at West Essex High School located in North Caldwell, New Jersey.

TJ has recently graduated from the Manhattan School of Music Pre-College as a French Horn Major and has also finished his last season with the New Jersey Youth Symphony. Aside from that, he has also been a member of the New Jersey All State Band and Orchestral Ensembles for the past 3 years, and has previously been a substitute for the NJSO Academy Orchestra, the All North Jersey Region Orchestra, and the Livingston Symphony Orchestra.

TJ will be pursuing his musical studies next year at the Manhattan School of Music, where he will continue studying with Michelle Baker, working towards a Bachelor of Music in Classical Horn.

English version

Salve a tutti, sono Angelo Bonaccorso docente di corno presso il Conservatorio V.Bellini di Catania e III Corno presso l’Orchestra del Teatro Massimo V.Bellini di Catania e rappresentante italiano IHS. La situazione qui in Italia a causa della pandemia è davvero difficile, abbiamo ancora molti decessi al giorno e il Governo ci ha giustamente ordinato di rimanere a casa. Speriamo che possa finire presto perché stanno soffrendo tante famiglie che hanno perso i loro cari e molti medici e infermieri oltre a perdere la loro vita si stanno sacrificando giornalmente per aiutare il prossimo.

Il lato positivo di questa quarantena (oltre a trascorrere più tempo con le nostre famiglie e soprattutto i nostri figli) è che sta sviluppando in noi più stimoli allo studio e alla creatività. Giornalmente sui social vediamo tantissimi video da parte di musicisti, cantanti, atleti, cuochi, ecc…. ognuno da un contributo per offrire qualcosa al prossimo, un segno di amicizia a distanza.

Tra queste iniziative, con il mio Sicilian Horn Ensemble, siamo stati tra i primi a pubblicare un nostro video montaggio (fatto dal nostro componente Salvo Visalli) in cui suoniamo a distanza un arrangiamento della colonna sonora di Jurassic Park. I componenti del gruppo: Bonaccorso Angelo, Manuele Catalano, Sebastian Mulè, Fabio Chillemi, Matteo Leone, Salvo Visalli, Daniele L'Abbate, Lorenzo Scolaro, Riccardo De Giorgi, Luca Grasso,Emanuele Giunta e Chiara Zito

by Alexandre Collard

 English version

Pour cette video de Chostakovich et l'autre où je joue un quatuor d'Ilan Rechtman, les fameuses videos de l'appli Acapella m'ont été une belle source d'inspiration ! Je voulais faire du quatuor de cor pendant le confinement, avec mon très cher pupitre de l'Orchestre National de Lille, mais aussi tout seul, pour être obligé d'assurer le grave et l'aigu ! J'ai donc choisi un quatuor assez difficile, avec un grand ambitus : un jazzical de Rechtman. Je me suis vite rendu compte que le projet était trop ambitieux pour filmer chaque partie d'une traite rapidement (trop de contre Mi bémol, trop de notes, trop vite), j'ai donc décidé de me concentrer sur le son dans un premier temps, grace à GarageBand, le logiciel gratuit sur apple. Quand le résultat m'a plu suffisamment j'ai voulu en faire une vidéo, dehors dans le jardin, et j'ai découvert que l'autre logiciel mac iMovie me permettrait assez facilement d'apparaitre plusieurs fois à l'écran, parfait pour la situation ! Il ne me suffisait plus que de poser un bon appareil photo, et sans le toucher, jouer les quatre parties du quatuor à quatre endroits différents. Je ne m'attendais pas à ce que jouer en playback soit si difficile...! Puis j'ai suivi le HornQuartetChallenge de Bruce qui a d'abord sondé ses contacts cornistes sur le répertoire qui remporterait le plus de succès en arrangement pour quatuor de cors, et a ensuite offert librement le scherzo de la 10è de Chosta, nouveau défi parfait pour moi ! Je connaissais déjà les logiciels, je n'avais plus qu'à trouver une autre idée de scénario. Mon temps libre était principalement la nuit, après le coucher des enfants, et ce préau m'offrait un decor suffisamment effrayant pour coller à l'intensité et la gravité du mouvement. Une lampe solitaire, quelques bougies, un regard fixe camera avant et après avoir joué, j'avais l'ambiance qu'il me fallait. L'effet fantôme est une consequence fortuite de ma mauvaise utilisation d'iMovie pour me faire figurer quatre fois en meme temps ! L'ubiquité ne peut apparement pas sembler si réelle...