To trip or not to triple...?
I read Mr. Cerminaro's article rejoicing the triple horn in the latest Horn Call with great interest. Especially this statement was touching: "Phrasing with triple horns transforms fluid vocal ideas into confident musical realities." Congratulations to all who find an instrument with which they are really happy, it be a certain make, or, as in this case, a model with many features. However, I would like to comment on the prediction in this article about the future of instruments for horn players.
From my point of view, the development of the horn seems to be going in several directions, the key words being diversity and versatility. The natural horn (from various periods) is now clearly back in business in Europe. I, for one, have been increasingly busy through last decades, performing orchestral or chamber music by Bach, Händel, Telemann, Haydn, Mozart, Mendelssohn and other great composers, on instruments similar to what they had at the time. This includes Brahms Op. 40, with a piano from 1853 and an old violin with gut strings. Indeed, Brahms did have some very special sounds in mind!
Today the natural horn can be studied as the main instrument, for example in the distinguished old Leipzig Music Conservatory in Germany. There are many groups around performing and recording on period instruments or copies of such. More and more frequently conductors ask for natural horns in classical works. Smart students study natural horn on the side, in order to be better prepared for possible opportunities and challenges in their professional future. The single horns (in F and Bb) are also coming back in use, based on the desire of some groups and conductors to create a sound picture closer to what was there at the time of the composers.
Never Say Never - Again
Frøydis Ree Wekre on myths and negative rules
When I started to play the horn as a teenager I got the firm impression that only people with thin lips would have the potential to become really good horn players. This myth stayed in the back of my mind for many years and certainly delayed my progress in several areas. My own, somewhat thick lips became the excuse and explanation for various problems. My own creative problem-solving and flow of new ideas on how to improve technically slowed down considerably because of believing in this myth.
Later I have run across other myths that for some people had been damaging to their progress and self confidence, but often later proven to be wrong.
Many of these myths turn into negative advice and rules on how not to do it. This kind of advice is handed out freely as pompous statements in the form of “never do this/never do that”, understood: “To do this or that is against every law, written or unwritten, and if you do this or that anyway, your playing/your chances/your whatever will be severely damaged.”
Below follows a collection of such “nevers”; statements that can have a negative effect on the minds of sensitive people. Some of the rules are self-experienced, and others have been told me by students and colleagues. Each one will be presented separately with my comments.
“Never puff your cheeks.” My first horn teacher told me this, and I followed his advice obediently. However, one evening, as I was watching the orchestra where he played, I noticed something strange in the horn section; surprisingly for me, my own teacher puffed his cheeks occasionally! When asked about this during my next lesson, he thought about it for a while, then smiled and held firm to his earlier advice, but of course, the grain of doubt had been put into my mind. Later I have found that puffing the cheeks occasionally when playing in certain ranges or dynamics might help to give stiff corner muscles a quick, temporary relaxation. It might also help producing a different tone colour, if one is unable to create that on the normal, non-puffed setting. So, my answer to this rule would be: Yes, for the most part, although no rule without exceptions!
The Possum Photo
"PLAYING POSSUM"Photo: Jane Steig Parsons
Originally published in
The Horn Call Vol XI No.2?
The Horn
Keith McCaughin
for Hella and Hermann Baumann
One horn announces birth and death,
Heralds joy and strife,
One horn that sings with living breath,
One horn that sings with life.The alphorn sounds and trees resound,
Emerging life draws air.
The hills in blissful prayer abound,
The hills in blissful prayer.The shofar blares with youthful dares,
Maturing egos soar,
Oh taste the fruit Olympus bears,
For those who dare explore.The conch shell blasts and life is past,
Subsiding spirits fail,
As storm wracked souls below deck massed,
Across the chasm sail.One horn then blazes joyful praises,
"Life will never cease,"
Reechoing canonic phrases,
"Live in love and peace"One horn announces birth and death,
Heralds joy and strife,
One horn that sings with living breath,
One horn that sings with life.
Originally published in THE HORN CALL Vol. XI No. 2.
Hella Baumann, wife of Hermann Baumann, died on the 14th of June, 1997. The funeral was on the 20th of June at the Evangelical Kirche am Markt in Essen-Kettwig. She is survived by her husband, Hermann, four children, and seven grandchildren.
Her classic lecture presented during the XIIth International Horn Workshop, "The Horn as a Symbol," is published in THE HORN CALL Vol. XI No. 2.
As If Your Life Depended On It.
Michael Meckna
Aspiring performers are naturally curious about those who have become superstars. Do they practice long hours or were they born with a gift, or both? Did they make it to the top through perseverance or luck? Or is it simply a matter of knowing the right people?
The secrets of success are both surprising and predictable, as revealed by a dozen or so of the the top twentieth-century horn soloists. Their advice is a wonderful blend of what to do and what not to do. Beyond scales, lip slurs and mouthpieces, they also have much to say about the mental and spiritual aspects of musical performance.
PRACTICING
The proverbial New City tourist who asked how to get to Carnegie Hall was told to "practice," but most of us want more detailed directions. Barry Tuckwell says that the secret of horn playing success is the same as for success at anything - hard work and concentrated practice, and he is echoed by his British colleague Ifor James , who urges students to learn to enjoy practicing for long stretches of time.
