South Asia—Restraint as Radicalism, Part I
South Asia—Restraint as Radicalism, Part I
by Vidhurinda Samaraweera
I am convinced that a horn player who has lived inside all nine of Beethoven’s symphonies would name his Eighth (Op. 93) the most quietly rewarding to play; choosing it without batting an eye over the Eroica, the Fifth, the Sixth, the Seventh, or even the Ninth. It offers the horns no heroic fanfares, no funeral march, and no choral apotheosis to crown. What it has instead is something much rarer: horn writing built almost entirely from wit, restraint, and an intimate knowledge of exactly what two natural horns could and could not do. That makes the horn writing in Op. 93 special, and its craft becomes fully visible once you set it beside what Beethoven asked of the instrument everywhere else in his output, and what his contemporaries were asking of it during the same period.
To see why, we have to start with a fact that students sometimes forget (and professionals almost never do). In 1812, the horn had no valves. Beethoven was writing for the natural horn (and specifically the Inventionshorn tradition), an instrument whose crooks (interchangeable lengths of tubing) let a player retune the whole instrument to a new fundamental, but which otherwise offered only the open harmonic series plus whatever notes the right hand, inserted into the bell, could bend into tune. 
Dresden virtuoso Anton Joseph Hampel’s own pupil, the itinerant virtuoso Giovanni Punto, carried this hand-stopping technique across Europe and, in April 1800, premiered a piece Beethoven wrote specifically for him, i.e., the Horn Sonata, Op. 17. It displayed a direct, personal apprenticeship in the instrument’s possibilities in the exact month Beethoven premiered his First Symphony, predating the eight symphonies that followed. Moreover, alongside the hand-stopping culture solidified a real division of labour: the cor alto (high horn) specialist, playing on a shallower, narrow-diameter mouthpiece built for agility and singing tone in the upper partials, and the cor basso (low horn) specialist, whose deeper, wider mouthpiece was built for resonance, register leaps, and a darker, more veiled color in the bottom range. Nearly everything distinctive about the Eighth Symphony’s horn writing comes from Beethoven deploying that old distinction with impeccable precision and taste.
Yet Beethoven holds his cards close to his chest at the outset. The first movement dispenses with the slow introduction that opens several earlier Beethoven symphonies (the First, Second, Fourth, and Seventh), launching forte straight into the home key of F major unlike his First Symphony in C major, where he famously slips a B-flat into the opening C chord to turn it into a dominant seventh. While the opening of the Eighth appears deceptively conventional at first glance, Beethoven immediately subverts expectations with an asymmetrical twelve-bar opening phrase, a second theme that arrives in the “wrong” key of D major before correcting itself to C major, fierce sforzandi on weak beats (beats 2 and 3 in a 3/4 meter paced "in 1"), and a massive build-up into the recapitulation. There, Beethoven builds to a fff which for him is an extraordinarily rare dynamic marking, capping nearly sixty continuous bars of fortissimo writing. The horns anchor both the build and the explosion, but they are doing a structural job here, not playing soli. The most intricate work is yet to begin.
That timbral shift starts in the second movement, where Beethoven replaces the traditional slow movement with a brisk, witty Allegretto scherzando in B-flat major. Following Classical convention, he removes the trumpets and timpani entirely and re-crooks both horns from F into B-flat basso, a much longer tube with a darker tone. 
Crucially, the horns join the woodwinds right from the first bar to play the movement’s famous ticking clockwork motif traditionally associated with his friend Johann Nepomuk Mälzel’s early mechanical tempo device, the Chronometer (the forerunner to the metronome), though the famous Mälzel canon story was later embellished by biographer Anton Schindler. Re-crooking into B-flat is acoustically essential here so that the horns can articulate those delicate, rapid pianissimo semiquaver chords on clean open harmonics rather than muffled stopped notes. Yet choosing the long B-flat basso crook does not merely match the key and extend the range downward; it also changes the colour of every note, replacing the brighter F-crook sound with something rounder and more hooded. That extra tubing softens the contours of the semiquaver articulations and expands the wind section’s low end, allowing two brass instruments to blend effortlessly into a whispering woodwind texture. It tells you how seriously Beethoven took horn timbre as a compositional tool in this particular symphony.
The real centre of gravity, though, is the Trio of the third movement (bars 45–78), where the full orchestra with the two horns now back in their home key of F suddenly dissolves into an intimate chamber texture consisting of the two horns, a solo clarinet, and a running cello bass line (lightly punctuated by pizzicato double basses) underneath it all. This is the cor alto and cor basso pairing revived almost exactly as it would have existed in 1780’s chamber divertimenti. Horn 1 sings a lyrical line in dialogue with the Clarinet, and Horn 2 supports that line with wide, register-crossing arpeggios beneath it. It is, deliberately, an old-fashioned texture woven into a symphony written in 1812, yet it remains immediately captivating to the listener. This Trio is also a staple excerpt in professional horn auditions precisely because it demands and tests the blend, intonation, rhythmic precision (maintaining crisp duple upbeats against the cellos’ running triplets), and restraint that a section player needs, as opposed to a loud tutti passage.
Another hidden nuance sits inside this same Trio, one that a cursory glance at the score will not show you. Just after the second ending of the Trio’s opening strain (bars 53–56), Horn 1 and Horn 2 enter a four-bar rising sequence in which Horn 2 and the first clarinet fall into unison. It is a line the cor alto (Horn 1) could easily have played more comfortably, since it lies squarely in his natural strength. However, Beethoven gives it to the cor basso instead. Recent scholarship on Beethoven’s writing for low horn (notably by natural horn specialist Teunis van der Zwart), drawing on the mouthpiece and technique differences described above, argues that this can only be explained by Beethoven wanting the darker, more velvety cor basso color specifically to blend with the B-flat clarinet, even at the cost of making the passage harder for both players than it needed to be (pushing Horn 2 into a high register while forcing Horn 1 to soar even higher above it on exposed stopped notes). It is exactly the kind of choice that separates a horn writer who understands the instrument from one who merely knows its range.
That keen awareness of the natural horn’s physical limits also shapes the finale’s most famous moment: a fortissimo C-sharp, blared out in bare octaves at measure 17 after sixteen bars of near-silent, half-cadenced F major. On paper, it is gratuitous, and the music that follows makes just as much harmonic sense without it. Yet Beethoven keeps bringing the note back until, deep into the coda, it finally does its real job. It drags the entire orchestra into F-sharp minor, a key so remote from the home key of F major that Beethoven has no choice but to drop the horns completely, since a natural horn crooked in F simply cannot execute that key’s scale on open partials. Once the storm passes and the tonic snaps back, the horns re-enter, triumphant and slightly ridiculous, to hammer out the movement’s absurdly long chain of closing cadences.
Stay tuned for Part II.
Pedagogy Column—Take A Field Trip
by Mike Harcrow
In the fall of my first year as a university music major, four of my horn studio mates and I piled into a car and drove six hours to see Barry Tuckwell perform a Mozart concerto with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. We snuck into the wings at intermission and found him alone in his dressing room, and to our delight, he was happy to shake our hands and spend time chatting with us! This was formative in my musical life, and now I want to provide such opportunities for my students—or at least encourage them to plan their own adventures.
Just this past weekend, I took some horn students from south-central Pennsylvania to Chardon, Ohio, to spend an afternoon with Chuck Ward. They watched and listened as he did minor repairs on each of their horns. In turn, they bombarded him with well thought-out questions and entertained his very fluffy German shepherd. And this afternoon? 
These same students are enjoying a performance of Shostakovich’s Symphony no. 5 by the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra. (And yes, they are getting their homework done too!)
I am fortunate to live three hours or less from most of the major metropolitan areas in the northeastern United States, so events and great venues are plentiful. Opportunities I have provided for students over the decades include concert trips, master classes, ensemble coaching sessions, private lessons with renowned teachers and performers, visits to horn and mouthpiece makers or to a repair shop for a “spa day,” equipment and accessory shopping trips, performance opportunities (from IHS Symposia and regional workshops to state conventions by audition)…even coffee shop Q&A sessions with “names” in the horn world. As a student, be curious, and ask for good things. As a teacher, be creative, and give more to your students than the hour a week.
Being a facilitator is easy. Look up concert information. Ask for complimentary or discounted tickets. Use your connections. Write emails or make phone calls. Come up with simple travel plans and budgets. People in the horn world are kind and generous and nearly always willing to help students learn and grow. And the time spent together builds the kind of community that will continue to aid and encourage others.
Latin America—Panama Horn Festival: A New Generation of Horn Players
by Francisco A. Rodríguez
From September 14-18, 2026, Panama City hosted the fourth edition of the Panama Horn Festival, organized by Hampel Horn. The festival continues to grow as a space for education, artistic exchange, and the development of horn playing in Panama, with a particular focus on young student musicians in training.
This year’s festival featured American horn player Michael Thornton who led masterclasses, lectures, and educational activities, as well as Natalia Stets, a conductor from Ukraine, who directed the horn ensemble throughout the festival. The program also included lectures, rehearsals, classes, and concerts, creating opportunities for learning and exchange among students, teachers, and professional musicians.
One of the central activities was the 2nd Panama Horn Competition, held on September 14 at the Escuela Juvenil de Música in Ciudad de las Artes. Participants competed in Intermediate and Advanced categories, performing repertoire appropriate to their level.
For this second edition, the competition introduced an initiative that expanded the experience for its participants: the winners were given the opportunity to perform with an orchestra playing the same works they had prepared for the competition. This allowed the competition to become more than a contest, creating an additional artistic and educational experience for the young musicians.
For Hampel Horn, providing this opportunity means recognizing not only the talent of young horn players, but also the time, discipline, and effort they invest in their musical development. Bringing repertoire prepared over months of study onto the concert stage and performing it with an orchestra is a deeply meaningful experience in their musical growth.
The fourth edition of the Panama Horn Festival provided educational activities, performances, and a closing concert, reaffirming Hampel Horn’s commitment to developing new generations of horn players and strengthening the horn community in Panama.
Festival de Cornos de Panamá: una nueva generación de cornistas
in Englishpor Francisco A. Rodríguez
Del 14 al 18 de septiembre de 2026 se celebró en Ciudad de Panamá la cuarta edición del Festival de Cornos de Panamá, organizado por Hampel Horn. El festival continúa consolidándose como un espacio de formación, intercambio artístico y desarrollo del corno francés en Panamá, con especial atención a los jóvenes estudiantes y músicos en formación.
Esta edición contó con la participación del cornista estadounidense Michael Thornton, quien ofreció clases magistrales, conferencias y actividades de formación, así como de Natalia Stets, directora de orquesta de Ucrania, quien dirigió el ensamble de cornos durante el festival. La programación incluyó además conferencias, ensayos, clases y conciertos, generando espacios de aprendizaje y encuentro entre estudiantes, docentes y músicos profesionales.
Uno de los momentos centrales fue el II Concurso de Cornos de Panamá, realizado el 14 de septiembre en la Escuela Juvenil de Música de Ciudad de las Artes. Los participantes compitieron en las categorías Intermedia y Avanzada, interpretando repertorio correspondiente a su nivel.
Como parte de esta segunda edición, el concurso incorporó una propuesta que amplió la experiencia de los participantes: los ganadores tuvieron la oportunidad de interpretar junto a una orquesta las mismas obras que habían preparado para el concurso. Esta iniciativa permitió que el concurso trascendiera la competencia y se convirtiera también en una experiencia artística y formativa.
Para Hampel Horn, brindar esta oportunidad significa reconocer no solamente el talento de los jóvenes cornistas, sino también el tiempo, la disciplina y el esfuerzo que invierten diariamente en su formación. Llevar al escenario el repertorio trabajado durante meses y compartirlo junto a una orquesta representa una experiencia significativa dentro de su desarrollo musical.
La IV edición del Festival de Cornos de Panamá concluyó con actividades académicas, presentaciones y un concierto de clausura, reafirmando el compromiso de Hampel Horn con la formación de nuevas generaciones de cornistas y con el desarrollo del corno francés en Panamá.
59th International Horn Symposium
Plan Now for IHS 59,
June 2-6, 2027 in Miami, Florida, USA
Richard Todd, Host
Interview with Marie-Luise Neunecker
auf Deutschby Austris Apenis
1. How did music first come into your life, and what is the earliest musical memory you still carry with you? What drew you to the horn in particular—was it love at first sound, or a slower discovery? Many musicians take a winding road into the profession. What did yours look like, and did any of the detours turn out to be valuable later?
My mother played the lute and often sang in the evenings with me and my brothers. Today the instrument lies on my grand piano. Song is my way into music. I grew up in modest circumstances in a small village, where there was little opportunity for musical development. My parents sang in the church choir, and there was a piano in the house. So I began playing the piano at the age of 7, and it remained my main instrument until I was 19. Besides the church choir, the village also had a brass choir in which I played trumpet. That is how it came about that after my school qualifying exams, I began studying school music in Mainz with piano as my principal subject and trumpet as my second.
I did not particularly like the trumpet's bright tone color, so right at the beginning of my studies I changed my second subject to the horn. The high register went well, but the low register was something I still had to discover. After two years, the low register was there but the high register was gone. I moved to the Hochschule in Cologne, still on the school music course, but now for two years with horn as my principal subject and piano as my second. Prof. Erich Penzel trained my high register, and my range was fundamentally in order.
While I was still completing my school music examinations, I auditioned at the Frankfurt Opera and won the position of second horn. Only then did I begin studying the horn more thoroughly…a somewhat unusual order of things. The school music course covers many subjects, and so I had a broad musical education and a good knowledge of the repertoire. The intensive piano study was helpful for my musical understanding as well.
2. Which teachers or mentors shaped you most, and what are the most important things from them that you still pass on today?
In technical terms, my training with Erich Penzel was formative, and I have assumed a great deal of it in my own teaching and developed it further.
In a course, Frøydes Ree Wekre recommended practicing certain technical matters—double tonguing or lip trills, for example—for 5 minutes every day; I have applied this constant repetition in what one might call homeopathic doses both for myself and in my teaching.
Musically there are a great many musicians from whom I have learned simply by listening, Fritz Wunderlich for example.
3. What did you learn from Fritz Wunderlich?
I adore his open, emotional and authentic way of singing.
4. When did you know that the horn was going to be your life?
As a school music student at the Hochschule in Cologne, I was taken seriously by the horn players studying horn as their principal subject only because I had a small car. So now and then I was allowed to play along in concerts because I could drive my colleagues there. That is how we came to travel to a concert at the Liederhalle in Stuttgart. It became clear to me in a flash that I wanted to be a horn player.
I was actually in the middle of my school music finals, but after I told Prof. Penzel of my decision, he sent me, just two weeks later, to the audition at the Frankfurt Opera, and so the decision was made.
5. What do you remember about your first years in an orchestra, and what did that time teach you that a soloist cannot learn anywhere else?
The first period at the Frankfurt Opera was very stressful as I had no routine and no orchestral experience at all. The repertoire was very large in those days, and in a single year I got to know more than 50 operas. It is precisely because of that first imprint that I still love the opera so much today. The mixture of orchestra, singing, staging, and acting is so interesting.
The following years as principal horn in Bamberg and in Frankfurt at the Hessischer Rundfunk were very challenging and fulfilling. What could be finer than playing the great solos of the Romantic concert repertoire. For me, playing in an orchestra was always a social experience as well. I was very glad to be part of a collective for those ten years, with all the positive and even the negative experiences.
Since I also wanted a family, I had to leave the orchestra—with a heavy heart—and be on the road more as a soloist and chamber musician. With the professorship in Frankfurt, I was able to arrange my time more flexibly.
6. What were your positive and negative experiences in orchestras?
I loved being part of a group, and I loved the repertoire. Sometimes I was not amused by conductors without vision, or by the unprofessional behavior of colleagues who came unprepared.
7. You entered the profession at a time when the orchestral world looked very different for women than it does today. How did you deal with that?
Yes, unfortunately I did once have the experience of not being invited to an audition, on the grounds that the horn section did not want to engage a woman. But in the orchestra, only the playing counted for me, and male dominance did not unsettle me since I grew up with 3 older brothers.
8. Competitions were part of your early career. What role do you think they play in a young musician's development, and what did they mean to you personally?
Competitions are always good for working up a broader repertoire. The performance situation is a challenge that trains focus, the ability to concentrate, and strength of nerve. So I can only recommend taking part in competitions, but always in the awareness that "the journey is the destination." The preparation not only improves your technique: you also have to arrive at a musical statement of your own and bring it onto the stage.
9. At some point you chose the life of a soloist and chamber musician over an orchestra chair. What goes into a decision like that, and what would you say to a young player who faces it today?
For a horn student, the path should lead into an orchestra first. Our repertoire in the solo and chamber music field is not broad enough to gather sufficient musical experience. There is a difference between listening to a Bruckner symphony and playing in one yourself—no value judgment intended—but they are different experiences.
My decision to leave the orchestra was a purely pragmatic one: solo work, chamber music, a professorship, and two children…after that there was unfortunately no time left for an orchestra. Much later, when my children were grown up, I became a member of the Capella Andrea Barca, an orchestra of Andras Schiff's, where I was able to play in wonderful concerts.
10. Several works have been written for you. What is it like to have a piece composed for you, and how does the relationship between performer and composer actually work in practice?
The composers I worked with were fascinated by the Romantic horn sound; the focus lay less on the technical side. Not many contemporary composers can realize the soulfulness in the sound of the horn.
11. What makes it difficult to incorporate the soulfulness of the horn in contemporary music?
That is a difficult question. One would first have to clarify the terminology, what soulfulness actually means. Beyond that, soulfulness only comes into being through the listener who perceives it. In contemporary music in particular, there are great differences in how each individual receives it.
12. György Ligeti's Hamburg Concerto is closely tied to your name. What would you like people to know about how it came about, and about what it was like to work with him?
With Ligeti, we were on concert tours several times with the trio, Saschko Gawrilow and P.L. Aimard. In that way, we spent some free time together, and I was able to convince him that it would be marvelous if he were to carry further the compositional use of the horn he had begun in the Trio for violin, piano, and horn.
During a visit to his Hamburg flat, he played me a recording of a Romanian alphorn that he had heard in his childhood. The natural harmonic series fascinated him, and in the Hamburg Concerto he used the horn without hand-stopping, as a pure natural horn. Through the use of four additional natural horns alongside the solo horn and their simultaneous use in different tunings, new sounds arose far removed from conventional harmony.
Working with Ligeti was impressive—he rang me up, for instance, to ask whether he could leap from the 13th overtone of the horn in D to the 7th of the horn in E. At that, I first had to take a deep breath and do some calculating.
13. Is there a piece or a composer you would still like to work with?
In Ligeti's estate, there are sketches for a further movement of the Hamburg Concerto. I would very much like to work on it with him, but sadly it is too late.
14. Your recordings include many works that were rarely heard before you played them. What guided those choices, and is there a recording you feel particularly close to?
I always found it highly interesting to look for new repertoire in libraries and other sources. It is also exciting to read the autographs of the standard concertos, to see what the composer actually wrote down. Very often the editors reworked the editions, altering articulation or even more.
15. How do you build your musical statement when preparing a solo piece? How does your experience as a pianist and musicologist influence that?
When at all possible, I first tried to look at the autograph. With classical concertos I also tried to apply the rules of the performance practice of the time as they are described in the methods of the period by Quantz, Leopold Mozart, and others.
16. Chamber music has been a constant in your life. What does playing in a trio or a small ensemble give you that playing with a symphony orchestra does not? Were there any musical partners who changed the way you play?
Chamber music demanded the greatest musical flexibility, above all in the piano dynamic. Reacting to one another musically, the willingness to compromise, and the mutual influence are essential and challenging. In the orchestra these questions also arise to some extent within the horn section, but because of the conducting, the possibilities for shaping the music are more limited.
17. What has changed most in the horn world since you began: the playing, the instruments, the audiences, or the players themselves?
Worldwide globalization has mixed a great deal together. Local characteristics such as the Viennese F horn have unfortunately become extremely rare. Horn students can obtain their training in many different places and carry that influence back to their home country, passing their knowledge on to students in turn. The professors at the German conservatories, for example, are also an international mixture, and they teach accordingly.
18. How would you describe the sound you are looking for when you pick up the horn, and has that ideal changed over the course of your career?
For me the horn sound should always be open and singing, in other words free. My sound ideal has become somewhat darker over the years.
19. The horn is a physically demanding instrument. What have you learned over a long career about looking after the body and the mind, and what do you wish you had known earlier?
Since body and mind are something very individual, I personally went through a process of development and kept searching for the perfect balance. With what I know today, I would like to start all over again—for example, once the embouchure is fundamentally in order across the range, it has an importance of 50-60%. The remaining percentage is body work.
20. You have taught for many years. What do you try to give your students beyond technique, and what have they given you in return?
I always wanted to convey joy and enthusiasm for this profession, and the awareness that a successful life as a musician goes together with a great deal of discipline. My students gave me their trust, and with it the opportunity to play a significant part in shaping their path.
21. Now that you are stepping back from some of your roles, what will you miss most, and what are you looking forward to?
In the poem “Stufen” (“Stages”) by Hermann Hesse, I particularly like the line, “We must pass through space after space with a cheerful heart, clinging to none as to a home....” Each stage of life brings something new; while I am grateful for my past career path, I am not wistful—instead, I look ahead and enjoy my new freedom.
Marie-Luise Neunecker Interview
von Austris Apenis
1. Wie kam die Musik in Ihr Leben, und was ist die früheste musikalische Erinnerung, die Sie bis heute begleitet? Was hat Sie gerade zum Horn geführt – war es Liebe auf den ersten Ton oder eine langsamere Entdeckung? Viele Musikerinnen und Musiker nehmen einen verschlungenen Weg in den Beruf. Wie sah Ihrer aus, und haben sich manche Umwege später als wertvoll erwiesen?
Meine Mutter spielte Laute und sang oft abends mit mir und meinen Brüdern. Heute liegt das Instrument auf meinem Flügel. Das Lied ist mein Zugang zur Musik. Ich bin bescheiden in einem kleinen Dorf aufgewachsen, wo es wenig Möglichkeiten zur musikalischen Entwicklung gab. Meine Eltern haben im Kirchenchor gesungen und es gab ein Klavier im Haus. So begann ich mit 7Jahren mit dem Klavierspielen und es wurde mein Hauptinstrument bis ich 19 Jahre alt war. Im Ort gab es neben dem Kirchenchor auch einen Posaunenchor, in dem ich Trompete spielte. So kam es, dass ich nach dem Abitur Schulmusik in Mainz mit Hauptfach Klavier und Nebenfach Trompete begann.
Die hohe Klangfarbe der Trompete gefiel mir nicht besonders, also wechselte ich gleich zu Beginn des Studiums zum Nebenfach Horn. Die hohe Lage lief gut, aber die Tiefe musste ich erst noch entdecken. Nach 2 Jahren war die Tiefe da und die Höhe weg. Ich wechselte zur Hochschule nach Köln, immer noch im Schulmusikstudium, aber nun 2 Jahre mit Hauptfach Horn und Nebenfach Klavier. Prof.Erich Penzel trainierte meine Höhe und mein Umfang war elementar in Ordnung.
Noch während des Schulmusikexamens machte ich Probespiel an der Frankfurter Oper und gewann die Stelle als 2. Hornistin. Dann erst begann ich mit dem Hornstudium. Eine etwas ungewöhnliche Reihenfolge. Das Schulmusikstudium umfasst viele Fächer und somit hatte ich eine gute musikalische Breitenbildung und Repertoirekenntnis. Auch das intensive Klavierstudium war für das musikalische Verständnis hilfreich.
2. Welche Lehrer oder Mentoren haben Sie am meisten geprägt, und was davon geben Sie bis heute weiter?
In technischer Hinsicht war die Ausbildung bei Prof. Erich Penzel prägend und ich habe viele Inhalte in meinem Unterrichten übernommen und weiterentwickelt.
Frøydes Re Wekre hat in einem Kurs empfohlen, einige technische Themen, wie z.B. Doppelzunge oder Lippentriller jeden Tag 5 Minuten lang zu trainieren- diese ständige Wiederholung in sozusagen homöopathischen Dosen habe ich selbst und auch beim Unterrichten praktiziert.
Musikalisch gibt es eine große Anzahl von MusikerInnen, von denen ich alleine durch Zuhören gelernt habe, wie zum Beispiel Fritz Wunderlich.
3. Was haben Sie von Fritz Wunderlich gelernt?
Ich bewundere seine offene, emotionale und authentische Art zu singen.
4. Wann wussten Sie, dass das Horn Ihr Leben sein würde?
Als Schulmusikerin an der Hochschule in Köln wurde ich von im Hauptfach studierenden Hornisten nur ernst genommen, weil ich ein kleines Auto hatte. Also durfte ich ab und zu bei Konzerten mitspielen, weil ich die Kollegen im Auto transportieren konnte. So fuhren wir zum Konzert nach Stuttgart in der Liederhalle. Mir wurde schlagartig klar, dass ich Hornistin werden wollte.
Ich war eigentlich mitten im Examen des Schulmusikstudiums, aber nachdem ich Prof.Penzel meinen Entschluss mitteilte, schickte er mich 2 Wochen später zum Probespiel an die Frankfurter Oper und so war die Entscheidung schnell gefallen.
5. Woran erinnern Sie sich aus Ihren ersten Orchesterjahren, und was hat Ihnen diese Zeit beigebracht, das man als Solistin nirgendwo sonst lernen kann?
Die erste Zeit an der Frankfurter Oper war sehr stressig, da ich überhaupt keine Routine und Orchestererfahrung hatte. Das Repertoire war damals sehr groß und ich lernte in einem Jahr mehr als 50 Opern kennen. Gerade durch diese erste Prägung liebe ich die Oper bis heute sehr. Die Mischung von Orchester, Gesang, Szene, Darstellung ist so interessant.
Die folgenden Jahre am Solohorn in Bamberg und Frankfurt am Hessischen Rundfunk waren sehr herausfordernd und erfüllend. Was gibt es Schöneres, als die großen Soli im romantischen Konzertrepertoire zu spielen. Das Orchesterspielen war für mich mich immer auch eine soziale Erfahrung. Ich war sehr gerne die 10 Jahre Teil eines Kollektivs mit allen positiven und auch negativen Erfahrungen.
Da ich auch Familie haben wollte, musste ich schweren Herzens das Orchester verlassen und mehr solistisch und kammermusikalisch unterwegs sein. Mit der Professur in Frankfurt konnte ich die Zeit flexibler gestalten.
6. Welche positiven und negativen Erfahrungen haben Sie im Orchester gemacht?
Ich liebte es, Teil einer Gruppe zu sein, und ich liebte das Repertoire. Manchmal haben mich Dirigenten ohne Visionen verstimmt, ebenso das unprofessionelle Verhalten von Kollegen, die unvorbereitet spielten.
7. Sie sind zu einer Zeit in den Beruf eingestiegen, als die Orchesterwelt für Frauen ganz anders aussah als heute. Wie haben Sie das erlebt?
Ja, ich musste leider auch einmal die Erfahrung machen, dass ich keine Einladung zum Probespiel bekam, mit der Begründung, die Horngruppe wolle keine Frau engagieren. Aber im Orchester zählte für mich nur die Leistung und eine männliche Dominanz hat mich nicht verunsichert, da ich mit 3 älteren Brüdern aufgewachsen bin.
8. Wettbewerbe gehörten zu Ihren frühen Berufsjahren. Welche Rolle spielen sie Ihrer Meinung nach für die Entwicklung junger Musiker, und was haben sie Ihnen persönlich bedeutet?
Wettbewerbe sind immer gut, ein breiteres Repertoire zu erarbeiten. Die Auftrittssituation ist eine Challenge, die den Fokus, die Konzentrationsfähigkeit und Nervenstärke trainiert. So kann ich es nur empfehlen, an Wettbewerben teilzunehmen, aber immer mit dem Bewusstsein- „der Weg ist das Ziel“ Durch die Vorbereitung wird nicht nur die Technik verbessert, sondern man muss zu einer eigenen musikalischen Aussage finden und sie auf die Bühne bringen.
9. Irgendwann haben Sie sich für das Leben als Solistin und Kammermusikerin und gegen eine Orchesterstelle entschieden. Was gehört zu einer solchen Entscheidung, und was würden Sie einem jungen Hornisten sagen, der heute davorsteht?
Für einen Hornstudenten sollte der Weg zunächst ins Orchester gehen. Unser Repertoire im Solo und Kammermusikbereich ist nicht breit genug, um ausreichend musikalische Erfahrung zu sammeln. Es ist ein Unterschied, ob ich eine Brucknersymphonie anhöre oder selbst mitspiele- dies ohne Wertung- aber es sind verschiedene Erfahrungen.
Meine Entscheidung, aus dem Orchester zu gehen, war eine rein pragmatische- Solo, Kammermusik, Hochschulprofessur und 2 Kinder - dann war leider keine Zeit mehr übrig für Orchester. Sehr viel später, als meine Kinder erwachsen waren, bin ich Mitglied der Capella Andrea Barca geworden, ein Orchester von Andras Schiff, wo ich herrliche Konzerte mitspielen konnte.
10. Mehrere Werke wurden für Sie geschrieben. Wie ist es, wenn ein Stück für einen selbst komponiert wird, und wie funktioniert die Beziehung zwischen Interpretin und Komponist in der Praxis?
Die Komponisten, mit denen ich zusammen gearbeitet habe, waren vom romantischen Hornklang fasziniert, der Focus lag weniger im Technischen. Nicht viele zeitgenössische Komponisten können das Beseelte im Klang des Horns umsetzen.
11. Was macht es so schwierig, das Beseelte des Horns in zeitgenössische Musik einzubinden?
Das ist eine schwierige Frage - da müsste man erst die Begrifflichkeit, was soulfullness bedeutet, klären.. Darüberhinaus entsteht soulfulness erst durch den Hörer, der dies empfindet. Gerade in der zeitgenössigen Musik gibt es große Unterschiede in der Rezeption des Einzelnen.
12. György Ligetis Hamburgisches Konzert ist eng mit Ihrem Namen verbunden. Was sollte man über seine Entstehung wissen, und wie war die Zusammenarbeit mit ihm?
Mit G.Ligeti waren wir mit dem Trio Saschko Gawrilow und PLAimard- mehrfach auf Konzertreise. So verbrachte man einige freie Zeit zusammen und ich konnte ihn davon überzeugen, dass es genial wäre, wenn er seine kompositorische Verwendung des Horn, wie im Trio für Vi, Klavier und Hr begonnen, weiterführen würde.
Bei einem Besuch in seiner Hamburger Wohnung spielte er mir eine Aufnahme eines rumänischen Alphorns vor, was er in seiner Kindheit gehört hat. Die Naturtonreihe hat ihn fasziniert und in seinem Hamburgischen Konzert hat er das Horn ohne Stopftechnik als reines Naturhorn eingesetzt. Durch die Verwendung von zusätzlichen 4 Naturhörnern neben dem Solohorn und dem parallelen Einsatz in verschiedenen Stimmungen ergeben sich neue Klänge fernab der herkömmlichen Harmonik.
Die Zusammenarbeit mit Ligeti war beeindruckend- z.B. rief er mich an, um zu fragen, ob er vom 13.Oberton des D Horns zum 7. des E Horn springen könnte. Da musste ich erst mal Luft holen und rechnen.
13. Gibt es ein Stück oder einen Komponisten, mit dem Sie noch gerne arbeiten würden?
In Ligetis Nachlass gibt es Skizzen für einen weiteren Satz des Hamburgischen Konzerts. Den würde ich sehr gerne mit ihm arbeiten, aber leider zu spät.
14. Auf Ihren Aufnahmen finden sich viele Werke, die vor Ihnen selten zu hören waren. Wonach haben Sie ausgewählt, und gibt es eine Aufnahme, die Ihnen besonders nahesteht?
Neues Repertoire in Bibliotheken oder sonstigen Quellen zu suchen fand ich immer höchst interessant. Auch spannend die Autographe von gängigen Konzerten zu lesen, um zu sehen, was der Komponist wirklich notiert hat. Sehr oft bearbeiteten die Herausgeber die Ausgaben, veränderten Artikulation oder sogar mehr.
15. Wie erarbeiten Sie Ihre eigene musikalische Aussage, wenn Sie ein Solostück vorbereiten? Wie wirkt sich dabei Ihre Erfahrung als Pianistin und Musikwissenschaftlerin aus?
Meist habe ich wenn irgend möglich. zunächst versucht, das Autograph anzusehen. Bei klassischen Konzerten zudem die Regeln der damaligen Spielpraxis, wie sie in den Schulen der Zeit wie von Quantz, Leopold Mozart und Anderen beschrieben werden, anzuwenden.
16. Die Kammermusik war eine Konstante in Ihrem Leben. Was gibt Ihnen das Spiel im Trio oder in einem kleinen Ensemble, das Ihnen das Spiel mit einem Sinfonieorchester nicht gibt? Gab es musikalische Partner, die Ihr Spiel verändert haben?
Kammermusik erforderte größte musikalische Flexibilität, vor Allem im piano. Das musikalische Reagieren aufeinander, die Kompromissbreichtschaft und die wechselseitige Beeinflussung sind essenziell und herausfordernd. Im Orchester ergeben sich diese Fragen auch etwas innerhalb der Horngruppe, aber durch das Dirigat sind die Möglichkeitender Gestaltung begrenzt.
17. Was hat sich in der Hornwelt seit Ihren Anfängen am stärksten verändert: das Spiel, die Instrumente, das Publikum oder die Spieler selbst?
Durch die weltweite Globalisierung hat sich Vieles vermischt. Lokale Eigenheiten wie das Wiener F-Horn sind leider extrem selten geworden. Die Hornstudierenden können vielerorts ihre Ausbildung erhalten und tragen diesen Einfluss wieder in ihr Heimatland und geben ihr Wissen wiederum an Schüler weiter. Auch sind die ProfessorInnen z.B. an den deutschen Hochschulen international gemischt und bilden dementsprechend aus.
18. Wie würden Sie den Klang beschreiben, den Sie suchen, wenn Sie das Horn ansetzen, und hat sich dieses Ideal im Laufe Ihrer Karriere verändert?
Der Hornklang sollte für mich immer offen und gesanglich, also frei, sein. Mein Klangideal ist im Laufe der Jahre etwas dunkler geworden.
19. Das Horn ist ein körperlich forderndes Instrument. Was haben Sie in einer langen Laufbahn über den Umgang mit Körper und Geist gelernt, und was hätten Sie gerne früher gewusst?
Da Körper und Geist etwas sehr individuelles sind, habe ich persönlich einen Entwicklungsprozess durchlaufen und immer weiter nach der perfekten Balence gesucht. Mit den Erkenntnissen von heute würde ich gerne nochmal beginnen- z.B. wenn der Ansatz elementar für den Umfang in Ordnung ist, hat er eine Wichtigkeit von 50-60% Die restlichen Prozente sind Körperarbeit.
20. Sie haben viele Jahre unterrichtet. Was möchten Sie Ihren Studierenden über die Technik hinaus mitgeben, und was haben sie Ihnen gegeben?
Wollte immer Freude und Begeisterung für diesen Beruf vermitteln und das Bewusstsein, dass ein erfolgreiches Musikerdasein mit viel Disziplin verbunden ist. Meine Studenten haben mir Vertrauen geschenkt und damit die Möglichkeit, an ihrem Weg maßgeblich mitgestalten zu dürfen.
21. Jetzt, da Sie sich aus einigen Ihrer Aufgaben zurückziehen: Was werden Sie am meisten vermissen, und worauf freuen Sie sich?
In dem Gedicht “Stufen” von Hermann Hesse gefällt mir besonders die Zeile, “Wir sollen heiter Raum um Raum durchschreiten, an keinem wie an einer Heimat hängen....” Jeder Lebensabschnitt bringt Neues und so bin ich dankbar für meinen beruflichen Weg in der Vergangenheit, aber ich bin nicht wehmütig, sondern schaue nach vorne und geniesse meine neue Freiheit.
