by Eldon Matlick

I have had the opportunity to develop close relationships with several Viennese hornists during my visits over a 9-year tenure performing with the Classical Music Festival in Eisenstadt, Austria. My first contact was Florian Janezic, hornist with the Haydn Brass. This wonderful ensemble performs weekly at the Esterhazy Palace. The superb musicianship of this ensemble was a pleasure to behold. I went backstage and introduced myself and to my amazement, all spoke fluent English. I learned that Florian was an outstanding teacher, having many successful students accepted into various music programs in Vienna. In addition, he is a talented composer and has written several horn ensemble pieces for the Wiener Waldhorn Verein.

Andreas Hofer, by Florian Janezic

During my final year with the Classical Music Festival, I was offered the opportunity to sit in on a rehearsal with the Wiener Waldhorn Verein. It was an experience I will always treasure. For me, it was a bucket list event. The opportunity to sit in an ensemble with 14 Wiener horn players was a magnificent aural experience. The way their sounds blended in an indescribable overtone resonance was startling. I knew then and there that I had to get my own Vienna Horn.

Through the years, I have had the opportunity to travel to Austria on my own and visit various hornists, and I traveled to the village of Freischling to meet with horn maker Andreas Jungwirth. I went back in 2018 and bought one of his Vienna Horns. 

L to R: Eldon Matlick, Andreas Jungwirth, Professor Albert Heitzinger

The following year, I was invited to come to Vienna with my college horn ensemble (OU Hornsemble) to share a concert with the Wiener Waldhorn Verein.

Wiener Waldhorn Verein

The event was a celebration of the 135^th Anniversary of the WWV with a concert in the town of Ohlsdorf. Surprisingly, the hall was packed, every chair filled. The look on my student’s faces when they heard the WWV in the sound check was one of awe. They couldn’t believe the tonal richness of the ensemble and the perfect intonation allowing overtone resonance to create an even bigger tone. Since then, I now understand that Austrian horn players never think in terms of volume. Instead, there is more tone or less tone.

My students had the opportunity to have masterclasses with Gerhard Kuhmer (former solo hornist, Vienna Volksoper) and Peter Dorfmayr (Principal hornist, Wiener Symphoniker). They also heard the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in rehearsal and met with the horn section afterwards. It was there where I was first introduced to Thomas Jöbstl who is currently one of the rotating Principal hornists of the VPO.

Since retiring from the university, I have acquired a Yamaha Vienna Horn. This instrument and the Jungwirth are the most common Vienna horns I have seen. From my experience, it seems that in the VPO, 55% use Yamaha, 40% use Jungwirth, and 5% use an instrument from another manufacturer. In Vienna, the Wiener horn is exclusively used in the Vienna State Opera, Vienna Philharmonic, Vienna Volksopera, and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. The decision between horn manufacturers is based on aesthetic factors. Both Yamaha and Jungwirth are fine instruments, but the Yamaha is much heavier than the Jungwirth. I like having both because on aggressive music, the Yamaha seems a bit more stable, but the Jungwirth offers the tone and suaveness that speaks to me.

A few years ago, I found a paper on the history of the Vienna Horn written by Thomas Jöbstl when I was searching for material on the Vienna Horn. It was interesting but wasn’t current, since it had been written in 2001. This past winter, I found Mr. Jöbstl’s original paper. I found out it was a Thesis written for the Department of Acoustics—Vienna Sound Style IWK of the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. This original paper was much longer and had more data on acoustical matters of various performers playing a variety of instruments of different manufacturers. Included in the last section are interviews with the test subjects and evaluations of the tonal resonance of the players and various instruments, along with natural overtone comparisons of the various makes of Vienna Horns.

It seemed to me that the paper should be available for English speaking hornists as the acoustical part of the study was utterly fascinating. I decided that this would be a worthwhile retirement project. Thus, using translation software from Google Translate and DeepL Translate, I worked my way painstakingly through the entire treatise. When I finished, I sent a copy to the author. Not long thereafter, I was contacted by Dr. Gregor Widholm of the Department of Musical Acoustics (Wiener Klangstil) of the IWK. He was a bit apprehensive about what I was doing, but he offered me assistance in the clarification of misleading information as well as outright wrong information. We went back and forth for months. In between these exchanges, I decided to update information on current manufacturers of Vienna Horns and the mouthpipe crook. I also added some information about Viennese instruments and mouthpieces available since 2001.

Truthfully, Dr. Widholm was skeptical of my additions and wanted to be very clear in the paper what was my contribution as opposed to Mr. Jöbstl’s original work. We came up with the solution that the bulk of my contribution would be at the conclusion of the portion dealing with the history of the Vienna Horn. All my contributions are defined by italics and brackets. When I sent Dr. Widholm my final draft, he was very pleased. He and the author agreed this should be the only authorized English translation of Mr. Jöbstl’s paper. The title is The Influence of the Musician and Instrument on the Viennese Sound of the Horn.

I have supplied a copy of this paper to the IHS Thesis Lending Library. In addition, I submitted a copy of Dr. Widholm’s updated article “The Vienna Horn: Its Acoustics and Playing Technique (Extended Version 2022)” written for the Historical Brass Society. This paper includes sound file examples from Wiener horn players and regular double horn players. This is another fascinating article, and it would be an interesting project for someone to do a similar study with double horns.

Dr. Eldon Matlick is the retired Principal Hornist of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra and retired Professor of Horn at the University of Oklahoma. In addition, he is the founder of the American Vienna Horn Society. His experiences visiting Vienna and with the Wiener Waldhorn Verein have led him to being an active advocate of the Vienna Horn.

by Ian Zook

Volume 10—Daniel Bourgue

This month, we are celebrating the luminary French performer and teacher Daniel Bourgue. Regarded as one of the finest soloists of his generation, Bourgue was an exemplar of the French aesthetics of tone and style and was a prolific recording artist. Our featured album, Two Centuries of French Music for Horn, was released in 1974 and includes many repertoire favorites performed with the Orchestre National de l’Opéra de Monte-Carlo.

Daniel Bourgue (1937-2023), born in Avignon, France, was a pupil of Jean Devemy at the Paris Conservatory, and he earned the Premier Prix there in 1959. His biography (provided by the International Horn Society) lists an extensive orchestral career. He maintained a long tenure as principal horn of the Orchestre du Théâtre National de l’Opéra de Paris, from 1964 to 1989, and he was a founding member of the Ensemble Intercontemporain in 1976. He premiered many works for horn, most notably the original solo work from 1971 by Olivier Messiaen that became the Interstellar Call in Des canyons aux étoiles, and the Divertimento by Jean Françaix.

Daniel Bourgue demonstrates a thorough mastery of the works on this album, lending an understated artistry that elevates the pairing of the horn with these original orchestrations. Bourgue allows the timbre of the various orchestral instruments to guide his own tonal palette, as we can hear in the following examples.

Dukas’ Villanelle reigns among our most enduring recital pieces. There are many orchestral colors that we miss with piano accompaniment—the atmospheric tremolo of the violins, the churning thrum of the violas and violins in the interstitial melody, and the woodwinds that dovetail and punctuate the horn’s melody:

Saint-Saëns’ Morceau de Concert is a similarly durable masterpiece, yet hearing the colors and textures of the orchestral scoring breathes life into this standard. Bourgue’s sturdy tempo and nimble execution is made buoyant through the variety of colors provided by the strings and winds:

Near the conclusion of Chabrier’s Larghetto, Bourgue’s clear and precise sound floats easily above the warm and supportive string accompaniment:

Vincent D’Indy’s Andante Cantabile is a seldom-recorded and magical gem! Bourgue tastefully leans into the phrases, evoking a musical atmosphere of nostalgia: 

This album certainly serves as a refreshing review of many standard pieces, impeccably performed by Daniel Bourgue. We hope you’ve enjoyed listening to excerpts from Two Centuries of French Music for Horn, and thank you for reading Horn on Record!

…That You’ve Always Been Told But Which Really Are Game-Changers!

by Jeff Nelsen and Katy Carnaggio

1. Take some notes. You’re in school to become an expert. Well, experts are copious note takers. Committing to writing notes along the way will increase your success rate at whatever you think success is…unless your success is sitting in class and making the mistake of thinking you’re absorbing knowledge as you live near information. If you understand and agree with what’s being shared in class, that’s great. But that’s not enough. Write some things down, in your writing or typing, with some doodles or circles around the good stuff, collecting your Ah-ha! moments. Holding that pen or having the keyboard ready will absolutely keep you more engaged in class…and the bonus is that the classes will go by quicker too!

2. Share the planet. Today, make eye contact and smile. Yes, just do it…today. And especially with those people you don’t know. It’s so simple! It’s often NOT so easy…but we promise it will not hurt! Here’s why it’s easier than you think. Only about 20% of the people will be returning the eye contact with you, and of those, 75% of them will look away before they see your smile. That leaves 5% of your day’s people with whom you have to share a smile. Whew!! ? We don’t have to explain the benefits of sharing smiles with strangers, right? Both for you and them! We thought not…yay!

3. Set clear goals. Consider what the greatest version of you is able to do on horn and create a plan to get there. Setting clear, actionable goals for your musicianship can be the difference between "I hope" and "I will." Whether it's clarifying your articulation, improving your facility throughout the range, or finding responsiveness and breadth in the low register, pen down what the best musician version of you sounds like. Then, study it! Break the skill down into smaller tasks and work on building it, day by day. 

4. Build your performance calendar. As you gear up for the new school year, ensure you're both giving performances and attending them. Performance isn't just about showcasing your talent; it's about growth, overcoming nerves, and knowing how to connect with your audience. Playing for others helps you refine your preparation methods and get comfortable sharing your music with those people we call “others.” Meanwhile, attending others' performances offers inspiration and expansion. (Yes, sometimes those performances show us what not to do…but that’s vital learning too!) It's a chance to absorb, reflect, and think: “How can I incorporate that into my own music-making?” So, pencil or Google Calendar in those recital dates, for both when you're in the audience and on the stage.

5. Consider starting a chamber group. There’s magic in collaborative music-making. Playing in a chamber group not only forces you to explore a diverse repertoire but also fine-tunes your listening and ensemble skills. Beyond the music, it's an opportunity to form deep connections with fellow musicians. Think about it: the camaraderie, the joy of joint successes, and the shared passion for music. If you've never been part of a chamber group, this could be your year to either join one or start one. Remember, it's not just about individual brilliance but how beautifully you can shine together.

As you step into this school year, let your passion for music be your guiding light. You’ve signed up for such a fantastic adventure of self-discovery! The other side of that is that contrary to pursuing a degree in math, diving into a degree in music means success is less about having the right answer…and it’s also embracing the reality that in the arts, being sure we have the answer or that we did it right is incredibly uncommon. Performing music is much more about taking the person you are right here and right now, crossing a magic line that exists between backstage and onstage, and executing the best sharing of what content, abilities, and belief you brought with you today. BOOM. You’ll find out later what other people thought. This journey of being a musician is filled with highs, lows, and rarely being sure. You have a lot of company on this journey, and it’s worth it. Ask around! Talk with those musicians you respect. They’ll tell you about their tears, their dreams not attained, and those times they thought they mattered…and how deep the desire to matter again goes. Here's to a melodious year ahead!

by Inman Hebert

On the surface, the process of choosing where to study music may seem quite simple: find institutions of interest, apply, and audition. However, the process of narrowing your list may require a careful appraisal of different universities, colleges, and conservatories. For prospective students who do not already have a clear idea, start with your current horn teacher or other trusted advisors. These mentors know you as a student and can guide your decision. They also understand both the music school’s quality and atmosphere of learning.

Consider factors, such as campus life and the size of the student body and of the music program. Determine if you have an interest in the college experience that extends beyond music or whether you seek a conservatory: what is your preferred environment? Each institution provides a great deal of information about its program on its website. Use these resources to learn about the curriculum, professors, concerts, current and past students, and the application process.

In narrowing your list of schools, consider location and proximity to home. Do you prefer an urban or rural setting? Will there be more opportunities in certain locations? Then consider your financial means for traveling for auditions. While virtual auditions may sometimes be possible, read websites as scholarships may only be offered for in-person auditions.

For many of us, we must examine cost. From a financial perspective, look at the merit-based and need-based financial aid the school offers. If the scholarship numbers cannot place a school in your price range, then weigh the option and cost of student loans, or potentially strike the school from your list. Ask yourself whether a school is ultimately worth the cost of auditioning.

Reach out to professors for trial lessons. Lessons will aid in your understanding of teaching styles and will provide the opportunity to ask any questions about the school. The horn professor and studio will be your primary influence and key to your development in studying music. Also investigate the audition repertoire. Ideally, the institutions you choose will not have wildly divergent requirements. Some overlap between your school choices will help you focus your audition preparation.

In conducting your final review, include at least one school with a high chance of acceptance. While you may need to submit preliminary audition material, in-person auditions are typically held in January and February, so aim for 3 to 7 institutions. By carefully crafting your list, you can maximize your chances for successful auditions; however, do not stress as, ultimately, your college experience will depend on what you make of your opportunities once there.

by Layne Anspach

Hello everyone!

Robert Kahn’s Serenade in F Minor, Op. 73 is the focus of this month’s Chamber Music Corner. Kahn was a German composer and teacher born in Mannheim in 1865. Kahn received his musical training at the Berlin Musikhochschule (1882-85) and the Munich Akademie der Tonkunst (1885-86). From 1894 to 1930, he taught piano and music theory at the Berlin Musikhochschule. Due to his Jewish heritage, Kahn was forced to retire from his position by the Nazis in the 1930s. He left Germany for England in 1937 where he resided till his death in 1951.

The historical suggestion is that the Serenade in F Minor, Op. 73 was first submitted to Kahn’s publisher Simrock as a trio for oboe, horn, and piano. Simrock did not believe he could sell many copies with this instrumentation, so he suggested that Kahn write it for the traditional piano trio (violin, cello, and piano). Kahn delivered parts for eight instruments that could be mixed and matched. Regardless of whether the story is accurate, the following parts were composed—Part A: oboe, clarinet, violin, or viola; and Part B: horn, viola, or cello. While there is a viola part for Part A, it seems to be quite uncommon in the possible configurations, thus reducing the number of ensemble options from twelve to nine. 

Comprised of a single movement which lasts roughly eleven minutes, the piece has two main themes, each of which is interrupted by a faster section. Andante sostenuto (the first main theme) opens with the horn sustaining a single pitch while the piano rolls chords in two beat pairings. The oboe enters with the melody in m. 5, which is characterized by a hemiola at the beginning, after which the melody is passed around. This section is interrupted by a fiery Vivace propelled by running sixteenths in the right hand of the piano. The winds are seemingly in conflict with the piano as Kahn writes polyrhythms: triplet eighths in the winds and sixteenth notes in the piano. The winds “win” in the polyrhythmic conflict as the piano adopts the triplet eighth figures in the transition back into the Tempo I (Andante sostenuto).

The oboe introduces the new melody in the second main theme at Allegretto non troppo e grazioso. This features mordents and grace notes sprinkled throughout. The second interjection, Piu mosso, begins with an octave leap by both winds. The melody features a similar hemiola as the Andante sostenuto, but with different melodic content. After the piano restates the motif of the Allegretto, the final section is altered by changes of tempi. A molto rallentando sets up a seven measure Vivace coda bringing the piece to a brilliant conclusion which incorporates both the hemiola and mordents from the Andante sostenuto and Allegretto, respectively.

The reference recording features David Guerrier on horn. Additionally, Erik Ralske can be heard on a live recording with the clarinet, horn, and piano instrumentation; and Howard Wall is the hornist on the album Horn Trios by Brahms, Kahn, Koechlin & Dubois with the violin, horn, and piano instrumentation.

 von Austris Apenis

AA: Beginnen wir von vorne. Wie haben Sie das Horn ausgewählt?

SS: Das Horn ist das Lieblingsinstrument meines Vaters und wie auch meine zwei älteren Brüder vor mir startete ich mit dem Hornspiel mit dem Beginn meiner allgemeinen Schulausbildung im Alter von 7 Jahren. Es war also wie man so sagen könnte vorbestimmt und zu diesem Zeitpunkt von mir auch alternativlos als selbstverständlich angenommen.

AA: Wo sind Sie in einer musikalischen Familie geboren?

SS: Geboren bin ich in der ehemaligen DDR, also dem heutigen Ostdeutschland als dritter Sohn von einer am Ende acht Geschwister zählenden Pfarrersfamilie. Musik gehörte für uns immer zum Familienalltag. Auch mein Vater hätte gerne eine Musikerlaufbahn beschritten, er spielte in seiner Jugend Horn, Cello und Klavier. Aus politischen Gründen wurde ihm allerdings ein Musikstudium verwehrt.

AA: Wenn ich darf, warum wurde Ihrem Vater aus politischen Gründen die Ausbildung verwehrt?

SS: In der Oberstufe (Abiturphase) seiner Schullaufbahn hat sich mein Vater in einer Klausur des Faches „Staatsbürgerkunde“ nicht entsprechend den Erwartungen des Regimes geäußert. Er bekannte sich nach Vorladungen zum Rektor weiter zu seiner Meinung, was zur Exmatrikulation von der Oberschule und der Hochschule für Musik Leipzig führte, wo er bereits als Jungstudent immatrikuliert war.

So ungefähr wurde mir das vor vielen Jahren einmal erzählt.

AA: Irre! Wie lebte man damals in der DDR?

SS: Diese Erinnerungen reichen nun schon einige Jahrzehnte zurück und zum Zeitpunkt der deutschen Wiedervereinigung war ich gerade einmal 11 Jahre alt.

Wir lebten auf dem Land, das war ein einfaches Leben. Von den Grundnahrungsmitteln her waren wir abgedeckt, Luxus gab es nicht.Highlights waren Pakete von Verwandten aus der BRD zu Weihnachten mit einem Glas Nutella, welches bis mindestens Ostern reichen musste.

AA: Klingt nach einer völlig anderen Welt! Was denken Sie über das Hornspielen? 

SS: Oh, diese Frage öffnet ein weites Antwortfeld!

Ich denke, das Hornspielen kann, über dem normalen, oder üblichen Erlernen der technischen Voraussetzungen, die es dem Spieler ermöglichen bei der Wiedergabe von Musikstücken mitzuwirken, ein besonderes Ausdrucksmittel sein, um sich den Zuhörern auf persönliche Weise mit allen Gefühlen und Emotionen mitzuteilen. Ich erlebe leider all zu oft, dass die spezifischen, technischen Hürden des jeweiligen Werkes den Spieler zu sehr in deren Bewältigung bindet und dabei der zu transportierende musikalische Inhalt, verbunden mit dem Empfinden des Spielers, im Hintergrund bleibt.

Hornspielen ist für mich also ein weites und komplexes Feld und in erster Linie ein Ausdrucksmittel, mit dem ich den aufgeschlossenen Zuhörern auch Einblicke in meine Gefühlswelt gewähre.

AA: Ich stimme vollkommen zu! 2004 haben Sie den 2. Preis beim Wettbewerb Concours de Genève gewonnen. Ich kann mir vorstellen, dass die Vorbereitung eine ziemliche Aufgabe war. Wie ging das? Haben Sie Ratschläge für Hornisten, die sich auf Wettbewerbe vorbereiten? 

SS: In der Tat war die Vorbereitung neben meinen Orchesterjobs zu diesem Zeitpunkt keine leichte Aufgabe und hat nicht zuletzt auch Kompromisse bei der Auswahl des Programms erfordert.

Meine Sicht auf Wettbewerbe hat sich nicht nur aus der Sicht als Teilnehmer, sondern auch aus der Perspektive der Juroren verändert. Selbstverständlich braucht es eine...

Ein Waldhorn Lustig

by Caiti Beth McKinney

Hi Horn Friends!

This September, I want to introduce a composer who has written over 2000 compositions, from chamber and solo music to film scores and, most of all, jazz. David Nathaniel Baker, a Pulitzer prize-nominated, Emmy award-winning musician, was among the first to write jazz method books. (Jazz had previously been taught primarily through aural instruction.) The definition of grit and determination, he dealt with a series of difficult life circumstances that could have ended his career. Instead, he triumphed over discrimination and tragedy to become a musical paragon.

Born in Indianapolis in 1931, Baker was raised during the years of segregation and so was required to attend schools designated for African American students. It was while attending Crispus Attucks High School that he began performing on trombone, and he quickly became a regular in the Indianapolis jazz scene during the 1940s and 50s. He then attended Indiana University where he earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music education. In 1953, Baker was involved in a car accident which injured his jaw and derailed his thriving trombone career.

After completing his education, Baker began teaching at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri. During his tenure at the historically Black college, he taught composition to a number of rising composers, including John Elwood Price. However, after his marriage to white opera singer Eugenia Marie Jones, Baker was forced to resign his position due to the state’s anti-miscegenation laws which were not repealed until 1969.

Eventually, Baker returned to academia when he became a professor at Indiana University where he founded the jazz studies program. In 1991, he began working with Gunther Schuller (a name we as horn players should all know) to run the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra.

Although his main focus was jazz, Baker composed many works for orchestral instruments, at one point completing a commission for the International Horn Society. His works which utilize horn include Piece for Brass Quintet and Solo Orchestra (1988) and three woodwind quintets composed in 1971, including one entitled From “The Black Frontier.” While none of these works has been recorded—I’m issuing another challenge here—please enjoy this video of him with a jazz group in 1976.