Audition Excerpt List

Brian Thomas & Seth Orgel

[Note: It is highly recommended to read the entire article that accompanies this survey list! The full article has great practical advice on audition preparation.]

The results of the audition repertoire were compiled from material found on 41 audition lists. The number in parentheses indicates the number of times the piece appeared on the different lists. The lists used were from both high and low horn auditions.

The repertoire lists were compiled from the following North American orchestras: Alabama, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Columbus, Denver, Detroit, Grant Park, Honolulu, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Louisville, Nashville, New Orleans, Omaha, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Rochester, San Antonio, Savannah, Seattle, Syracuse, Thunder Bay, Toledo, Tucson, Utah, Vancouver and Winnipeg.

We would like to acknowledge the assistance of Vincent Cichowicz, Dale Clevenger, Mason Jones, Widge Kincaid, Steven Lawlis, David Orgel, Roseann Salamon, Norman Schweikert, and Harry Shapiro.

AUDITION REPERTOIRE SURVEY RESULTS

J.S. Bach

Brandenburg Concerto No. 1......(12)
Mass in B-minor......(3)
Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony No. 1......(1)
Symphony No. 2......(8)
Symphony No. 3......(31)
Symphony No. 4......(2)
Symphony No. 5......(1)
Symphony No. 6......(14)
Symphony No. 7......(30)
Symphony No. 8......(12)
Symphony No. 9......(22)
Overture to Fidelio......(15)
Piano Concerto No. 5("Emperor")......(7)
Rondino in E-flat......(1) [Grant Park Symphony, 1981]

Hector Berlioz

Symphonie fantasique......(2)
Scherzo"Queen Mab" from Romeo and Juliet......(12)

Alexander Borodine

Polovetsian Dances from Prince Igor......(1)

Johannes Brahms

Symphony No. 1......(22)
Symphony No. 2......(19)
Symphony No. 3......(18)
Symphony No.4......(18)
Piano Concerto No. 1......(9)
Piano Concerto No. 2......(13)
Academic Festival Overture......(6)
Tragic Overture......(1)
Variations on a Theme of Haydn......(1)

Anton Bruckner

Symphony No. 4......(3)
Symphony No. 7......(2)
Symphony No. 9......(1)

Claude Debussy

La Mer......(2)

Paul Dukas

[Fanfare from] La Peri......(1)

Antonin Dvorak

Symphony No. 7......(1)
Symphony No. 9......(11)
Cello Concerto......(3)

Cesar Franck

Symphony in D-minor......(1)

G. F. Handel

Judas Maccabaeus......(1)

F. J. Haydn

Symphony No. 31......(11)
Symphony No. 49......(1)
Symphony No. 55......(1)
Divertimento a trè......(1) [Boston Symphony, 1971]

Paul Hindemith

Symphony "Mathis der Maler"......(1)

Englebert Humperdinck

Hänsel und Gretel......(1)

Jacques Ibert

Divertissement......(1)

Franz Liszt

Les Preludes......(1)

Gustav Mahler

Symphony No. 1......(20)
Symphony No. 2......(1)
Symphony No. 3......(2)
Symphony No. 4......(6)
Symphony No. 5......(8)
Symphony No. 6......(1)
Symphony No. 9......(2)
Symphony No. 10......(1)

Felix Mendelssohn

Midsummer Night's Dream......(16)
Symphony No. 3......(2)

W. A. Mozart

Symphony No. 27......(1)
Symphony No. 29......(4)
Symphony No. 39......(1)
Symphony No. 40......(10)
Serenade No. 1......(1) [Chicago Symphony, audition book]
Serenade No. 11......(1) [Rochester Philharmonic, 1979]

Modeste Mussorgsky

Pictures at an Exhibition......(5)

S. Prokofiev

Romeo and Juliet(Suites 1 and 2)......(2)

Maurice Ravel

Piano Concerto in G......(11)
Pavane for a Dead Princess......(6)

Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Scheherazade......(3)
Cappricio Espanol......(1)

G. Rossini

Overture to Semiramide......(1)
Overture to La Gazza Ladra......(3)

Camille Saint-Saens

Symphony No. 3......(5)

Arnold Schönberg

Chamber Symphony No. 1......(1)

Franz Schubert

Symphony No. 9......(1)
Auf dem Strom......(1) [Boston Symphony, 1971]

Robert Schumann

Symphony No. 3......(5)
Konzertstück for Four Horns......(1) [Boston Symphony, 1979]

Dmitri Shostakovich

Symphony No. 5......(34)
Cello Concerto No. 1......(1)

Richard Strauss

Don Juan......(24)
Don Quixote......(10)
Ein Heldenleben......(21)
Suite from Der Rosenkavalier......(2)
Salome......(1)
Till Eulenspiegel......(30)

Igor Stravinsky

Divertimento from Fairy's Kiss......(2)
Suite from The Firebird......(7)
Jeu de Cartes......(1)
Pertouchka......(3)
The Rite of Spring......(3)

Peter Illych Tchiakovsky

Symphony No. 1......(1)
Symphony No. 2......(4)
Symphony No. 4......(17)
Symphony No. 5......(21)

A. Thomas

Overture to Mignon......()

Richard Wagner

Lohengrin (Act III)......(2)
Die Meistersinger......(2)
Overture to Das Rheingold......(6)
Overture to The Flying Dutchman......(2)
Tristan und Isolde......(1)
Siegfried Idyll......(1)
The "Long Call" from Siegfried......(4)
The "Short Call" Siegfried......(20)

Carl Maria von Weber

Overture to Der Freischutz......(6)
Overture to Oberon......(2)

Excerpts from the article "Auditioning for a Horn Position in the United States" originally published in The Horn Call Volume XIII No. 2.

For a new survey of ICSOM orchestra audition lists see The Horn Call XXXIII, No. 1 (October, 2002).