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.
A Guide to Testing Horns
Francis Orval
I have learned from various manufacturers and dealers that most people buy a horn by relying on first impressions or their "feeling" about a horn. I think that this is a dangerous system and many players end up buying a "dud" when the problems could have been found out before the purchase. The most common problems I have come across are:
1. A horn with a good sound but bad intonation.
2. A horn with good intonation but a bad sound.
3. Bad notes (harmonics) that "hid" during the testing.
4. The buyer's idea that "I have to adjust to the new horn."
QUESTIONS
The first step in testing a new horn is to know what you want. What type of sound do you want to hear and what type of metal produces the sound you like most? What type of resistance is necessary in a horn for you to play your best? How much weight can you hold? A stopping valve and a cut bell add perceptibly more weight to a horn and of course a triple is heavier.
These and many more questions should be considered before going to the "store" or especially before ordering a specially made horn. Also, you must decide on the importance of each one of these factors.
Medical Problems of Wind Players
by Philip Farkas
Brass playing encompasses at least four distinct categories of functions and techniques. One of the most important of these is the formation of the embouchure - the adjustment of the mouth and facial muscles and the positioning of the tongue and mandible so that the lips will vibrate when blown through. The breathing apparatus - the diaphragm, the rib cage, the intercostal muscles, and the glottis - must be correctly coordinated to work in conjunction with and maintain efficient vibration of the lips.
The third factor in brass playing is the ability to hold the instrument in a comfortable yet steady playing position. This requires strong but relaxed skeletal muscles, particularly of the arms, shoulders, fingers, and even the legs of those players who stand while playing.
The fourth aspect of playing is the psychological one of combating stage fright, which is most often exhibited in trembling arms and legs, dry mouth, tachycardia, and mental disorientation. All too many potentially successful artists have had to give up the music profession because of the inability to cope with this stress.
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.
IHS Commisions a Major New Work
Beyond Autumn, a critically acclaimed work by Joseph Schwantner.
William Scharnberg
(Excerpted from the original article which appeared in the document November 1999 issue of The Horn Call)
An important ten-year project has finally come to fruition and it is with great pleasure that I was asked to review the premiere of the first major concerto commissioned by the International Horn Society. The courage of the officers and members of the IHS Advisory Council over the course of the past decade, any one of whom could have bailed out on this project, should be lauded. It was a great gamble, but with the International Horn Society's mighty financial and artistic bow and Joseph Schwantner's true compositional arrow, we have hit the bull's-eye!
Thursday evening, September 30, 1999, in the Eugene McDermott Concert Hall of the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Hall in Dallas, a beautiful building designed by I. M. Pei, an audience gathered for a performance by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, including the premiere of Beyond Autumn: Poem for Horn and Orchestra by Joseph Schwantner. Also on the menu were Haydn's Symphony No. 82 and Tchaikowsky's Symphony No. 2, wisely programmed to contrast the premiere and afford the orchestra a good amount of rehearsal time on the difficulties of the new concerto. The soloist was Gregory Hustis and the conductor, Andrew Litton.
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