Nope!!! As long as he sounded good on both horns.
Milton Milton Kicklighter 4th Horn Buffalo Philharmonic Retired From: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> >To: [email protected] >Sent: Friday, August 12, 2011 1:35 PM >Subject: Re: [Hornlist] Triple horns > > > > >Just out of curiosity, if a candidate used a descant for only a small handful >of excerpts, like the Bach Quonium, Brandenburg, or even Beethoven 7, while >using a double for the rest, would you count it against them? > >-William > > > > > > >-----Original Message----- >From: Robert Ward <[email protected]> >To: The Horn List <[email protected]> >Sent: Fri, Aug 12, 2011 12:48 pm >Subject: Re: [Hornlist] Triple horns > > >Hi all, > > > >I've followed the discussion on triple horns with some interest. As of right > >now, I am not an advocate of the triple. The main reasons that I don't favor >the > >triple are as follows: > > > >- They are too much of a compromise - in most cases, they seem to be a double > >horn with a high-F side grafted on, or, more commonly, a descant with a low-F > >side. In either case, something has to give. Mostly they have poor low-F >horns, > >and that is a huge problem for me, because I think that the essence of our >horn > >sound comes from a good F-horn concept.. (see Philharmonic, Vienna). > > > >-They are too heavy to respond well. Schmid has tried to mitigate this, but >his > >is an imperfect solution, in my opinion. > > > >- They are a crutch. Players use them because they have not worked out >properly > >how to play high in an efficient way. Or they are scared of clamming high >notes. > > > >- You cannot play them loud on the high-F side and have them sound right. > >There's always a certain hollowness to the tone. > > > >- It's actually more tiring to play a High-F side of a horn, because the > >perceived resistance is less, and so you have to work harder inside the > >mouthpiece. > > > >- I can always tell in an audition when a candidate is using the high-F side >of > >a descant or triple. It is not possible to disguise the sound to a trained >ear. > >And for our orchestra, we do not generally employ that sound. Now, there are > >times when I use my descant - certain pieces by Berg, demanding contemporary > >pieces, perhaps Shostakovich 5 on the high solo, or some high classical > >symphonies. But it's just not that often. For example, I recorded every >Mahler > >Symphony and never used a descant or triple. > > > >Some advocates of triples make the case that it is simply the evolution of >horn > >playing. Perhaps. But it is not inevitable. If we have in our minds what a > >beautiful horn sound is and strive to play with that concept, everyone >benefits. > > > >I think we ultimately become stronger players by minimizing the use of high-F > >horns and learning how to play efficiently, accurately and beautifully on our > >doubles. > > > >All the best to you, worldwide, > > > >B > > > >Robert N. Ward > >Principal Horn > >San Francisco Symphony > >[email protected] > > > > > > > > > > > >_______________________________________________ > >post: [email protected] > >unsubscribe or set options at >https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/valkhorn%40aol.com > > > >_______________________________________________ >post: [email protected] >unsubscribe or set options at >https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/kicklighgter%40yahoo.com > > > _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
