I did hear a performance of Beethoven 7 once where both 1st and 2nd played single high F horns. (I Know!). The interesting thing was that I just never heard the horns at all, except when they played G# (2+3). I think at that point the horn was long enough (Db horn) that it had a little resonance. Otherwise that bright thin sound was simply sucked up within the trumpet sound and cancelled out. I think that back in the old days, our standard double horn was thought of as something of a descant horn. There were many players that didn't switch to the Bb horn until G at the top of the staff. If then. I think one of the rationales for having high Eb instead of high F on the triple or descant is that being a step longer gives it a little more of a horn sound, a little less of that high F barky sound. Wish I could afford one!
- Steve Mumford _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
