First: we do not invite candidates from outside Europe. They must live here before we invite them. Citizenship does not matter (they actually originated from 3 continents, but not the USA)
Second: tuning has nothing to do with taste. As "tuned" means something "absolute" there is no choice left. All candidates ( 6 female, 13 male in 1st round but 2 male & 2 female in the 2nd round). Their German, Austrian & American teachers themselves are that much focussed on the Bb-horn (all here), that they forget the right way of tuning both sides with the best notes. May-be, these teachers have never heard about the overtones, the partials, where they are located, sharp or flat or in tune, nor seem they having ever taught their students regarding tuning. Probably, they just say to them when listening to their playing: "the f is too flat !" - and the student stops & fumbles on the slide. If the student gets his horn tuned in the lesson - how at all if the never play together with the piano except when preparing a recital - the student tunes it to the pitch bb. Our instrument - as a single horn - is better in tune, than a double horn generally, as it is a hybrid instrument. So we have to use both sides to chose the best tuned pitches. If we hang on the one side (hanging on the Bb-side while the bell section is designed to the F-side) we cannot play in tune. If one playas on a single Bb or a single F, no problem. Bell & body of the horn fit together. The few sharp or flat pitches are controlled by the lip or right hand action easily. While listening to the audition & watching the candidates (that is another important aspect of the audition), I did not notice any single right hand action to correct a particular pitch. I remember one candidate of a student audition, who tried to tune his horn to the piano "a". She was quite flat with her "a" on the Bb-horn. So she opened the right hand very wide, but left the tuning slide as it was. Insane. Absolute blame for the teacher. And on and on. There are so many people with Internet access. Why the heck don't they visit my pages. There is a lot about the right use of the double horn. Do they fear to blame themselves by reading this useful stuff ? I am really disappointed about wasting my time in the audition committee. =============================================================== -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, April 02, 2004 8:33 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Hornlist] Munich audition tuning....Hans Hans: Two quick questions about your recent audition observations. First: I assume most, if not all the candidates for your Munich orchestra were European and/or Germans. If that is correct, and they all tuned the same way, then it seems to me that many European and/or German professors from different universities and countries are not training their students to your tastes. Why? Second: what do you teach your students about tuning properly, and why aren't other competent European/ German horn teachers doing the same? Many thanks, John John David Smith,DMA Lynn University Conservatory of Music Ima _______________________________________________ post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] set your options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/hans.pizka%40t-online.de _______________________________________________ post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] set your options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
