Catherine, playing Mozart has changed much over the years. Mozart is not that heavy in the horns. The double horns have quite too much resonance mass & sound much too heavy, special if the symphonies are performed in a chamber orchestra setting with eight first violins or so. And many performers think, the horns should show their skill with the high notes. No, better the contrary, remaining in the background & sound like very soft silvery trumpets (Mozart hated them because of his experience with Mr.Schachtner, their neighbour in Salzburg). If there is a written forte, it be played with mezzoforte or even less.
Did they have today´s rather heavy sounding doubles that time ? No way. They had the very light weight natural horns with perhaps 40% or less of the mass of a modern double. How to solve that problem ? Play all Mozart (in his symphonic or chamber works & in many dramatic works) light, super light, like the strings do. It works for most pieces except the rather high symphonies. The descant horn (single high F or high G) , used by both players of the usual group of two - you have two groups of two horns here - will assist you to produce these fine silvery passages. Play it throughout the symphony, pressureless & with great lip opening, so the air can escape without the usual hiss. To get an example, surf around on my home page for the Haendel Aria from Giulio Caesare to get an impression how the descant might sound. There is real reason to use the descant (all four players should do it) to produce the right sound. Throw away false ambition. ============================================================ ================================================= -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Catherine Eisele Sent: Monday, April 04, 2005 12:28 AM To: The Horn List Subject: Re: [Hornlist] Mozart 25 The first part is in Bb alto for the 1st, 3rd and 4th movements and Eb for the 2nd. Most of the first and second movements fall between top line f and high c (horn pitch), and the last only has a couple high c's and is a little lower in general than the first and third movements. you might be thinking of a different symphony because the first horn does not play at all in the trio in this symphony, Catherine Eisele ----- Original Message ----- From: G<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: The Horn List<mailto:horn@music.memphis.edu> Sent: Sunday, April 03, 2005 7:07 PM Subject: Re: [Hornlist] Mozart 25 Hi, Just use your standard double. If I remember correctly, and it's been a few years, horn 1 is in G all the way. But I could be wrong. Either way, I don't remember the Bb parts being that high anyways. The only reason there is four horns is because of the minor key; you need a pair of natural horns in Bb so the mediant of a G minor chord is an open tone on a Bb horn. In the trio, the G horns and the Bb horns trade off in the melodic line for this very reason. Have fun, Gary --- Catherine Eisele <[EMAIL PROTECTED]<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>> wrote: > Are the b-flat parts to Mozart's 25 symphony > performed on a regular double horn most of the time > or a descant? I will be playing first horn on the > piece in June, and am curious. I'm planning on > using my regular double, unless of course I'm > informed that it's a crazy idea. > > I'd appreciate any tips or other related > information, > > thanks! > > Catherine Eisele > West Chester, Pa > _______________________________________________ > post: horn@music.memphis.edu<mailto:horn@music.memphis.edu> > unsubscribe or set options at > http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/beowulf_36%40y ahoo.com<http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/beowu [EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Get Firefox!!http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/central.htm l _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/ceisele86%40ms n.com _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/hans%40pizka.d e _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
