Actually, I've given this a lot of thought now that I'm pushing 60. I credit Hanson No. 2 with getting me to take up the horn.
As a high school student, and tuba player, I was heavily into electronics. I was always trying to log radio stations that were further and further away from my home in WV. One night I found a Detroit AM radio station that played a recording of the Romantic. (Yes, Virginia, AM radio used to play good music, not this mindless dribble they call talk radio.) I was thrilled. Never had I heard such lush harmonies. I did not know what instrument produced that "special" sound, but I had to find out. Our high school band only had one horn player, and she wasn't very good. Anyway, after playing in the WV all state band and finding out what a horn really sounded like, I knew I had to become a music major. I give up my plan to become an electrical engineer. My father thought that was fine, my mother was horrified and to her dying day never really understood. When I got to West Virginia University, there was a lack of hornplayers, and they gave me a full scholarship to change from tuba to horn. I have never regretted that change. Oh, the glorious sound of a good horn section! Sadly, the Romantic has fallen out of favor the last twenty years or so, but I've played it several times and it never fails to be magical. Wilbert in SC _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music2.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
