Transposing is SO much a part of horn playing.... or Wagner tuba playing. Last weekend we performed Strauss' Alpine Symphony and I covered horn VI and B-flat tuben. Every time I play a tuben part I have to decode what method the composer chose to write the part. Sometimes they are in bass clef or in E-flat or something goofy (and even Wagner wrote in different methods in the same opera! Worse, Stravinsky writes W tuben in "B-flat alto" in Sacre, but that puts it one octave too high, so you have to adjust there too). So, I figured out that reading the Alpine tuben part as if it were B-flat horn (basso) worked great, using B-flat horn fingerings with some modifications and use of the 4th valve. And, in that piece generally you have to be ready to transpose in 2 or three different keys even on a single staff line. Strauss, for convenience, appears to change the notation keys (to horn in B-flat for example to get the low pedal) just to avoid writing ledger lines or to avoid excessive accidentals.
By the way, the Alpine Symphony is really fun to play. However-- as you work your way up the mountain, around the middle of the work I found that I really needed to take more frequent breaths because of the altitude. ;-) Bob Dickow Lionel Hampton School of Music -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Carlberg Jones Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 12:39 PM To: The Horn List Subject: Re: [Hornlist] Transpostion Assistance At 9:17 PM +0200 9/17/08, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Greetings - This is one of the ways to transpose I've heard of. Don't thing clefs. Don't think intervals. Think in the key. You've got to know your horn very well to do this, but it's no more difficult than playing a part in F. Okay. Off to practice my bassoon. Carlberg _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music2.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
