[Hornlist] Re: Bach 'Cello suites- good horn rep?
One bit of advice: NEVER use the Bach Cello Suites for an orchestra audition if they ask for an "optional piece - your choice". Unless, or course, the position is for a spot in the cello section. Bad personal experience....... Jay Sewell original message date: Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:25:56 -0400 from: "Kellen McGee" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> subject: [Hornlist] Bach 'Cello suites- good horn rep? Hello everyone, I am a relatively young horn player, but have worked extensively on Bach's 'Cello Suite I. I love the piece dearly, both at the slower tempos it is taken at on horn, and at the faster tempos one hears on 'cello recordings. However, having played the piece for a couple different horn teachers, I've found that the suites aren't as universally accepted as proper horn repertoire as I would have thought. So, I thought I would ask the hornlist: What are the 'cello suites for? How are they viewed in the horn world as repertoire? Are we "allowed" to play them, even though Bach was very specific about what instrument ought to be playing his 'Cello suites? Thanks, Kellen M. ___ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music2.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
[Hornlist] Kruspe/Holton (was Holton's German Design team)
> date: Mon, 25 Apr 2005 13:57:12 -0500 > from: "Leonard Brown" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > subject: [Hornlist] Holton's German Design team > > Wrong list or not, I had heard the same story from Farkas, he told them= > =20 > they had the worst horn in the business and they asked him to help design a= > =20 > better one. I once had my hands on a very old Kruspe that the owner said w= > as the=20 > horn Phil copied the layout from while he was studying with him. It had th= > e=20 > Holton-looking layout with the Bb tuning slide but an enormous bell. =20 > Unfortunately he had let the kids at the junior high use it for years and i= > t was toast. > > - Steve Mumford>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> > > I am very bad with Holton model numbers. The Kruspe I had for a few weeks = > was laid out like the standard Holton, was medium bore, and nickle silver.= > It reminded me a great deal of the Holtons with that configuration. I th= > ink Kruspe made that design some years after the Horner models the 8D is co= > pied after. Can anyone back me up on the name "New Symphony" being the Kru= > pse model that Holton copied? > > Leonard in Laredo Leonard, I'm not at all familiar with the Holton horn in question, but I can shed a bit of light concerning the Kruspe "New Symphony" model. I bought this one as a basket case and had it restored. See link below. It is definitely made of yellow brass, and somewhat resembles the Conn 6D in overall configuration. It does have a separate Bb tuning slide on the front of the horn (see pics). As best as I can measure with my calipers, it has a .472" bore (i.e. "large" bore, a la 8D), and the bell throat feels to me to be the same size as an 8D or Lawson Fourier. In fact, it plays very similar to an 8D. It also has what appears to be a nickle silver krantz around the edge of the bell. The bell measures 12 1/4" in diameter. The engraving (complete with the eagle as other Kruspes), has "New Symphony Model" and "Made in Germany" spelled out in English. Perhaps intended for the English speaking export market? The best info I have on its history (from another owner) is that they were supposedly built sometime during the 1920's. Here are a couple of pics of my horn that I uploaded last night for anyone who is interested. http://www.geocities.com/sewelljp57/index.html And to confuse the issue even more, a Kruspe catalog from 1930 published on the Japanese website below (brought to my attention by Kendall Betts) indicates that this horn was also known as the "Walter" model at some point in its career. http://www.geocities.co.jp/MusicHall-Horn/2569/kruspe/krusp.html Is it safe to say that the "New Symphony" model is not the horn that you were remembering? It sounds more like the one Steve M. was describing. Regards, Jay Sewell Granbury, Texas ___ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
[Hornlist] Works In Progress
Hi List, Better late than never: Tonight's pre-concert recital: Purcell: Quartet for four recorders (playing alto); Handel: Trio Sonata in D Major for Two Clarinets and Horn Mozart: Serenade No. 12 for Wind Octet. Next weekend's concert: Mendelssohn Symphony #4; Mozart: Clarinet Concerto Holst: Suite in Eb for Wind Ensemble (no strings in sight!!) Alfred Reed Suite. Concert in April: Tchaikovsky Symphony #5; Jay Sewell > date: Fri, 18 Feb 2005 22:41:45 -0600 > from: Ted Durant <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > subject: [Hornlist] Lincoln Portrait (Was Works In Progress) > > > Okay - works in progress - tomorrow evening I'm playing "The Last Will > and Testament of Mary McLeod Bethune" by Judith Baity. Next month it's > Capriccio Espagnole and Marche Militaire Francaise. > > Ted Durant > Milwauke, WI, USA ___ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
[Hornlist] Holy cow! I've been Pizka'ed!
7;s where I really got steamed. I was originally responding to the opinion of someone who was NOT a professional (read my message again!). I do listen to the opinions of the professionals on the list. Always! Ever wonder why you don't see many postings from me? It's because my place is to read and learn what I can (at least what is possible through the internet) from the people who know. I have also spent a large amount of my hard-earned money and vacation time every year since 1998 attending both weeks of the annual Kendall Betts Horn Camp. I do so only for two reasons: 1) friendships and comraderie that span the country, and 2) to try and be the best musician I can be commensurate to my chosen career field (which is not music). Read that as "amateur", as in "one who does something for the love and pleasure, not for money; non-professional." I am a true amateur, and I'm not ashamed of it. Further, Kendall has seen fit to entrust me with assisting him in judging the camp scholarship applications and audition tapes to determine which students will receive the scholarships . If Kendall believes I know good playing when I hear it, that's good enough for me. And as for my fixed and preset opinions, I believe the above paragraph proves otherwise. Someone with a closed mind has no need to go out of their way study with the fine faculty Kendall always brings in.I work hard at becoming better, and for no other reason than for the pleasure of it. I will agree to the last statement about the "disease often found in the amateur community". Sad but true, but it does not apply to me. HP: " I have seen "horses vomiting" ! Me: Huh? What? HP: "Why did you change the horn so often ? I stayed with the single F Pumpenhorn until 24, with the Alex 103 until 35, the Selmer until 40, my own design (after Ganter) since 1983." Me: Another attempted cheap shot, but I'll address it anyway. Except for the natural horn (Seraphinoff, which was bought in order to further my horn experience and historical interest), I have only played two horns in my adult playing experience - a Conn 8D for 20 years, and the Lawson for the last 4 years. The rest were played because that's what the schools gave me to play. Apologies to the list for the length of the post, but I could not let this pass without a response. I hope this is all I need to say on the matter. Best to all, Jay Sewell ___ post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] set your options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
[Hornlist] Re: Opinionated Advice On eBay
> date: Thu, 18 Mar 2004 13:47:19 -0500 > from: Alan Cole <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > subject: [Hornlist] Opinionated Advice On eBay > > Dear Friends, > > Some months back, I sold off a surplus B-flat single horn via that famous > world-wide cyber marketplace, eBay. In the eBay item description, I > included the following advice to potential buyers: > > "This is not a horn for beginners. Any student learning to play horn as a > beginner should always get started on a single horn in F, whether switching > to horn from some other instrument or starting out on horn as the student's > very first instrument. Starting on an F single horn is important not only > to keep matters simple for the beginning player, but also so the student > will form the correct concept of how the horn is supposed to sound, how it > is supposed to respond up & down the scale, the basics of how it works, the > fundamental orientation & response of the horn's characteristic range & > voice, etc. After an appropriate degree of progress, the horn student will > be ready to 'graduate' from a single horn in F to a double horn in F & > B-flat. Some advanced students (& you know who you are) will be able to > benefit from occasionally using a more specialized instrument like a single > horn in B-flat. To repeat: This horn is not for everybody, & definitely > not for beginners. If you are ready to try branching out from double horn > to more specialized equipment for occasional use, here is an opportunity to > do so without spending too much money." > > Even after all that explicit advice, it turned out that the winning bidder > was buying the horn for a beginning player. So it goes. > > -- Alan Cole, rank amateur > McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA. > I've been trying to resist replying here for two days now, but I can't any longer. This is pretty heady "advice" from someone who constantly refers to himself as a "rank amateur". Advice is advice, and opinions are opinions (and yes, everyone is entitled to their own), but this (in MY opinion) goes a little over the top. If it weren't for the phrase "opinionated advice" in the subject header, I would have taken the above as a statement of accepted fact, and not just opinion. Here are a few real facts to consider: I started as a rank beginner (12 yrs old) on a Conn single Bb, but was handed a beginning band book for Bb trumpet and was told to play it with trumpet fingerings. Hence, when the F-Horn concert music was passed out later, we had to learn to "transpose" to F. Of course, the "new fingerings" just became natural after a while and it didn't feel like transposing. After a year, I got my first double, and had already been looking ahead in a real horn book at the F fingerings, so that before long I was perfectly comfortable playing with either the F or Bb fingerings. The upshot here is that I never had to spend any time learning the double horn "alternate fingerings" They were already ingrained from my experience using a single Bb horn. To this day, I can play using either side of the horn without thinking of it as regular vs alternate fingerings. Plus, without knowing it at the time, we already learned our "circle of fifths". As for not learning the proper concept of the F-Horn sound (whatever that means), I can only say nobody ever told me I had to change concepts from what I originally learned, so that I would play with the "correct" concept. To this day, and after numerous 6D's, 8D's, Kings, Holtons, Kruspes, Seraphinoff's, and Lawson's, nobody has ever complained that I don't play with a "characteristic" horn sound. So much for THAT theory. So, in my OPINION, and based on my own experience, it doesn't matter whether you start on a single F or Bb. These are just two different paths that lead to the same goal, but perhaps each have their own pros and cons. I, for one, am glad the ebay buyer ignored the well-intended pontification. Maybe they already knew better? Ready for the flames. Jay Sewell, not-so-rank amateur Granbury, Texas ___ post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] set your options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
