Hans Pizka writes:
Haendel used a notation system, which looks strange sometimes, as he
wrote horn passages or parts in D tonality but notated them in concert
pitch, except in Giulio Cesare, where the one pair of horns is in A
the other in D, and in the 3rd act one pair in G plus one pair in D.
Here he uses the horns transposing their clean parts (written with no
key signature in front).
The Fireworks music is really in strange notation, written in concert
pitch (C 8va) with the key signature for D-major (2 sharps), while the
horns read down for a fourth. But this was not the case then, when
Haendel performed it. The horn players then were able to read the
concert notation could follow the whole part easily, as they could not
escape anyway. A real fourth exists just on few places on the natural
horn, right. A real half step exists just between step 11 12 (f#
g). So they could decipher parts quite easily, even much better than
most horn players are able to do today.
The musical universe of bygone centuries in many ways were simpler in
matters of rhythmic complexity and of tonality, even if Johann Sebastian
often was quite avantgardish on both matters.
But compared to the scope of their musical universe musicians back then
often were much more complete. Wind players often doubled on strings. Funny
clefs were everyday fare. Musicians understood the inner logic of the music
they played, even if they maybe were not virtuosos by the standards of
today.
I don't know, if Georg Friederich could play the horn, but both of his big
out-doors suites certainly carry the proof, that he had a profound
understanding of the partials of the non-valved brasses. If one approaches
the horn from that angle, notation is a lesser concern.
Even quite accomplished horn players can be caught unaware why both 1st and
2nd horn suddenly have to play unisono top staff F's in Vienna classical and
early Romantic orchestral settings. The explanation is not that odd: it is
the lowest representation of the sub-dominant root on natural horns.
Transposition is regarded a problem by some. But only because they don't
have a profound understanding of the diatonic scale system. If one can play
all scales in all 12 available keys, then it is not that hard to move
between diverse transpositions.
As for complete musicians:
Anne-Sophie Mutter has two obvious marketing assets. Some people even
cherish her violin playing. But the way she really caught my interest was of
a different nature:
In a German TV feature she told of her ways of building a repertory. Her
violin was not a tool in the early stages of that process. Her piano was.
The way she handled her grand had med grasp for my dropping lower jaw, so
that I wouldn't have to enter the field of mimicked orthodontic features.
That lady simply is a real musician.
Such ones also can be found in the in the modern horn world. But I am not
that sure, that they will be found among those, who even have to express
questions about transpositions.
If anybody would dare to ask about my own field of expertise, that should
not be kept a secret: I have become very good at growing calluses on my
behind.
Klaus
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