Subject: Tokyo Horn Club Recital This is a repost of an article I sent to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date was: Wed, 22 Apr 1998 03:49:11 -0800
TOKYO HORN CLUB RECITAL Featuring hornists from professional ensembles in Tokyo. Sunday, April 19, 7:00 P.M. Casals Hall (near Ochanomizu Station) Tokyo, Japan The Japanese Horn Society call themselves Tsunobue Shudan It's a play on the word for 'cow horn' The Casals is a moderate size recital hall, seating approximately 600 persons It is beautifully wood paneled and has pipe organ ranks up front. We made it just in time to get two of the ten remaining seats. The Horn Players ___________________ Mr. Tetsuo Higuchi Mr. Haruki Hiratsuka Mr. Hirofumi Mr. Atsushi Kimura Mr. Iizasa Koj Mr. Tsutomu Maruyama Mr. Hiromi Namiki Mr. Masanori Saigo Mr. Atsushi Sawa Mr. Tetuo Takano Mr. Yuichi Tominari Mr. Toru Nosé (he is the editor for the Japanese Horn Society publications) 3 from Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra 1 from NHKSymphony 1 from Japan Philharmonic 3 from Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra 3 Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music 1 from Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra The Conductor ___________________ Mr. H. Kondo who once studied with Gerd Seifert but decided to pursue a career in conducting and arranging. The Program ___________________ HORN BLUFF by Alan Civil for 8 Horns and Tuba Mostly jazz progressions and brilliant runs. Marvelously executed, short and flashy introduction to the concert. ___________________ QUARTET NO. 3 for Four Horns by Kerry Turner 1. The Sooners 2. The Homestead 3. The Ghost Town Parade 4. Finale Precisely and musically executed. These gentlemen are masters of ensemble blending and articulation. ___________________ EIN HELDENKLOBBER by George Hyde for 8 horns, harp, and bass-tuba A compendium of the following tunes melded with versions of the Heldenleben opening horn theme set to a samba-beguine beat. 1. Tchaikowsky 5 orchestral introduction to the horn solo in the 2nd movement 2. The Siegfried Short Call from "Siegfried's Rhine Journey" 3. The Siegfried Horn call played on tuba 4. Variations of the Siegfried Horn call opening bars done in reverse by various hornists and on tuba. 5. The 4-horn theme from the 1st movement of Mahler 1, done with a tongue-in-cheek "mistake" (a top line G instead of an A) played in the 1st horn; then quickly corrected by a 3rd hornist standing up to blast out the correct "A". 6. The opening to Flying Dutchman, played on tuba 7. A portion of Brandenburg 1 8. "I wanna Be in America" from West Side Story, alternated with No. 3 Etude from Kopprasch Book 1 9. The orchestral introduction to Till Eulenspiegel, complete with another 'false entrance' by the horn soloist 10. Selections from the Nibelungenlied 11. The forte horn calls from Don Juan ___________________ Intermission ___________________ LOHENGRIN FANTASIE for 8 Horns by Richard Wagner/arranged by Karl Stiegler This was a performance of the Wedding March. Following this, the hornists alternately played and sang the parts to Der Freischutz (including one deliberately out-of-tune soloist). ___________________ Doctor Saigo presents "The Golden French Horn" Doctor Saigo walked out on to the stage and gave a short introductory lecture, all in Japanese of course, the content of which had the audience giggling and laughing. Following this, two young ladies dressed in pink tops and purple flowered shorts wheeled a contraption on to the stage. It was made from a lidless toilet bowl with 8 feet of curled copper tubing attached to the water inlet. The audience (and we) howl with laughter. Immediately following the first toilet, 3 more are wheeled on to the stage to make a Toto quartet (Toto is the primary manufacturer of toilets and related bathroom articles in Japan). The young ladies parade a sign in front of the 'toilet horns' which probably reads "These horns supplied courtesy of the Toto Company". (We are in stitches.) Following this, the Toto soloists were introduced. First up is Hiroshi Namiki, who struts in with all the pomp and circumstance of a great maestro, tails flying. He strolls up to the 'principal' Toto Horn, and seemingly starts to prepare to 'use' the instrument for its original purpose. The audience screams with laughter. Then, while Dr. Saigo continues to lecture, Mr. Namiki then performs a thorough 'inspection' of the instrument, culminating with inserting his head entirely into the bowl of the toilet, reminding us of those special times following too much imbibing at a party. Three more soloists parade on to the stage and, without further ado, each carefully fits a mouthpiece on to each Toto Horn and the music quartet ensues. Not surprisingly, the tone is reminiscent of someone playing a very small muted horn from the bottom of a 60 foot well. And, the Toto Horns are pitched in F! The quartet ensemble and intonation is quite acceptable, given the hardware they are using.... ___________________ TOCCATA & FUGUE in D Minor by J.S. Bach/arr. by H. Kondo for 10 Horns (this is the gentleman who conducted the ensembles) This arrangement thoroughly covered nearly the entire range of the horn (from a double pedal D to a high D). Each hornist had his job cut out for him to execute the virtuosic runs, trills and arpeggios. This work would sit very well as the centrepiece for any horn recital. Overall, this was a splendid and varied performance by these professional hornists. I only hope that they will make a CD of the concert! <end original post> _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music2.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
