Playing High Horn

Playing High Horn A Handbook for High Register Playing, Descant Horns, and Triple Horns John Ericson © Copyright 2007 Horn Notes Edition 674 East Maria Lane Tempe, AZ 85284 USA International Copyright Secured ISBN 978-0-9801030-0-7 CONTENTS Preface iii Chapter 1. Developing the High Range of the Horn 1 Right Hand Position 2 The Warm-Up and Range Development 2 Mid Range 3 Low Range 3 Attacks 4 High Range 5 Exercises over a Wider Range 7 Chapter 2. Selected Etudes for High Range Development 11 Kopprasch Etudes for Cor Alto, Op. 5 11 Dauprat “Transposable Exercises” 14 Domnich “Duo-Etudes” 17 More Kopprasch and Gallay 23 Chapter 3. Descant and Triple Horns 27 What is a Descant Horn? 27 What is a Triple Horn? 30 Who Uses Descant and Triple Horns? 33 Choice of Mouthpiece 34 Fingering, Tuning, and Stopped Horn 35 Chapter 4. Works and Selected Passages from the Baroque Period 41 Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 41 Bach: B Minor Mass 47 Telemann: Concerto in D 51 Förster: Concerto in Eb 55 Other Baroque Works 61 Chapter 5. Works and Selected Passages from the Late Eighteenth Century 63 Haydn: Symphony No. 31 63 Haydn: Divertimento a tre 67 Mozart: Symphony No. 29 70 Mozart: Symphony No. 40 71 Other Late Eighteenth-Century Works 76 Horn Notes Edition Chapter 6. Works and Selected Passages from the Nineteenth Century 77 Beethoven: Symphony No. 2 77 Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 80 Use of the Assistant First Horn 86 Berlioz: Queen Mab Scherzo 89 Schumann: Concertstück 91 Dvorak: Symphony No. 9 101 Other Nineteenth-Century Works 103 Chapter 7. Works and Selected Passages from the Twentieth Century 105 Ravel: Piano Concerto in G 105 Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5 106 Other Twentieth-Century Works 107 Epilogue: The Horn of the Future? 109 Appendix: Fingering Charts 111 Single F Descant 111 Double Descant 112 Triple Horn 113 Eb Descant 114 About the Author 115 Index 116 Playing High Horn Chapter 1. Developing the High Range of the Horn Hgh range development s a topc that comes up wth every horn student. Advanced horn players need to easly negotate a range of four octaves wth the characterstc warm sound that s a hallmark of the nstrument. Faclty and accuracy of tone producton n the hgh regster s the result of a combnaton of many factors workng smoothly together. Whle today there s a general dvson between hgh and low horn players, jumpng backward n horn hstory, n the early nneteenth century there was a very dstnct dvson, much more dstnct than that seen among modern hornsts, more along the lnes of the dvson between tenor and bass trombone players. Judgng from method books of the perod, hgh horn players rarely played below wrtten mddle C and low horn players rarely played above G above the staff. As a thought experment, magne f you never practced below wrtten mddle C. What would hgh C feel lke? What would G above that feel lke? What would C n the staff sound lke? Low C? The embouchure formaton all horn players use today s a verson of the low horn model of the past. Focusng too much on hgh horn creates a danger of developng a trumpet- lke embouchure of the type that hgh horn players of the early nneteenth century must have employed. Ths s one reason why some teachers shy away from teachng hgh horn. Balance between regsters n your playng s very mportant to developng a sold modern hgh horn embouchure wth a characterstc tone qualty. Hgh notes are produced prmarly by your vbratng lps and by ar flowng wth approprate speed and ntensty. The balance between these elements s often askew on the sde of the “chops” or vbratng lps. For example, f you could quantfy a note as beng comprsed of 50% ar and 50% buzz, that same note can also be produced by the equaton of 60% ar and 40% buzz and wll sound best when ar s kept at the hghest possble end of the equaton. Both elements are mportant and must be held n good balance. There are many elements that, combned together, are the bass of fne horn playng. A few of the most mportant n relaton to developng a better hgh range on any type of horn nclude a correct rght hand poston, the warm-up, clean attacks, and developng a correct approach to the mddle and low ranges. Warnng! Take t easy! There are no shortcuts to hgh range development; the embouchure must be developed carefully over tme. Take care of your embouchure and be sure to ncorporate nto your practce at least one day a week where you don’t specfcally work on the hgh range. Horn Notes Edition Chapter 2. Selected Etudes for High Range Development The hgh regster s not somethng that gets comfortable 5 mnutes before the frst rehearsal of a touchy hgh horn part n an orchestra; a techncal foundaton must already be lad. For buldng the necessary basc techncal faclty and control of artculaton and ntonaton, nothng surpasses workng on etudes. The followng are selected etudes gven as examples of the type of etudes that may be used to help develop the techncal foundaton needed for performance n the hgh range, especally n relaton to descant and trple horns. Kopprasch Etudes for Cor Alto, Op. 5 Whle the 60 Kopprasch etudes, frst publshed n 83 or 33, are standards that have been used by generatons of horn players, t s a lttle known fact that Kopprasch actually publshed a total of 0 etudes--Op. 5 contans 60 etudes for Cor alto and Op. 6 contans 60 etudes for Cor basse. The Op. 6 etudes are the old standards all horn players know and love. The Op. 5 etudes are smlar n character but ascend as hgh as wrtten F above hgh C, venturng fearlessly nto a range we normally do not assocate wth Kopprasch. The followng are a few representatve etudes from ths collecton of hgh horn etudes. Untl recently, these were long out of prnt. The complete Op. 5 etudes are avalable today from Thompson Edton and other sources. Especally n the hgh range on descant and trple horns you need to cultvate a lghter approach to artculatons than you mght typcally use when playng the standard Kopprasch etudes on a double horn. Horn Notes Edition Chapter 3. Descant and Triple Horns Descant and trple horns are, today more than ever, seen as nstruments that advanced horn players wll want to have avalable to them and to know how to play well. The modern professonal horn player must master all ranges of the horn, and there are defntely works and passages that are frequently encountered today whch can only be effectvely performed on horns ptched hgher than Bb alto. These often play a crtcal part n hgh horn orchestral audtons. Once among the most expensve and exotc horns on the market, sold, entry-level versons of full double descant horns now have prces that have come down n recent years to the extent that all serous horn players can afford to obtan and use such an nstrument. The vast majorty of professonal hgh horn players have a descant or trple n ther personal arsenal of nstruments, sometmes even both types. Addtonally, f you are a student serous about takng hgh horn audtons, a descant horn may be somethng you would be well advsed to buy and master, to have a descant avalable for certan excerpts. A descant or trple horn can be a great nvestment. What is a Descant Horn? A descant horn s, n a general sense, any valved horn ptched hgher than Bb alto. The concept of constructng a horn ptched n hgh F, half as long as the normal F horn (about 6 feet of tubng nstead of ) s an old one. The reason why some horn players have turned to ths nstrument s obvous: the acoustcal potental for mproved accuracy n the hgh range due to the harmonc seres’ “rungs” beng not so close together as on the longer F horn. As a bref hstorcal note n ths regard, consder ths letter dated June 3, 885 from Sr August Manns to Ladslao Zavertal, leader of the Royal Artllery Band, who had ntroduced the “Koeng Horn” (n hgh F) nto hs ensemble for the solo performer, quoted n the preamble to Waits Wind Band Horn (London: Hnrchsen Edton, 95). Dear Mr. Zavertal, I requre for the Double Concerto by Handel at the next Handel Festval some nstruments of the Horn Famly, whch can releve the st Horns of some of the almost mpossble passages lke ths one: Horn Notes Edition 7 Flugelhorns n F, or Saxhorns n F can manage t wthout causng the greatest of all Horn nusances, namely: “crackng the hgh notes n pano phrases,” and I shall feel glad f you have any such nstruments n your Band and can thereby releve me of some anxety ... I am, Yours fathfully, AUGUST MANNS Whle playng a descant or trple horn won’t gve any player an “nstant hgh range,” t can, as mpled above, open a world of possbltes for more secure performance of works and passages that would be at the least nsecure and at worst nearly mpossble to perform on a standard double horn. Single F descant horn (Alexander) Sngle descant horns n hgh F were semnal desgns and have been n use snce the late nneteenth century. Whle they are stll produced and are useful for the performance of very hgh Baroque lterature, ths model s not wdely used today.

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