Home Blog Page 23

4 charming works of B. Ed. Müller for horn and piano — a closer look

John Ericson
-
0

In thinking about horn repertoire, and teaching it completely online for the end of this semester, my mind turned to the question of what would I most want to highlight from my Rescued CD. The answer was an easy one; the four works there by B. Ed. Müller.

As a hornist he served as second hornist of the Gewandhaus orchestra from 1876-1920. He published a number of interesting materials, including somewhat exotic things for the time, such as works for horn and organ. I found the works I recorded on ISMLP. Honestly, I had heard of Müller, but only for his etudes which I have never really made use of.

First, an interesting side note: you can hear Müller playing on an early recording. I have linked this before, but hidden in a tangentially related article (here), take a quick listen to the celebrated horn quartet of the Gewandhaus Orchestra!

Audio quality and horn playing has come a long ways!

I opened my CD with his Nocturno, Op. 73. The work dates to 1910 and I feel has an unexpected dark and brooding quality in relation to what you might expect if you only know his etudes.

The Melancholie, Op. 68, and Am Abend, Op. 71, date to 1906 and 1910 respectively. I love the mood of Melancholie, and Am Abend (“in the evening”) is almost a miniature tone poem exploring several moods.

The final work of his I recorded is the Wiegenlied, Op. 69, No. 1. This work is a lullaby, a very peaceful little work, which he dedicated to his colleague in the Gewandhaus Orchestra, principal horn Arno Rudolph. He is performing on the recording that opens this article; I like to think this work was a musical gift to him on the birth of a child, but I do not of course know this for sure.

For more from this album, the complete Rescued playlist is here. And if you want to find the music for free, all the ISMLP links are here.

Workshop presentation: the Natural Horn session

John Ericson
-
0

Continuing a new podcast series aimed at filling the void created by all the recent workshop cancellations due to the coronavirus situation (surely there will be more cancellations? Will some go online?), the next installment is on playing the natural horn.

In episode 40 of the Horn Notes Podcast, I introduce the natural horn, with an overview of the basic playing techniques, and more. You can listen on any platform you like to hear podcasts on, or go to this link directly:

The book I point to in reference is my recently updated publication Playing Natural Horn Today. It is available on Amazon as a print book or in Kindle format, and I can‘t tell you why – I really do not know why – but it has been leading my recent sales rather definitively. If you are out there recommending it to your students or friends, thank you! If you are looking for a project now, natural horn is a great one, and I believe this publication is a very clear introduction to the instrument. For more on this book see:

By the way, the 2012 video linked from the second link above has over 16,000 views, which is also an indication that there is some interest in the topic, always a good one for a horn workshop.

A few words on the warmup, your condensation, and sensitivity to others

John Ericson
-
0

In this time of separation during the coronavirus, it is a good time to rethink your warmup, to experiment, to work to improve technique, and a good time to be sensitive to others with regard to your “condensation.”

Condensation

As brass players, we are not very concerned about condensation. However, you may have noticed, in interactions with perhaps pianists or singers — or your relatives! — others can be very put off by it.

Here at ASU we received a reminder, in this time of an abundance of caution, please find a way to collect your condensation and not leave it in your practice space. You may need to improvise on a receptacle, but we need to do this out of respect to others. If you are practicing at home, you might consistently use for example a dedicated trashcan or an old towel for condensation, to avoid any hint of spreading germs via condensation.

Words I never expected to need to say! However, the reality always was that we should generally not be so careless about this, and these are times like no other. We really do need to do all we can to try to protect the elderly and the medically fragile (such as those in cancer treatment) in the coming weeks. Stay well, and do what you can to keep others well!

Warmup

With the condensation taken care of, we turn to the warmup. I recently published a warmup publication (more here), which is available in print or as a Kindle epublication.

One “elephant in the room” topic with warmup publications is how do the authors of the publication actually warmup? Does it look like the book? In my case, the answer is yes, but I do have a specific way I use it. My most normal day presently is:

  1. Start with “first notes” on the top of page 6
  2. Next a slow version of the Clarke study starting on page 12
  3. Next a fast version of the Clarke study
  4. The “Exercise with Drones” on page 20, but without a drone
  5. The Fast, Low Arpeggios starting on page 21
  6. Finally, the two octave scales as presented starting on page 22

I find these exercises, in this order, to be the most essential to getting my chops feeling in the right place to practice. If you find these exercises to be excessively difficult, there are alternates in my publication and elsewhere, but be working of course to raise your level so they are playable.

On effective practice when your life routines are disrupted

John Ericson
-
0

Besides the topic of practice spaces addressed in the previous article (here), there is also the question of what and how to practice with a disrupted practice (and life!) schedule, such as now in our current world situation. I have my own experiences to share that are more extensive than the average pro, hopefully helpful in this challenging time.

First, we drop back to when I was a grad student. I had a summer where I unfortunately got mono right at the beginning of the summer. It was right after playing some big concerts including principal on Tchaik 5 and Beethoven 7 with the IU Philharmonic in France (!), and I was planning to study in Aspen.

Coming back from France I was beginning to wipe out physically, and when I got back to Kansas I was out of commission. With also an additional issue, I was allergic to one of the initial medications prescribed. I had to scrap my summer plans.

As I got better what I had to do was make projects for myself.

Stepping back a second, much of our average horn practice is driven by upcoming performances and lesson materials. When you have essentially no performances or lessons, but are motivated to improve, you need to create some structure. For me at that time excerpts were a big part of it, listening to works, digging in deeper. I believe I made good progress that summer, even though I was practicing on my own (and playing weekly parks concerts in the city band) with no outside direction. It can be done!

This experience is also part of why I am such a believer in three practice sessions spaced out in a day, three total hours. Make this all you do for a few weeks, and your chops will feel great! More on this type of practice plan here:

The second big experience of this in my life was more recent. I have shared previously in this site; my son is handicapped and lives with us (detailed more in a series of articles starts here).

In short, he was doing great until age 19, after that, it became clear that I needed to be home in the evenings due to his anxiety and behavior issues. It is a sacrifice I feel fortunate that I can make, but it has created a long-term practice challenge. One thing that is good, he is routine driven, and part of his daily routine is I practice after his bath. Because of that, I practice every night, but then the challenge is practice what? I do not tend to have many concerts on the books now, so it ends up I create various projects for myself. Right now, I am working on editing some etudes I have composed (an updated and expanded version of my Modern Preparatory Etudes), that is the main project. In recent months I personally I have done things like

  • spend a lot of time in Gallay on natural horn
  • work on Kling and Mueller etudes I never worked on with any teacher
  • explore the Bach cello suites

The result for me these few years, practicing these things, has been interesting, in that I feel I am playing as well or better than I have ever played. My chops are in a good place.

For current horn students your teacher should guide your list, but I think every teacher would say you should do things including

  • working on fundamentals such as in a good warmup routine
  • listen to and work on solos that are new to you, and
  • listen to and work on orchestral works that are essential to our rep

Finally, you will probably find you can cover a lot more music than normal with no ensembles going on. Keep going into new materials and directions — do not limit yourself.

Effective practice is a new challenge in a challenging time. It will take some refocusing, but, if you can create some projects to give you goals to work toward, with practice spaced out in a day, you will certainly make good progress in your playing. Make it your goal to come out of this a better player than before.

On practicing in a less than optimal space

John Ericson
-
0

With the present coronavirus situation, many horn players are suddenly finding they need to practice in less than optimal spaces, as in spaces where other people will be perhaps very bothered by the noise.

This is something every horn player has navigated over many years. As a student I was lucky, I practiced (a lot!) at my parents’ house, and then in practice rooms at schools. After that, I entered the real world.

In my first apartment, I practiced often with a mute and a pillow; I did not own a proper practice mute. The other tactic I took was one I heard attributed to the great Barry Tuckwell. Supposedly, when touring, he would practice with the TV on loud on cartoons. This actually works; all the noise from the cartoon helps mask the horn practice sounds.

As a young professional hornist in Nashville, my first season there I did virtually all of my practice in a walk in closet. VERY dead space, but cuts the sound down to your neighbors greatly.

Then, when our kids were little, quite regularly my evening practice was with this Yamaha silent brass. I got it used and inexpensively, the previous owner was older and felt it caused too much back pressure. I find that aspect OK, the only big issue is that over time you may find it hard to find your normal pitch center. When using it I liked to aim for shorter sessions of relatively intense practice of technical things, rather than tonal studies.

A final suggestion I heard from a student today, that works surprisingly well in a pinch, is practice without your bell on if it is a screw bell horn. Put your hand in as normal, to keep the pitch centered – and it will be quieter.

There is also the question of what and how to practice with a disrupted practice (and life!) schedule. I’ll have more on that soon (more here!), I have my own experiences to share that are more extensive than the average pro.

Workshop presentation: Kruspe, Geyer, and more

John Ericson
-
0

With the corona virus canceling so many horn events this spring, this is the first of a series of articles with podcasts, on topics presented as might be heard at a horn workshop. 

While the words “Kruspe” and “Geyer” have near universal recognition in the horn world today, I recently realized that these terms had become marketing buzzwords, separated from actual roots and meanings. In modern usage they are used to describe two popular types of horns, but reality is Kruspe was a manufacturer and Geyer was a horn builder.

Ed Kruspe is the name found on all the various brass instruments made by the Kruspe firm. Eduard Kruspe took over proprietorship of the German musical instrument manufacturer in 1864 and retired in 1893. It is significant that his sons Fritz and Walter Kruspe were involved with the development of the first double horn in 1897, but the horn we think of as “the Kruspe” horn is their Horner model, introduced in 1904, seen here in their 1929 catalog illustration. This model is just one of 13 horn models you can find for example in that catalog, making also a variety of models of every type of brass instrument. (Noting also, they are still in business! Website here: http://www.edkruspe.com/)

However, over the passage of time, this one model has become widely known in the U.S.A. as the Kruspe horn, and was the design copied by Conn to make their model 8D, introduced in 1937.

Meanwhile, Carl Geyer (1880-1973) emigrated to the U.S.A. from Germany in 1904, answering an ad to be an instrument repairman/maker in Chicago. He originally made horns for his employer Wunderlich, then ran his own shop from 1920-55, sold the business, but then continued to make horns for the new owner until age 90! He personally constructed over 1,400 instruments, the Geyer model as we think of it today being the most successful among the models he made (including single horns and a number of Schmidt model instruments with a piston thumb valve).

But I don’t think we can say Geyer originated this design — Knopf clearly made a very similar design starting in the same time frame — he just refined it, based on parts he could obtain, with solid craftsmanship and a desire to keep improving.

Comparing the two types, the Geyer is a more “open” design, and the Kruspe was probably more suited to factory production. Typically the Geyer style instruments are built in brass with a smaller bell and the Kruspe style horns in nickel silver with larger bells, the reasons for which are covered further in Episode 39 of the Horn Notes Podcast:

http://hornnotes.libsyn.com/hornnotes-39-geyer-kruspe-and-more

Access it from this link directly or anywhere you listen to podcasts, with additional tips to be found on tuning, tone, audition taking, etc.

This series will continue about every two weeks this semester, hopefully providing interesting and needed content for horn players during the present health crisis. 

The important topic of how to refer to the 5th Symphony of Shostakovich

John Ericson
-
0

As a student I don’t recall anyone saying anything other than Shostakovich 5 in reference to the famous symphony and the famous horn excerpts — but as a teacher I began at some point to hear people call it “Shosty 5.”

Then in a recent horn studio discussion there was a question, how to spell that? Is it Shosty 5 — or the slightly edgier Shostie 5?

Wanting answers, it was time for a quick Twitter survey (where all the cool horn players are). In that I learned that more than half of horn players (that follow me and took the survey…) call it Shosty 5.

But the comments were also very interesting. Apparently in the U.K. Shost 5 is the most common (which is how I write it out in lesson notes and such), still others prefer the shorter version of Sosh 5, and then in Japan I was told it is often referred to as Tako-5.

In any case, I think Shosty 5 is a very American English thing, and very American. We have nicknames for all kinds of things and people, but those don’t always translate out in other places. Also it doesn’t make it any easier to play well, but maybe the nickname makes it a bit more fun to play as well.

What is an “F extension” on a single Bb horn (or descant)?

John Ericson
-
0

A topic that comes up periodically is that of the F extension and the single Bb horn (and descant). What is the advantage?

First, what it does not do: it does not change a single Bb into a double horn. At a basic level it is simply an extra slide tube that adds a length of tubing that is nominally equivalent to a 1-3 fingering on a single Bb — but in tune rather than a quarter step sharp! In other words, it creates the tube length for F horn.

On the horn seen here you use the longer slide instead of the standard stopping valve slide. Some horns have been made with 5 valves that have the stop valve and also the F extension (a topic of this prior article).

As it only adds that one tube length, used in combination with the other valves it is not long enough to be in tune with any combination (imagine the difference between the length of the F and Bb horn valve slides! You only have the Bb horn valve slides…). Typically then you are only using the F extension for a few notes key to a work being performed. So for example, if you had a low A to play, you would have to pull the F extension out a ways to get the low A to be in tune. But this is better than not having a low A at all! As that would be a missing note on a conventional four valve single Bb.

[You would have that low A on a descant, but only on the high F side; fingering it with the extension would give a much beefier sound.]

Beyond extending the low range a bit, the F extension does more than you might guess. The horn in the picture is my Alexander single Bb, a horn I rarely perform on but still enjoy playing on. Part of the appeal is the sweet tone and it is a horn like Dennis Brain played (more here).

I had an F extension I could use with the horn, but was not using it as it was constructed for a different horn — and needed some repair and alteration. In my recent visit to Patterson Hornworks (more here) I got ahold of the braces it needed, seen in this second photo wired up for soldering.

So what does it do to the playing qualities? Surprisingly, the F extension significantly beefs up the sound of the single Bb horn itself. Another benefit is the connections of the notes are better, smoother. Why? Something about the weight and how it impacts the instrument overall. It is really intriguing.

A competent repairman can probably cobble one together similar to the one I have, but a much better option is to have a horn maker build one up for your horn. These are really handy to have for not only single Bb horns but also for descant horns, something to look into if these horns are among those you play frequently.

A visit to a horn maker

John Ericson
-
0

One thing many wonder is, what does it look like at the shop of a working horn maker? Early this year I was able to visit the shop of Jim Patterson (Patterson Hornworks) in Las Cruces, NM (with the primary goal of getting a consult on an issue with my vintage descant), and while there took these views of interest.

To start off, new and recently completed horns were there to test. This photo shows one of their triple horns in nickel silver (an option that few makers can offer) and their Geyer and Knopf wrap horns (my current primary horn is their Geyer wrap horn). Not seen in these photos is another horn that was in the shop that day, recently finished, a wonderful descant I very much enjoyed trying briefly. I’ve said it before, this is a golden age for the horn; some of the very best horns and mouthpieces ever produced are currently on the market. The time to explore and look for your great horn is now!

I joked with the Pattersons that I would not give away any of their trade secrets, this being as close as I come. This unobtrusive looking pegboard with metal rods on it is actually one of the most essential parts of their business, as it contains the mandrels used to make their lead pipes and other critical parts. Tapered parts and tubes are rolled and seamed (the traditional way of makers of the past), then drawn over these mandrels. Those exact tapers and the method of making the parts are what makes a Patterson horn a Patterson horn, or what puts his touch on the horn of another maker, for example to upgrade an existing horn such as a Yamaha 671. Jim reports this current production instrument can be upgraded into a very fine instrument comparable to his own, an option horn players on a more limited budget should consider.

This third photo shows in the bottom half portions of two of the three (!) huge lathes in the shop. Having three, they are set up for different jobs, such as for valve rebuilding, etc. Lathes are used to turn metal parts to shape. I’ve done some work on horns myself, and would mention to readers that if you want to do more than simple repairs — if you want to seriously restore or build instruments — you need at least one of these machines and space (and skill!) to safely make use of it. Other tools seen in this view are also of much use in horn construction.

Finally we have another overall view of the shop and the workbenches from a different angle. Note all the bells hanging from the ceiling rack, and what about that brand new valve section at the bottom left? It is for a triple horn, and he is taking orders now for these or others of his models.

I have huge respect for the craftsmanship of all the horn makers out there, and very much enjoyed my visit with the Pattersons. If your travels ever have a chance to take you to Las Cruces, NM, you really should visit too. For more on Patterson Hornworks visit their website here: https://hornworks.com/

35 Melodic Etudes by Meifred and Schantl — back in print, in 3 (6!) versions

John Ericson
-
0

In 2016, as part of my original line of epublications, I was able to bring to print a group of 35 forgotten melodic etudes by Meifred and Schantl. Drawn from the method books of two important 19th-century horn teachers, Joseph Meifred (1791-1867) and Josef Schantl (1842-1902), as we start 2020 they are back again in a second edition, hard copy and Kindle, in three versions:

  • Standard edition, very comparable to the venerable Pottag/Schantl Preparatory Melodies (for reasons I’ll explain in a moment)
  • High horn edition, with the keys raised to target the highest notes of the horn
  • Low horn edition, with the keys lowered to target the lowest notes of the horn

The reason the standard version resembles the Pottag book (but with more emphasis on remote keys) is that Pottag selected just 98 melodies from the original Schantl collection of 120 melodies. All the remaining Schantl etudes (omitted by Pottag) are included in my publication, along with a group of etudes of a similar character from the Meifred Method, forming a nice collection.

I also felt in my teaching that there was a need for two more versions of this book, relatively simple etudes but in more extreme ranges. Typically, etudes that really reach these ranges are too difficult for initial study and development of these ranges. The high and low versions raise the difficulty level somewhat, providing materials for effective study in these ranges. The high and low versions have some of the feel of the Hackleman books, but with somewhat shorter/easier etudes.

For a sample page showing the relative ranges of all three version see this PDF page:

As with my other publications, these are available very affordably worldwide, in print versions and as Kindle ePublications. For more information search on Amazon or visit my publication website, hornnotes.com

The video below, from 2016, describes the first edition, with more information on all three versions.

**And yes, I opted to call these etudes for French horn. I want potential buyers worldwide to clearly know what they are! Seriously, some of you out there need to lighten up, “horn” is a very generic term to the general public. French horn, on the other hand, is very clear in meaning to everyone.

1...222324...156Page 23 of 156
© Newspaper WordPress Theme by TagDiv