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Commentary: Listening to CDs on YouTube

John Ericson
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Quite a few commercial recordings are now showing up on YouTube. Not long before Christmas I discovered in fact that the full content of my solo CD Les Adieux and also my trio CD Table for Three are on YouTube. Both are on the Summit label, but curiously my other Summit solo CD, Canto, is not up. [UPDATE: It is also online. All three may be accessed from this YouTube channel.]

In any case, my first honest reaction was shock, not only because I had no idea they were there but also the sound quality is terrible on YouTube. I had only previously heard the CDs played on good speakers. The below is the title track of Lex Adieux, give it a quick listen. If you have no perspective I suppose it sounds OK but really, the actual audio quality is considerably better than this. (Direct link here)

Besides that it also seemed on first blush like a clear theft of my artistic product (my series on copyright starts here), I did not put these tracks up there, and it was clear that Summit did not directly post them either. Somebody other than me must be trying to make money off of my product on YouTube, from the ad revenue and such.

Turns out that it actually is legal. At best I will see maybe pennies on this new use, and Summit is not doing much better on this deal either. This use certainly is not helping me much financially as the artist who funded the CD entirely.

Besides the money issue, I keep going back to the bad audio quality. It may sound OK to readers out there in horn land, but this was my baby, my first solo CD, it is very well produced and mastered. I heard it in the mastering lab and have studio monitors for speakers at home; trust me in saying that the YouTube version is really but a shadow of the genuine product.

Then again, maybe the bad audio is a feature and not a bug? To really experience the audio you do have to buy a different version.

In an ideal world the YouTube versions of tracks from Les Adieux would inspire you the horn public to go ahead and buy real versions of the tracks or the complete CD! I hope I am wrong, but my impression is that these YouTube versions will do the opposite — depress future sales. My final reminder being this: the CD may seem dead, and you can find free versions of CDs that sound OK to you on YouTube, but if you care about audio quality and if you care if the artists actually make any money on their products please buy the CDs, or at least the tracks.

But, of course, “resistance is futile.”

One final note is that there are two theme and variation works on the CD and for both of them the sections of the work come up as individual tracks! Thus, if you are looking for them on YouTube you could go to any part of the work as the tracks online are not marked in any way. When I update my Les Adieux CD page I will put links up to all the tracks in these works in order to hear the work as you would experience it if you listened to the actual physical CD.

How to Clean Your Horn

John Ericson
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The topic of cleaning your horn has come up a few times in Horn Matters, Dave Weiner addressing the topic of having a shop clean your horn here:

mp-brush4And Bruce Hembd with this review:

If you need a reminder why to clean your horn…

Breaks are a great time to do a quick cleaning of your own horn. My personal, simple, three-step routine is as follows:

First you run a “snake” (flexible brush) through the lead pipe. A trumpet snake will usually work fine if you can’t easily find a French horn snake at your local music store. This will get the “big stuff” out of the worst area of your horn. Protip: push the snake gently from the large end toward the small end of the lead pipe and put a paper towel over the opening so that you don’t spray “stuff” out on yourself when it emerges. If the brush is too big diameter it won’t go through the small part of your horn; don’t force it!

After doing that a couple of times, put the mouthpiece back on the horn and pour water from a plastic cup into your mouthpiece. When the lead pipe is full blow the water through the horn (having replaced the main tuning slide first!). Do this a few dozen times (over a kitchen sink!) with various valves depressed (start with open). This will remove most of the other, light “stuff” that is down in the horn further than the lead pipe.

Finally, take out all the slides, wipe them down and re-grease, and oil the valves well.

It does not take long and will make a difference you will likely notice. And of course clean your mouthpiece as well! This was a topic of a prior article by Bruce Hembd, linked below, with another good Hembd link following on the topic of using a sink hose adapter to rinse the horn:

The one time I used a sink hose adapter it was admittedly fun but I am not sure I got more out than with my usual routine. Some people have even more involved cleaning routines that include putting the horn in the bathtub, etc. I am also not convinced that gets you any further than the simple routine I describe above. If it really needs more than the simple cleaning, my personal suggestion is to take it to a reputable shop that can do a proper ultrasonic cleaning.

Index for The Horn Matters PDF Excerpt E-Book series

John Ericson
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Recently we introduced a series of three, concise (around 20 page) horn excerpt E-Books that print and display easily on a computer or tablet device (iPad, etc.). An overall table of contents will be of use to our readers; below is the content list of all three volumes.

But before that we have answers to two general questions about the series overall. First, the volumes are arranged in overall content by importance to the horn student. Volume I focuses on the excerpts often asked for graduate school auditions, volume II focuses on the additional excerpts asked very frequently in professional auditions, and volume III covers even more excerpts of importance but not asked as frequently on professional auditions — all choices of works being made based on actual survey results. With all works included of course also being clearly public domain works, works of Shostakovitch and Ravel (for example) that have copyright restrictions are not in our E-book series.

The other big question that readers are wondering is how do the overall contents of these books compare to the hornexcerpts.org excerpts presently housed in the website of the International Horn Society? The choices of works and excerpts were made without making any reference at all to the IHS excerpts, they are not some “official list” of excerpts for the horn world. So our coverage is not the same, includes several works not found on the IHS site, and we believe more accurately reflects upon which passages are actually the most important to study for auditions from these works.

In total we believe that the books came out great in relation to overall content and ease of use, give them a try! Articles on each volume of the excerpt book series are linked below, and as always you can reach these and other great downloads from our PDF library.

Cover-snipVOLUME I:
Beethoven: Symphony No.3
Beethoven: Symphony No. 6
Beethoven: Symphony No. 7
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9
Brahms: Symphony No. 1
Brahms: Symphony No. 2
Brahms: Symphony No. 3
Mahler: Symphony No. 5, Corno obligato
Mendelssohn: Nocturne from “Midsummer Night’s Dream”
Strauss: Don Juan
Strauss: Don Quixote
Strauss: Ein Heldenleben
Strauss: Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5
Wagner: Siegfried’s Rhine Journey

Cover-vol-2-snipVOLUME II
Beethoven: Fidelio Overture
Beethoven: Symphony No. 8
Berlioz: Queen Mab Scherzo
Brahms: Symphony No. 4
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2
Bruckner: Symphony No. 4
Haydn: Symphony No. 31
Mahler: Symphony No. 1
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4
Wagner: Das Rheingold Prelude
Weber: Der Freischutz Overture

Volume-3-cover-snipVOLUME III
Bach: B Minor Mass
Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 1
Dvorak: Symphony No. 9
Dvorak: Cello Concerto
Franck: Symphony in D minor
Mahler: Symphony No. 3
Mahler: Symphony No. 9
Mozart: Symphony No. 29
Mozart: Symphony No. 40
Rossini: Semiramide Overture
Saint-Saens: Symphony No. 3
Schubert: Symphony No. 9
Schumann: Symphony No. 3
Wagner: Prelude to Act III of Lohengrin
Weber: Oberon Overture

Introducing Volume III of the Horn Matters PDF Excerpt E-Book

John Ericson
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Concluding this series is volume III of The Horn Matters PDF Excerpt E-Book. For volume III the focus is the 15 remaining public domain works that contain excerpts that come up less commonly on auditions but often enough to be highly worthy of study by advanced horn students. As before, the works were chosen based on a survey of ICSOM orchestra audition lists that I did a few years ago; for the complete results see John Ericson, “A New ICSOM Audition List Survey,” The Horn Call 33, no. 1 (October, 2002), 53-55. Volume III features these works:

Bach: B Minor Mass Volume-3-cover-snip
Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 1
Dvorak: Cello Concerto
Dvorak: Symphony No. 9
Franck: Symphony in D minor
Mahler: Symphony No. 3
Mahler: Symphony No. 9
Mozart: Symphony No. 29
Mozart: Symphony No. 40
Rossini: Semiramide Overture
Saint-Saens: Symphony No. 3
Schubert: Symphony No. 9
Schumann: Symphony No. 3
Wagner: Prelude to Act III of Lohengrin
Weber: Oberon Overture

Volume III may be downloaded from our PDF library or can be directly downloaded here:

The combined orchestral excerpts the three volumes of this series would be the minimum of what I would hope that a graduate horn performance major would know well by the time they graduate – with the goal being that this basic study spur on a deeper study of all of these works, that the student is equipped to win auditions.

If you have studied these excerpts in order through the three volumes it would also be valuable at this point to go back to the works in volume I and study them in more depth, there are many more passages worthy of study from those works in particular but not included as they were beyond the scope of initial study of those works.

As with the other volumes, this E-book was designed not only to print easily from a computer but to also display well on an iPad or any tablet device. It is hoped that a new generation of horn students will find this new presentation of these excerpts of great use as they reach new levels in their horn study.

Will there be a volume IV?

When I started laying out what became the first volume of this series I was not certain if I wanted to do more but even then had a fairly clear idea what would fit in a second and third volume. Liking how volume I turned out it was easy to produce volumes II and III. I also have in mind what would potentially be in a volume IV, but at this time will hold off, the key thing for me being my students and seeing if there really is a need for an additional volume or not.

I am excited to start teaching out of these new books and I hope you will be excited to study this great music from these volumes.

Information on Volume I here

Information on Volume II here

Introducing Volume II of the Horn Matters PDF Excerpt E-Book

John Ericson
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Following up on the original volume (more here) is volume II of The Horn Matters PDF Excerpt E-Book. The content of volume I was driven primarily by surveys I did of audition lists for high level undergrad and grad programs for horn, the length overall being intentionally limited to a good one for reading as a PDF on a iPad.

For volume II our focus is the 13 remaining public domain works that are asked very frequently on professional auditions, the additional works chosen based on a survey of ICSOM orchestra audition lists that I did a few years ago (for the complete results see John Ericson, “A New ICSOM Audition List Survey,” The Horn Call 33, no. 1 [October, 2002], 53-55).

  • Cover-vol-2-snipBeethoven: Fidelio Overture
  • Beethoven: Symphony No. 8
  • Berlioz: Queen Mab Scherzo
  • Brahms: Symphony No. 4
  • Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1
  • Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2
  • Bruckner: Symphony No. 4
  • Haydn: Symphony No. 31
  • Mahler: Symphony No. 1
  • Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3
  • Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4
  • Wagner: Das Rheingold Prelude
  • Weber: Der Freischutz Overture

The combination of the excerpts in volume I and II would be what I would hope an undergrad horn performance major knows well by the time they graduate, and certainly any grad student should know cold. You don’t want to be scratching around learning major excerpts for the first time right before an audition! Volume II may be downloaded directly here:

And check the Horn Matters PDF download page for even more useful and practical PDF horn resources:

Volulme III will follow soon (UPDATE: it has been completed), aimed at those additional excerpts that come up less commonly on auditions but often enough to be highly worthy of study by advanced horn students.

Information on Volume I here

Information on Volume III here

Introducing the Horn Matters PDF Excerpt E-Book, Volume I

John Ericson
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While excerpt books are really useful for initial study, if you are serious about learning orchestral works you must have copies of the original orchestral parts. The excerpts presented in the hornexcerpts.org site, derived from actual orchestral parts, are also very useful, but are now no longer offered in printable versions, as many horn students and horn teachers must be noting — they presently print out not nearly so well as in the past, with the IHS instead pushing sales of the printed/bound version of this resource.

The Horn Matters PDF Excerpt E-Book presents something new, the best of both worlds! A concise (17 page) excerpt book based on actual orchestral parts in a PDF E-Book format. It is easily printed and may be viewed on any electronic device (computer, iPad, etc.) — and is offered to the horn world for free.

Inside you will find the most commonly requested excerpts from fifteen of the most commonly requested works in professional and university auditions:

Cover-snipBeethoven – Symphony No.3
Beethoven – Symphony No. 6
Beethoven – Symphony No. 7
Beethoven – Symphony No. 9
Brahms – Symphony No. 1
Brahms – Symphony No. 2
Brahms – Symphony No. 3
Mahler – Symphony No. 5
Mendelssohn – Nocturne from “Midsummer Night’s Dream”
Strauss – Don Juan
Strauss – Don Quixote
Strauss – Ein Heldenleben
Strauss – Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks
Tchaikovsky – Symphony No. 5
Wagner – Siegfried’s Rhine Journey

However, due to copyright restrictions, it was not possible to include two works that are requested frequently in this free collection: Ravel – Pavan for a Dead Princess and Shostakovich – Symphony No.5. As the latter is an extremely important excerpt for auditions, information on legally obtaining excerpts from Shostakovich 5 may be found in this article.

The new Horn Matters PDF Excerpt E-Book may be downloaded directly here:

The content of this PDF excerpt book was driven primarily by surveys I did of audition lists for high level undergrad and grad programs for horn, the length overall being intentionally limited to a good one for reading as a PDF on a iPad.

I have in mind to do a volume II (UPDATE: more info here!), and already have a list of 13 works for sure for that, the additional works chosen based on a survey of ICSOM orchestra audition lists that I did a few years ago (for the complete results see John Ericson, “A New ICSOM Audition List Survey,” The Horn Call 33, no. 1 [October, 2002], 53-55). The combination of the excerpts in volume I and II would be what I would hope an undergrad performance major knows well by the time they graduate.

Very likely there will also be a volume III as well (UPDATE: more info here!), aimed at the additional excerpts from the public domain that horn students should study — I have an outline for that ready too. And check the Horn Matters PDF download page for even more useful and practical PDF horn resources:

Information on Volume II here

Information on Volume III here

Tiers of Orchestras, levels of Hornists, and the “A” list

John Ericson
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Back in the Orchestra 101 series a few years ago (UPDATE: Now published as Orchestra 101 in print and Kindle versions by Horn Notes Edition, info here) there was an article that touched on the professional levels of horn playing, an article titled “The Money Question.”

In the USA you could say generally that all the ICSOM* orchestras are major orchestras (the players are all full time and perform similar repertoire), but within that group of orchestras there are arguably three tiers, those divisions being driven by pay scales.

At this point I would interject a personal note to preface this commentary. Those that read Horn Matters really closely might have a vague memory of an article on this same general topic in 2014. It is actually the only article I ever pulled off the site in less than a day. As originally presented it touched on a raw nerve with a couple people in particular. This version is a second attempt, as I still think it is an important general topic for students of the horn to consider as they focus on their goals. The quotes I recently found below drew me back to the topic. and I hope they illustrate it more clearly than the illustrations I used back in 2014, with a more positive spin. And see my additional notes at the end.

Players who have won a job in any ICSOM orchestra are great players to be sure,** but in short, in terms of auditions, the top tier groups really expect to hire true “A list” players that can produce magic on their instrument.

The most recent (October, 2015) issue of The Horn Call contains a most interesting article that was drawn from a recent dissertation by Ashley Cumming, “Auditions in North America Today.” It is based on a large survey of current and former orchestral players (including me– my full survey responses are here, in a four part series of articles) and I was drawn to two quotes in the section “On Failed Auditions.” The key paragraph:

William VerMeulen believes that the level of playing is often much lower than the candidates’ assessments of their abilities. “Most of our audition candidates have no clue how good you have to be to play at the level of the major American orchestras. I think that most are really C level or worse candidates …. It’s very easy for them to say sour grapes.” Richard King knows for a top-level orchestra to stay at its peak game, they have to look beyond capability. “I hear grumbling, ‘Oh they don’t know what they’re looking for.’ Yeah, you do. You know when you hear a winner. And often you don’t have a runner up, because to find two people as qualified as you’d like, as magical — that’s pretty rare. We’re not dealing with who can do the job; a lot of people can do the job, certainly. We’re hoping for some absolute magic.”

And with that I think they get at defining what it is to actually be an A-list horn player. There is something special about any true A-list musician, something far beyond perfect accuracy, intonation, and rhythm.

So turning a corner, how do you become an A-list player with those special, unique qualities? Especially if you are a student? How do you obtain the X-factor?

One thing to remember is that those A-list players did not get there by accident. It was not just dumb luck and it was not just talent. It helps a lot to have a great ear, and of course some good decisions were made along the way. They got a good horn, studied with effective teachers, etc. But above all they worked hard, making the most of all the musical experiences they could have wherever they were.

My final note of encouragement to those that aspire to the A-list is to expand on that final point: work hard and make the most of the opportunities you have in front of you and around you. I know I personally have tried to do this throughout my career (I started out college at a small school as a music business major! Hard work trumps all), and this general attitude is something we are certainly happy to encourage and celebrate here at Horn Matters.

*ICSOM = International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians. Website here.

**Of course I may come across as biased in placing a tier level here, as former Third Horn of The Nashville Symphony, an ICSOM orchestra. I would add that any hornist that has won a full time university faculty position in the United States also has clearly proven themselves in the very rigorous process of their hire to be a very solid, professional level player, as have also the members of the many military ensembles and orchestras below the level to have their members affiliated with ICSOM. “If they pay you to play, horn you are a professional!” 

Hornmasters extra: Pottag on tonguing in 1947, and an inside look on video

John Ericson
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Max Pottag (1876-1970) certainly qualifies as a master hornist, performing for 40 seasons with the Chicago Symphony and having published pedagogical materials still in use today (likely the most widely used being the Preparatory Melodies to Solo Work).

The perspective he presented on tonguing is worth a closer look. In The Instrumentalist in their May-June, 1947 issue Pottag wrote that

Contrary to the opinion of many I believe it is better to place the tip of the tongue between the teeth instead of against them when starting a tone. The tongue is pulled back quickly as when saying the syllable “Ta” or “Tu,” and yet the action is similar to that when spitting away an imaginary piece of thread that has lodged on the lips. The between-the-lips attack produces a surer start of the tone than the back-of-the-teeth attack, especially is this true in the upper register of the instrument.

With the comment about with the back of the teeth attack he is going against the type of approach promoted by Farkas in his writings, mirroring instead the teaching of his teacher Friedrich Gumpert. A fellow Gumpert student, Anton Horner, presented the same approach as well in his few writings on the topic (more information in this article).

MRI-snipHis statements are good ones to use to examine in comparison to the complete MRI Sarah Willis video or the more focused one that is only of Beethoven 3, both of which are below. What is the motion of the tongue? Is it “pulled back quickly” from between the teeth or does the tone start on the “back-of-the-teeth?” Is it sort of a combination of both, depending on the range or musical style? The videos give much to ponder. (Image source: YouTube).

MRI Beethoven 3:

Complete MRI:

On the single F horn, part VI: First edits done, and what is on the new CD anyway?

John Ericson
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When I was starting this series (here) I was really just beginning to firm up ideas toward this recording project, having had a long interest in doing a period instrument recording. Now, with the first edits done, I am feeling really excited about where it is and about the repertoire chosen.

So what is on the CD? The music is all public domain and on IMSLP (composed between roughly 1860 and 1910), and I think all worth a closer look by the horn players of today. Recorded on the CD, in alphabetical order:

Serenade, Op. 20 – Louis Bödecker
Sonata, Op. 7 – Hermann Eichborn
Resignation, Op. 16 – Charles Eisner
Lied ohne Worte, Op. 2 – Oscar Franz
Gondellied, Op. 15 – Karl Matys
Am Abend, Op. 71 – B. Ed. Mülller
Melancholie, Op. 68 – B. Ed. Mülller
Nocturno, Op. 73 – B. Ed. Mülller
Wiegenlied, Op. 69, No. 1 – B. Ed. Mülller
Lied ohne Worte – Josef Richter
Sonate, Op. 347 – Fritz Spindler

These were the best works out of a larger group I considered. The works that did not make the cut, for those very curious, were:

Zwei Phantasiestücke, Op. 35 – Louis Bödecker
Fantasiestücke, Op. 3 – Carl Eschmann
Andante, Op. 14 – G. Goltermann, arr. Fr. Gumbert
Fantasie, Op. 117 – Carl Haslinger
Cavatina, Op. 85, No. 3 – J. Raff, arr. Fr. Gumbert
Fantasie Heroique, Op. 25 – Heinrich Gottwald
Romanze – Arnold Krug
Lied ohne Worte, Op. 109 – Felix Mendelssohn, arr. Franz
Andante, religioso, Op. 74 – B. Ed. Mülller
Fantasie (on themes of Weber), Op. 66 – B. Ed. Mülller
Gebet, Op. 65a – B. Ed. Mülller
Romanze, Op. 182, No. 1 – J. Raff
Stimmung, Op. 11, No. 1 – Alfred Rasmussen
Cavatine aus Der Freischütz – C. M. v. Weber, arr. Oscar Franz

Last week I spoke to the horn studio at ASU about the project, and one sentence and thought that struck me is worth sharing to close this segment of the series. What I told the studio about the F horn I used was more or less this –

The intonation on this horn is terrible! I bet 1/3 of the notes are out of tune. I had to put arrows all over the place in the music.

IMG_0265I got the horn out again after the studio class and really sat down to play it with a tuner and my goodness it is really out of tune in comparison to a modern double horn. BUT: the CD is not! Four months of hard practice, I had the horn pretty figured out and was feeling pretty used to it. The CD has very good intonation, but there is one note that was quite sharp that at times you can tell I am covering the bell a good bit more than normal to bring it down. I think it in the end adds a little charm and color to the already colorful sound if a period single F horn. Buy the CD and you can decide for yourself!

It should be close to being released in about a month, be checking back for more.

UPDATE: Clearly I am an optimist!

Continue reading series on the F Horn CD project

Reinecke, Gumpert, Kruspe, and more on the 19th century horn

John Ericson
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Recently received was a question from Pierre-Antoine Tremblay (website here). He had very recently recorded Reinecke’s 1906 Trio for horn, clarinet and piano on period instruments. Before turning to the questions, his video of the first movement is below. Hit play, check it out! The period horn offers a unique sound (video direct link here).

This work is one that I would actually noodle around on when practicing for my 19th century horn project (described in a series of articles starting here). It seems to me very suited to being played on a single F horn — it feels great on the period valved horn. Pierre-Antonie asked several things in his note, one being about a possible Gumpert-Reinecke connection and another being possible use of Kruspe horns by Gumpert. He had noted “the obvious [connection,] that they were colleagues both at the Gewandhausorchester and at the Conservatory.” Certainly Reinecke could have been thinking of Gumpert, but aside from that obvious connection I don’t know that the trio is associated with any horn player, he worked with many, and Gumpert had been retired from performing for several years by 1906. Theoretically for example Reinecke could have been thinking of B. Ed. Müller, who was second horn in the Gewandhaus Orchestra and is best remembered today for his etudes, or principal hornist Arno Rudolph. As to horns and Gumpert, I can only offer what his student Anton Horner stated in 1956:

[Gumpert] had no use for the B-flat horn which was coming into use in Germany at that time; but he did advocate changing crooks or slides to G, A, and B-flat horn for some compositions. For instance, he played the Siegfried solo on the B-flat horn, and the slow movement of the Second Beethoven Symphony on the A crook; also played the Mendelssohn Nocturne on an E crook. The old German conductors like Reinecke in Leipzig, Bühlow [sic] in Berlin, and others would not tolerate the thin, harsh quality of the B[flat] horn, unless the composers called for that quality in their compositions, when they wrote for the G, A-flat, A, and B-flat horn. Of course, we, of today, think these restrictions are splitting hairs, but that was the opinion that prevailed in those days. I know that in many orchestras, when there were auditions for vacant positions, B[flat] horn players were not even considered. But eventually, B[flat] horn specialists were considered, when such excellent players as Preusse in Frankfurt proved and demonstrated its advantages [Horner, 91].

That quote is from a longer article that may be read here. That his nephew was working with Kruspe to develop horn designs is a decent indication that Gumpert might also have been a Kruspe player, but I don’t have any further evidence, the question is so far as I know open.

And also note: Reinecke is cited by Horner as a being among “old German conductors” who “would not tolerate the thin, harsh quality” of the B-flat horn, who preferred the F horn. Again, it really seems to be the instrument he has in mind for the his chamber music works, this photo showing the instrument used by Tremblay.

Check out the video above and the following movements, it is very well done and really gives the flavor of what the F horn sounds like. The sound is not quite what you would imagine, there is a bit of a wilder quality to the sound in the upper register that adds something really. Once you adjust to it in fact a double or triple horn does sound duller. I believe this same tonal difference will come across in my recording project as well, which is in editing at this time. More on that soon.

And to close, a special bonus recording, which I was pointed to by reader Jay Anderson after my recent article “Will the real B. Ed. Müller please stand up?” (see the comments there). Recorded in 1904, it includes two of the Leipzig players I mentioned above, B. Ed. Müller and Arno Rudolph, second and first horn respectively with the celebrated horn quartet of the Gewandhaus Orchestra. Oh but to hear this group live, but the old recording gives a good hint of their sound and it is so interesting as well to realize that you are hearing the playing of one of the writers of classic horn etude materials! There is a missed note at 1:51 (probably the third horn), and the general level of playing also reminds us that things have come a long way for the horn in the last 100 years. (Video direct link here).

Photo source: YouTube

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