At 3:49 PM -0500 1/24/03, Aaron Sherber wrote:
At 02:53 PM 1/24/2003, dumusic wrote:
My understanding is that all parts written in the bass clef are written at
concert pitch, contra bassoons and string contrabasses excepted, which both
transpose down an octave.  Some where (maybe in Walter Piston's
"Orchestration") is a discussion about horn parts written in the bass clef
being written an octave below the desired pitch.
Old style horn notation in the bass clef is not an octave below the desired *sounding* pitch, but rather an octave below the expected written pitch. That is, F horn written in the treble clef sounds a fifth lower than written, but F horn written in bass clef sounds a fourth higher than written.

Aaron.

To furthur elaborate on your point, my understanding of this is that bass clef french horn sounding a 4th higher is archaic, and the preferred method for modern works is a 5th lower, as in treble clef. Walter Piston's book was out of date even as it was written, in this regard.

Of course, if you are reproducing a historical work, use the transposition that the composer used.

Christopher

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