On Mon, Nov 1, 2010 at 12:15 PM, Steven Larsen <[email protected]> wrote:
4. Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss are the principal composers to > promulgate the advancement of the horn (Brahms preferred the sound of the > natural horn), I asked a knowledgeable horn-playing friend about your later question (which composers started writing for F horn all the time), and he promised me a copy if an interesting article on Brahms horn writing, so I should have more to add. I'll just say that I have been told that, even though Brahms wrote parts that were playable on natural horn, he probably never heard tham played on natural horn in his lifetime. He also wrote a book of etudes for valved horn! > and it's interesting to track the changes in horn use and > notation in their works. Strauss' ... > > Strauss began to almost always favor Horn in F, but often called for > changes > to other keys in the course of the work. The best summary of this confusing > practice is in Strauss' own words (or at least as translated by Theodore > Front for Strauss' revision of Berlioz' "Treatise on Instrumentation", > written in 1904 and reprinted by Kalmus in 1948): > > "Although horn players now use almost exclusively the horns in D, F, high A > and high B flat . . . it is nevertheless advisable to retain Richard > Wagner's method of indicating the key of the horns according to the changes > of key in the music. It is true that horn players do not observe these > different keys any more; but they are accustomed to transpose any key > instantly into the key of the horn they are using, and they much prefer > this > method to being forced to read all the time the horn in F, ..." (p. 279) > > At some point in the 20th century, most composers settled on the > now-standard Horn in F and stopped the practice of "changing horns" in the > parts. Exactly when that happened? I'm sure somebody out there has written > a > dissertation on it! > > Steve Larsen > OK, here's mine: My horn-player friend said Mahler settled on F horn after writing for horns in keys early, but a quick look through all the Mahler horn parts on IMSLP.org found nothing but F horn, so I'm not sure what the early writing would be. Bruckner wrote parts in different keys in some of the symphonies, but some have F horn only. Early Schoenberg and Stravinsky both were F horn only. Not Dvorak - he wrote in keys just as Brahms, [Dvorak 6th = Horn 1, 2 (in D, F, E), 3, 4 (in E, Bb, D)] if more chromatically. I was curious about J. Strauss Jr., since he might have been more in the public trenches - my friend didn't mention him but all the parts on IMSLP (not that many) are F horn. Perhaps the waltz king gets the award for helping establish the principle of writing for the F horn specifically, and going against the (written later) advice of Richard Strauss? (Perhaps more than ten minutes of research would be needed for this conclusion?) Raymond Horton > > > _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
