I've been following this thread with interest, and a lot of good advice has been shared. But just now have time to share a bit of my own experience.
I *was* that high school horn player from rural America, bored to tears, writing to the hornlist (defunct version) and receiving support, 15 years ago. (I was also roundly intimidated by Prof. Hans Pizka then, even before there was YouTube to see him playing in person. I'm glad to see Prof. Pizka is still sharing his wisdom with enthusiasm, despite his well-earned retirement.) Now look at me, all growed up. Scary how that happens. I was fortunate enough to have sympathetic band directors, but unfortunate that the weren't the type to re-arrange typical class C band lit to liven up the many footballs and sax-doubling parts. What they did do, however, was make sure that I had every opportunity to play in honors bands, be involved in a variety of ensembles for competitions, and introduce me to the local community band (which, while it may not have done much for increased difficulty in music, did do a lot for my social skills and understanding the dynamics of real-world music). I also drove four hours, round trip, to take horn lessons one week night per week. Thank you, Mom and Dad for trusting me to be out on the lonely roads in the days before cell phones. Then I went to college, and I suddenly realized I wasn't the best player on the block by a long shot. Wow. Perhaps that was a result of my poor large ensemble experience in high school, perhaps because of a lower natural aptitude. I guess I'll never know. The one thing I am sure I was most hurt by was that lack of opportunity to play exposed solos in an ensemble, and the confidence this builds. Still, I learned much and loved every minute of it. In college I performed with an amazing concert band, and we played great literature with wonderfully written parts *just for the horns* - the best stuff had full section writing, with appropriate basement horn parts for the fourth chair. In the end, my career took me to live in remote locations overseas, in places not conducive to horn playing. But now I am back playing in a variety of ensembles with a variety of skill levels. Here we don't have enough horns (or other instrumentation, or skill) to play many of the things we did in college, so along the lines of the comments made by Steven Mumford and Spike Maiden Muller, I'd like to get more opinions of what is out there in band literature that a low and mid-level community band could play that has good horn stuff. ARE there any composers out there that do write "good" stuff? I'm looking for all-around solid arrangements, not just good horn lines. What types of pieces might a high schooler or a community band member suggest to a director that would keep us all interested? Thanks for your advice, and glad to see hornists still gathering online! Erica Nowhere, northern Wisconsin _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
