Steve, you quoted me wrong regarding the VPO & women. This was & is not a matter of sound and by no way any theory, it was (& is still today to some degree) the sometimes very rough mostly male society. As many young ladies blame men with their high quality of their playing, things have changed, situation has changed. What was valid a generation or two ago, cannot have validity today. My former section had hired a third & a first (my successor) two nice ladies, who did not make it to permanent tenure. But the section hired another two "model like" young ladies as "academists" to fill the gap until the vacancies will be filled through positive audition results. Academists receive a scholarship of 1.000.-EUR/month, free tuition by a section member (introducing them to the repertory), but play ten services a month, rehearsals & performances.
What was a male domain before, is open to everyone qualified today: Recent example NHR: the newly elected female bishop of the protestant church in Germany has been caught by the police when she drunk driving overran a red light. She had 1,54 promille alcohol in her blood - once a male domain (bishop as well as drunk driving). Even here the situation has changed. back to the horn: There is no switching of parts in the Trio II of the Brandenburg but just six notes (well 12 notes including the repeats). Why do you see the second part more difficult than the first. Explain, please. The entrance on a2 M65 is difficult. Do you think the high c3 entrance on the open small bell F-horn would be easier kept in tune (the partials, special 16th tend to come extremely sharp using the open horn; it even remains quite sharp on the bigger hunting horn - I have a very nice one in F, used for the Serenade). And, dear friend, "nailing" a piece like the baroque Brandenburg is wrong absolutely. It must be played extremely light with silvery tone, more like a baroque "cornetto" (zink) not like a modern horn. And it is not a question to "nail it most of the time". It is a matter of playing it perfect, rare "accidents" granted or tolerated, but very rare accidents. This not only in the high grade orchestras, but also on the lower level. Well, it can be done on period instruments or the copies, but for what a prize ???? If you teach at an university & your income is secured by that, no problem. You will have enough time to prepare yourself for this rather rare experiment, but not in the hard working orchestra, where you play Schoenberg or Shostakovich the one day, Mozart or Mendelssohn the next - and nobody will ask you how. And if conductors at certain high level orchestras ask for such kind of performance (Brandenburg on period instr.), they have to regulate financial compensation first. Nothing is for free except ambition. Players accepting such a task, have to decline many other "gigs" during that time & lose income. If the orchestra pays a generous extra honorarium , well, it might work. Every good horn player at home with the F-horn could do it. But, isn´t there any intonation improvement by some "key holes", like on the key bugle ???? This would not be "period" either !!!!! Am 24.02.2010 um 08:04 schrieb Steve Haflich: > > Hans Pizka <[email protected]> wrote: > > Would anybody dare doing Brandenburg in an audition using single F > ???? No way, because the sound would never match the piece as does a > Bb-horn. > > Ummm, I might. I think the instrument for which Bach wrote this piece > was some sort of single F, an instrument with the additional advantage > of being unencumbered by valves. In the right group, I'd be happy to > play the primo on a period horn. I suspect I could nail it most of the > time, and I'm confident that a hornist of _your_ quality could nail it > each and every time. (And, other than range, the second part is > arguably more difficult.) > > The original post on this thread referred to the audio clipe on > hornplayer.net, specifically > http://hornexcerpts.org/excerpt_pages/bachBC1/bachBC1_6.html > > The "period instrument" performance there shows that it can be done, and > handsomely so (if one can ignore the flat period-orchestra pitch). > > I see no reason for the Brandenburg as an audition piece > > Agreed. But if I were faced with this at audition, before playing I > might mention the practice of swapping parts and ask the audition > committee's preference. This would show familiarity with the issues of > playing the piece. Sometimes the best defense is a good (but polite!) > offense. > > The audition Jury has to be fair, absolutely fair ! That matters. > > Indeed. Freund Hans -- A number of years ago you vigorously defended > the VPO's practice of not seating women on the theory that they might > interfere with the traditional sound. Do you still hold this concept of > fairness? > _______________________________________________ > post: [email protected] > unsubscribe or set options at > https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/hpizka%40me.com _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
