To the participants in my High/Low horn survey: Thank you so much for your help!!
I had about two dozen responses to my questions, and the answers were all very helpful. Interestingly, very few respondents considered themselves to be either low or high horn specialists; however, the overwhelming majority of respondents considered the practice of specialization to be beneficial to playing or obtaining a job. I n my own research I found that the tradition of dividing the horn section into low and high parts can be largely attributed to the theories and textbooks used to teach composition and orchestration. Although there was good reason for this division when the horn was first introduced to the orchestra, the reasons for such division no longer apply to modern day horns and horn players. Still, even in the textbook used at my own university, composition and orchestration students are taught that the horns must be divided into high and low parts (and there are even specific, and very limited, ranges for each type of part). In my paper I summarized the historical development of low and high horn specialization and I concluded that, although such specialization is still very much in practice, the definition of range specialization has changed. Today, being a low or high horn specialist simply means being more or less comfortable in one extreme or the other and both types of player must be able to perform throughout the entire range without revealing what their personal preference is. Again, thank you very much for your help. -Joni _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
