Hello David, Budapest 1889 by Viennese influence & Hamburg 1893 as well were centres of F-Horn playing. The Bb-horn had not made its way to many orchestras then except Leipzig perhaps. The Bayreuth players were F-hoprn players mostly as can be documented with photographs. Even the Berlin players had not adopted the Bb-horn. In Vienna they played the pumpenhorn as they do now, which is pitched in F. Munich 1904 & 1910 used F-Horns as did Prague 1908, while Maxy Hess in Cologne used a horn pitched in G for the no.5 symphony as he told me personally, a quite good compromise. Krefeld should have used F-horns also back around 1900.
The F-horn, no matter as a single or as part of a double horn produces sounds much richer on overtones (co-sounding harmonics) than any shorter horn might be able to provide. But single-F-Horns have a trend to blair a bit if overblown in the higher dynamics and tend to produce a thinner output in higher dynamica & in the higher range higher than written g2 (thinking in F tonality = concert c2 = middle space). How to solve these problems ? Use a regular double horn in F/B with the preference to use the F-side. Use the Bb-turbno-gear (I nicknamed it such) as enforcement for certain passages. Always the sound color of the F in mind. Use the Bb-side even for single pitches if they are better in tune such. Use the Bb-side if "arpeggios" work better & faster such. Decide the same for the use of the F-side. All will balance out to a fair relation of 25 (Bb) : 75 (F). It works superfine for all great "tutti", the "cantilenas" & most of the accompaniment in long notes in the lower dynamic range. This has also the advantage, that the 75%-F-horn-player has the "turbo gear (Bb)" as reserve as the symphony proceeds. One thing should be kept in mind: ff or fff be played loud but never crude- Loud means broad or large, overwhelming but not destroying or crushing the output of the other instruments. Pianissimo & piano are carrying on the F-side even used as "flautando" (like a flute). Last advice: hold back the "EGO" & remember, Mahlers symphonies, even involving the horns a great deal, are not symphonies for soloistic horns & the rest of the orchestra. ################################################################################### Am 09.05.2010 um 05:33 schrieb David Lamb: > There has lately been a thread on the Mahler List about horns and > trumpets in use in Mahler's time. There are many conflicting opinions, > as you can well imagine. Some are strong champions of single F horns in > performance of Mahler. These are people who claim to know what kinds > of horns are used on various Mahler recordings. Perhaps they can, but I > am skeptical. My experience has been that a lot depends on how the > instrument is played, and maybe not quite so much on the instrument > itself. I wonder how these "connoisseurs" would score in a blind > test... hearing passages played on single F horns, double horns, descant > horns, and so forth. I am merely a composer though I have spent a > lifetime writing horn music and caring deeply about the "true" horn > sound. My experience has been that a good player can produce the sound > I want regardless of the instrument he or she chooses to play. So my > question is: > > Does the single F horn produce a unique and characteristic sound that is > immediately recognizable and one that cannot be duplicated by other > horns? Is it common knowledge that an experienced music lover can > listen to an orchestra recording and tell for sure what horns are being > played? Somehow I doubt it, but I would appreciate an expect opinion > here. I myself tend to listen mainly for phrasing, dynamic finesse, and > overall musicality, but maybe I am missing something. > > David Lamb in Seattle > _______________________________________________ > 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
