Ralph R. Hall [email protected] Ralph R. Hall http://www.brasshausmusic.com
William, Let's start by being flippant: wouldn't your time be better spent practising, rather than sending 27 emails about a subject you have absolutely no hope of changing? I have, coincidently, just had a long article on this very subject published in the latest issue of 'The Horn Player' back in the UK. It is anecdotal more than instructive for the simple reason that UK amateur and semi pro orchestras very rarely audition and this is where the majority readership lies. Universally, professional orchestras are autonomous and protect this, quite rightly. Therefore nobody outside a particular orchestra is going to influence a decision made internally. I have sat on many audition panels and I can honestly say that I (we) only ever made one serious mistake. That was in choosing the 'best'. The circumstances were that, unusually, a series of auditions in two or three orchestras came up at the same time. We felt that this particular player was so outstanding that if we didn't snap him up the next orchestra would. He'd played to perfection a recital programme that could have been broadcast. Once in the studio, he was a disaster, knocking over music stands, giggling and without a perception of being subserviant to others, including the composer. He was still the best in audition, though. Be careful when you use the word 'qualified'. In the UK, qualifications are as nought compared to how you play. My good friend, the late John Butterworth, Solo Horn with two BBC orchestras and then Alan Civil's third horn in the BBC Symphony, had no musical qualifications other than his ability on the instrument. He did have a science degree from Cambridge but that is neither here nor there. There are numerous other examples in the profession, the exemplar being Maurice Murphy, for so long the brilliant Solo Trumpet with the London Symphony Orchestra. He auditioned for the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in Manchester many years ago without being able to transpose. He was being discounted because of this when my professor, then Solo Horn in the orchestra, made an impassioned plea that they had just heard something quite exceptional. Hitherto, Maurice had been Solo Cornet in Black Dyke Mills Band, then the best brass band in the UK but wholly amateur. So, sublime player, top job, top orchestra, never went to music college - never went to college! - but acknowledged to be the best. The problem is that there are too many for too few jobs. But you cannot dampen enthusiasm nor corral aspiration. What you can do is to live in the real world, hope to be in the right place at the right time and play to the best of your ability. Usually you will get a fair hearing. Ralph R. Hall _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
