Dear Michael,
this first publication of Beethovens Missa solemnis op.123 had used
the first proof copy (F.Ries ?), authorized by Beethoven himself.
You are right absolutely, that Beethoven wanted to give a rest to
the first horn.
There is no other reason, as the first horn changes the crook back &
forth
as do the other horns. The use of semitones is about the same in all
horns.
No strange right hand action at all. Just the pitches tuned down for
1/2 step.
The f# below staff is also very easy and can be produced by use of the
right
hand ("gedaempft" or muted or "half stopped") or "lipped down" (better
result
if louder than mp). "Half stopped" is a rather unclear term.
The first horn definitely has "tacet" marked.
The autograph is preserved at the Staatsbibliothek Berlin except the
Gloria.
Hope that helps.
Regards
Hans
###################################################################
Am 07.06.2010 um 05:58 schrieb Michael Hrivnak:
> (If you live near NYC, you can see the NYP perform this piece in
> just under 3
> weeks.)
>
> I recently played principal on this piece. Not having an assistant,
> I was
> very grateful for the section you mentioned where the 2nd horn plays
> lead.
> It's a lot of time on the face without much break, including a
> pretty hefty
> blow in the Credo, which is right before that section.
>
> This is where IMSLP becomes incredibly handy. According to them,
> the parts we
> used were set by Breitkopf and Härtel around 1880. Who knows what
> might have
> happened back then.
>
> BUT, there is also a scan of the first-edition score from 1827 on
> IMSLP. Fast-
> forward to page 201 of the PDF, and you'll see the first page of the
> Sanctus.
> The scan is way too low-resolution to read exactly what it says, but
> I think
> it says basically "Corno 1 tacet", "Corno 2 in E", "Corni in D 3,
> 4". This is
> corroborated by the Ernst Eulenberg score they have.
>
> http://imslp.org/wiki/Missa_Solemnis,_Op.123_(Beethoven,_Ludwig_van)
>
> This was written fairly late in his life. He had already written
> his first 8
> symphonies. Surely whoever played first on the premier of number 6
> would have
> expressed in one way or another how much work it was, and perhaps
> Beethoven
> was becoming more sensitive to that issue. As noted, he was not shy
> about
> trying new things, so I think we can reasonably believe that he
> could have
> orchestrated it this way himself.
>
> I wonder where the original manuscript is.
>
> Michael
>
>
> On Sunday 06 June 2010 10:24:33 pm Punto wrote:
>> Does anyone know of any writings on Beethoven's choice to give the
>> second horn the lead part in this movement while the first lays out
>> for
>> about 74 bars? It is not in any way similar to the 4th horn writing
>> in
>> the 9th symphony or 2nd horn solos in Fidelio or elsewhere since it
>> clings to the high horn tessitura from beginning to end. In no way
>> does
>> it appear to be a late classical/pre-romantic second horn part. If it
>> weren't Beethoven, I might just think that it was an attempt to
>> give the
>> principal player a rest, but he never showed any evidence of doing
>> that
>> anywhere in his writing for any instrument (or voice, for that
>> matter).
>> One other interesting touch in the second part; several exposed
>> written
>> F-sharps (horn in E), below the staff, in the Agnus Dei.
>>
>> A very intense piece of music and he clearly was trying out a lot of
>> adventurous ideas in it. I hope that someone can point me to some
>> authoritative study on its orchestration. I just played (and quite
>> enjoyed) second on a rough and tumble performance of this with meager
>> forces and an even sparser audience and it would be nice to benefit
>> from
>> the common knowledge out there on this if there be any.
>>
>> Peter Hirsch
>>
>>
>>
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