Dear Graeme, it turned out finally, that we both agree. There are just minor differences, when to use the F-side and there are differences indeed, how we both approach the F-side. And, by the way, Aubrey Brain & Dennis Brain were F players. The later one for most of his short career, except the last few years when he adopted the Alex. Franz Strauss on the contrary, was a nearly exclusive Bb-player, and his horn had a beautiful but very small tone. I tried it with his mouthpiece right here in my house.
The Weber op.45 should not be the best example, but you are right, that Var.2 is easier on the F. But "con fuoco" would require a absolute sound combination of both sides. The same combination would serve best for the "Polacca". Here you critizised the fuzziness of the longer tube. Here I might respond, that the right practice should enable the player to play as clear on the F-side as others do on the Bb-side. So we both claim special attention each other regarding practising certain things. I had numerous performances of the Weber & could send you an .avi file from a live TV recording. Seifert playing Brahms 2 1994 ? Do you know, how old Gerd Seifert was at that concert ? He was past 63 already then, and a TV live recording is something one has to be special responsible. Even I would risk nothing and use the Bb-side for safety reason. Please, dear Graeme, tell me about the "thousands of fine players in my country, that use the F side very little ". Why do we need to arrange several auditions even for a "tutti" vacancy ? Sending all candidates home after the first round ? Because of the terrible tone quality. And it is not me, sending them home, me, the "enfant-terrible", but my colleagues who are nearly exclusive Bb-horn-users. So what ! This has something to do with inadequate training, leaving tone production & tone imagination up to the Bb-horn exclusively. To close the discussion, I might state here, that it is clear absolutely, to play fast technical passages using the Bb-side, to produce the required clarity, while average stuff might be played at the preferred choice (of horn side) of the player. Soft passages, slow passages, middle range passages, even soli, could be more on the F-side to show the beauty of the horn sound. My Siegfried Long Calls, as on my home page, are all played on the Bb-side except the pre-last entrance, right after the long & accelerating passage. So I am not any exception, except that I relax most on the F-side, before playing a greater demanding spot on the Bb-side, but often playing relaxed melodies on the F-side because of the beauty of the sound, but always taking into account the beauty verse the risk, which is very personal. Remember: the whole discussion started about a "transposed" horn part, where every horn player should assume, that arpeggios, slow or fast, should be involved & not greater technique or even up hill & down hill runs. As we read from the original posters letter, it turned out to be a piece from 1976, where something was wrong with the inscriptions obviously, as the played the piece in F at the first rehearsal & nobody could distinguish if it was right or not. Would you admit, that if one has passed all six Maxime-Alphonse books successfully (and the other things as Kopprasch, Mueller, Paudert, de Grave, Schantl, Stiegler, Belloli, etc.), he or she should be able to play (nearly) everything in daily orchestra work without much extra effort regarding practice ? But this is the problem: inadequate preparation by "etudes". ============================================================ -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Graeme Evans Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2003 8:06 AM To: The Horn List Subject: Re: [Hornlist] horn in C# > But you again evaded the question: why spending too much energy on a > task which could be solved the simple way, by using the F-side, at least > partly ???? The crux of your argument seems to be that fingering in rapid passages can be made simpler by using the F side. This is undeniably true, but quite a few of us do not like the clumsy response of the longer tube lengths in fast passages. I also have a problem with routinely solving problems "the simple way". Sometimes a bit more work can actually produce a better result. I know what you mean, but I feel the fingering problems can quite easily be solved by practicing. Not all schools of playing like the F side. There are thousands of fine players in your own country that use the F side very little. I received a DVD of Berlin doing Brahms 2 with Abbado (1994) for Christmas, and I noticed that Gerd Seiffert used the F side hardly at all on his Yamaha 667; only for g1 and the octave below F#. I follow the British style in my own playing, so I use mostly Bb side, but actually use the F side more than anyone else in my section. I like the F sound greatly for slow passages, and use of the F horn during practice is essential for every student. The thing is then to ensure that when one uses the Bb horn the sound quality is maintained. That this is quite possible has been proved so many times by many great artists that it is irrefutable. Examples are Dennis Brain, Alfred Brain, Alan Civil, Tim Brown among many others, going right back to Franz Strauss. I agree that the F side of a double should be used, but I would not normally recommend this in fast passages. I use it a lot for long notes, and I often play d2(0) and c#2(2) on F side. I also use mostly F side in the Brahms 1 finale solo. A couple of the arpeggio passages in the Weber Concertino are good on F(2),mainly in variation 2 (Con fuoco), but in passages such as variation 3 (triplets), I would always use the Bb side for clarity. I also tend to use Bb for the Polacca, except for, again, a few arpeggios. I generally confine my F side usage in the solo register to slower passages, and use it for the lower notes. My main dislike of the F side is the fuzziness and technical clumsiness of it really. The actual sound quality, of course, is what the horn is all about! Cheers, and greetings from Melbourne where our temp is 40.3 C today! Graeme Evans (Principal Horn, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra) +61 3 9318 0690(H), +61 419 880371(B), +61 3 93180893(Fax) E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] set your options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/hans.pizka%40t-online.de _______________________________________________ post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] set your options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
