Hoss, have you ever auditioned, I mean, really, for a professional orchestra ? You have no idea about. A professional orchestra is different from a community or conservatory orchestra. Tuning is not the business of the committee. The committee expects, that the candidates present themselves with a perfect (as possible) tuned horn, which requires just to be mini-adjusted to the piano. If candidates are not able to tune their instrument perfectly, how will they play in the orchestra ? Hey man, you have some strange ideas about the pro life. There is no time to ask the candidates why they tune this or that way. We already spent four hours for the audition. The first round with 5 minutes each player, playing Mozart no.3, took 2 hours.
Then we had to make a 20 minutes break for pee & for coffee. Second round with four candidates playing some ten minutes Neuling: Bagatelle & excerpts took another 40 minutes; discussion & voting, ten minutes break & ten minutes each for the remaining thre candidates, discussion & voting again, decision to cease the whole thing. What do you expect more on patience ? We are very patient, but we should not. There are candidates with real ugly tone. A castrated alto trombone would sound like a Stradivarius compared with these candidates (at least one third). If they have no tone concept, how should we listen to "what they give to us musically". The answer is simple: no tone quality no music. Another third played every played (F-Horn notation) g1 too flat, every f2 too flat, every c1 too sharp, etc and their playing was "embellished" with a multitude of small cracks. We let them finish the first page of the concerto or even the first movement including the cadenza, even they had zero chances to be advanced to round two. We did all that to avoid too much frustration for them. And the cadenzas they used ? My Goodness. A mixture of excerpts from various recordings, not matching each other, or some of their own compositions, longer than the entire movement, completely far off the tonality of the concerto. We let them play it to our (???) amusement. Most of the candidates realized that they did not play good enough & left the audition. Others, who played really bad, still kept their hope & waited. They even asked what they did wrong. I might ask, don't they listen to other players so to compare themselves with them. Frankly, the best three were two young ladies already professionals in well known orchestras, one of them a solohorn already. But both of them could not even keep their embouchure holding for the Heldenleben unison excerpt. At the end, it was just "hot air". The best candidate of the audition was a local student, but still not ready for the vacant job of a 2nd/4rth horn. So we hope for the next audition. We are still searching for a good solo oboe (vacant three or four years). The same disaster, but much higher level of candidates. If I look into the future, I notice that we will have vacancies for 3 low horn positions, a third horn & a solohorn the next three years. Quite no chance to fill these vacancies in time. - And sorry, we must give preference to players from the E.U. One last thing: it is shaming how the candidates present themselves. When I auditioned, we had to present ourselves in jacket & tie. The committee even looked if we had our shoes polished and when we entered the hall & the audition was without a curtain, we made our bow & showed respect for the jury. But today ......... This is not antiquated custom, it makes sense. Showing respect to an organisation (jury, orchestra) is rather speaking positively for the candidate. The personal habit is also speaking for the candidate. If the personality is shown positively, we might also expect positive things from his or her playing. Not only the young men appear sloppy at the auditions, our young female colleagues are not better. But sometimes we get a surprise by an absolutely unknown young super talent fresh form Music Academy, age even below twenty, but extremely musical & fast learning all the things (routine, repertory). It is our duty at the jury, to recognize such young colleagues. And a word for our female colleagues: The gender question does not exist any more. Hoss, to eliminate somebody from an audition, it often takes just few seconds, but we let them play the first page or until cadenza. But for first horn you might be asked to play Strauss no.1 & Mozart no.4, both concertos right one after the other in the first round. But if you clam more than just "an accident" you are out, out, out & get not even the chance to play the second piece. =========================================================== -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, April 03, 2004 4:48 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Hornlist] Marching Band and TUning slides I wonder how many High School Marching Bands Hans played in? Marching Band is different than any European community band, and to be able to preach about The USA's high school band programs you better have real credentials. I have lived the pain for 6 years in High School and College and I never care to do it again. Let's leave it at that. I also understand that Hans' orchestra is of the utmost quality and should only accept the best, but it seems like you count people out way too soon. I understand that tuning is a major part of professional everyday playing, but was the five minutes you gave them really enough to judge them? Did you ask them for a reasonable explanation to why they are tuning a certain way? After you listened to their tuning note, did you listen what they gave to you musically or did you count them out right away? Did they play the audition in tune? I understand that it was Hans' audition commitee and hans' would have the right to take or turn down anyone he choose, but it would make better sense to take the advantages(once they are already counted out) of hearing someone than the disadvantages. I thought it was the European way to discuss things and not be like americans and instantaneously cross their name off the list. Maybe Germans are different. Hoss _______________________________________________ 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
