2009/8/14 wells123...@juno.com <wells123...@juno.com>: > > Am I making any sense here? Have any of you had a similar experience? Is > there a strategy I can employ to avoid that sort of disaster again?
Hi Valerie This isn't an uncommon situation - the 2 pairs of horns quite often get crooked in different keys either so that they can cover more notes of the scale so that the 4 horns can play complex chord sequences between them, or so that the second pair can take over when the key modulates. Dvorak uses different crooks for both of these purposes in his 6th symphony. The first movement has horns 1 & 2 in D, and horns 3 & 4 in E; the second movement has horns 1 & 2 in F with 3 & 4 in Bb basso, 3rd movement 1 & 2 in F, 3 & 4 in D and 4th movement 1 & 2 in E and 3 & 4 in D. Also, if the piece is in a minor key, it is not uncommon for the horns to be crooked in something other than the keynote of the piece. I just played a concert last night on the Edinburgh Fringe which included the Mozart C minor Serenade. The horns were in Eb. As for dealing the confusion of not having the horn crooked in the home key of the piece, there's no really easy way of handling it. All you can do is make sure you do know what the key of the piece is and adjust your mind accordingly. The hardest time I have had with that is Brahms 3, which is in F but has the first two horns crooked in C throughout. Playing 1st for that was a bit unsettling initially until I worked out where I was relative to the key of the piece. I don't know which Mendelssohn piece you were playing but both the Scottish Symphony and the Overture Ruy Blas have the two pairs of horns crooked in different keys like this. The most extreme example that I know of where this happens is the Berlioz Symphony Fantastique, where if I recall correctly at one point all four horns are playing at the same time and each is crooked in a different key. Regards Jonathan West _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music2.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
