- - Please visit: Legacy Horn Experience - -
A question I recently needed to research was that of what books on the horn (and middle brass) have been published in the past five years? That is, books with substantial text, not just music and exercises.
Of course, the new editions of my books are all from 2018 and are of this type (more info on all here):
- Introducing the Horn. Third edition
- The Low Horn Boot Camp. Second edition
- A Mello Catechism. Third Edition
- Playing Descant and Triple Horn. Second edition
- Playing Natural Horn Today. Second edition
- Playing the Wagner Tuba. Second edition
Moving on from my books, we have featured a number of the most recent publications in Horn Matters. By year, for 2017 we have:
- Jeffrey Agrell, The Creative Hornist: Essays, Rants, and Odes for the Classical Hornist on Creative Music Making (Review)
- Jeffrey Agrell, Horn Technique: A New Approach to an Old Instrument (Review)
- Lin Foulk, Horn Basics: A Practical Guide for Teachers and Students
From 2016 we have:
- Dempf and Seraphinoff, Guide to the Solo Horn Repertoire (review)
- Eli Epstein, Horn Playing from the Inside Out, Third Edition (review)
From 2015 the only book publication I have located is
- Stephen Lawson, Modern Method for Historical Horn Performance
Finally, from 2014 we have
- Randy Gardner, Good Vibrations: Masterclasses for Brass Players (review)
- Glen Perry, The Essential Guide to French Horn Maintenance
I did not locate any book publications from 2013 beyond publications seen in the list above in newer editions. To my thinking this is not enough publications! Increasingly, we are having to rely on the Internet and older, dated sources. We should not be relying upon books from the 50s or 70s as our main references, scholarship and knowledge has in fact moved forward.
So, what about the previous five years? Were they better?
It is a similar low number of publications overall. Working backwards by date of publication to 2008 we have:
- Fergus McWilliam, Blow Your Own Horn!: Horn Heresies (2012) (review)
- Norman Schweikert, The Horns of Valhalla: Saga of the Reiter Brothers (2012) (review)
- Gamble and Lynch, Dennis Brain: A Life in Music (2011) (quote/info)
- Jasper Rees, A Devil to Play: One Man’s Year-Long Quest to Master the Orchestra’s Most Difficult Instrument (2008) (commentary)
- William Melton, The Wagner Tuba: A History (2008)
And there we have it, not a lot of books on the horn and related instruments have been published recently. If I have missed any significant book publications please contact me and I will add them to the list. And if any of these publications sound interesting, buy them! Things don’t stay in print unless sales are made.
