This is a traditional pairing that gives a principal horn lots to do and today I will feature a few interesting passages and highlights.

The dynamic duo

Since 1893, “Cav and Pag” – as they are called – have been paired together, exemplifying the Italian verismo style. The two operas are approximately the same length and have similar structures of intensely dramatic scenes interspersed with lush orchestral intermezzos.

Their plots center around raw emotions played out among common people. Brutal violence ends with tragic murder in both sagas.

A three-hour show

The current timing for the Arizona Opera production is around three hours (not including the 30-minute intermission). I have no assistant and so the challenge for myself as a principal horn is more-or-less an endurance test.

While the task is not as Herculean as performing one of the later Ring operas, it comes fairly close. It boils down to playing straight for 90 minutes, resting for about 30, then playing full steam once again for another 90 minutes.

I will definitely be keeping these survival tips in mind.

The opening to Pag

Beginning with Paglicacci, the horns exchange fanfares with other sections of the orchestra.

* * *

These fanfare figures wind down to a point where the entire orchestra drops out. A lone, solo horn plays a few held notes. At the Largo Assai in the example below, an unaccompanied horn quartet is featured. The first horn carries the famous tune that will occur later in the opera under more tragic circumstances.

These examples typify the part – there is lots to play and there are no long tacets or rests as in some other operas.

A sample from Cav

The writing in Cavalleria Rusticana is equally busy. In terms of orchestration it feels almost like a band composition; I suppose that this is part of what gives it its flavor and charm.

This sample below is one of the trickier passages (the tempo is one beat per measure at an Allegro tempo). The dynamic begins at a mezzo-forte and gets up to a bold forte by rehearsal number 4.

If I were in charge of an audition committee, this passage would be a prime candidate for excerpt material.

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Tag, you’re it!
A new tag has been added for “Contributing author.”

In case you missed it, contributing authors Dave Weiner (brass technician) and Tom Varner (jazz/solo artist) have written some great articles to look at.

The comfort of the womb?
Canadian researchers have reported that floating in an isolation tank increased the technical skill level of young jazz players.

Perhaps this explains why I myself like the isolation of small practice rooms. Even though they are acoustically dead, I like practice cubicles especially – they put my head into a good zone.

What do you think?

Hitler horn unearthed
A horn played at ceremonial events from Nazi rallies and the 1936 Olympics to birthday parties for the Fuhrer, was up for sale recently.

Staying busy and motivated
Julia Rose writes about the interim period for some of us that occurs this time of year (I am in the same boat soon).

Julia has also posted a very nice quote from the book on Vince DeRosa on the value of  tone quality.

The fines and penalties
Jeffrey Agrell posts in good humor the Orchestra Fines (for horn players). Some of these are among our pet peeves.

Movers and shakers in the spotlight

1.) Bill Slocum gets a nice feature at Vindy.com.

As music director and professor of horn at Youngstown State University for the past 39 years, Slocum has taught countless students how to play the same instrument that inspired him as a boy.

“There are two reasons people play the horn: They fall in love with the sound and they love the danger,” Slocum said. “The horn is unpredictable. You never know what’s going to happen when you play it.”

2.)  I stumbled upon this audio interview from 2006 on Walter Lawson upon his retirement.

3.) Ken Pope gets a feature at Jamaican Plain Patch.

When Ken Pope turned 10 it was time for him to pick an instrument to play. His choice was trumpet. But his mom, at one time an accordion teacher, said, “No, everybody needs a French horn or an oboe or a bassoon.” He went for the horn because, as he now says, “It was closest to the trumpet.”

Random Videos

This is a superb primer that features some of the “odd” brass instruments used in Wagnerian opera. The sword theme and how it ties in over several operas is a key point. One thing to look for is how differently all the Tube players hold on with the right hand.

* * *

Richard Matosinhos has some fun in his low range.

* * *

Here is a video using John Adams’ Short Ride in a Fast Machine and animating it with brass imagery. Even the violin scrolls look as if they are made of metal.

* * *

His valves are stuck. Any advice?

* * *

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It should be noted that in the full operatic version the short call appears on page 10 of the Horn I part. There is quite a bit to play before the famous call sounds.

Gone is the sleeping dragon and magical bird from the previous opera Siegfried. When performing this call this is something to bear in mind.

Our mythical hero is on a journey, carrying Brünnhilde’s shield and riding her horse Grane. The spirit in these calls is without a doubt, heroic.

Pages 17 and 18 are interesting to look at. Horn calls are peppered throughout.

Act II Scene II

One final excerpt to consider is this segue from Scene I into Scene II of Act II. This is perhaps the final sounding of Siegfried’s horn call within the Ring cycle.

The beginning of this excerpt until the hand-written rehearsal number 8 has been on Arizona Opera auditions. It encompasses a wide range and requires smooth control over long phrases.

The entire Horn I and II combined part for Götterdämmerung by the way, adds up to a whopping seventy-seven pages!

Previously in this series:

• Siegfried – the back story
  A video that gives the story.
• Slaying the dragon
  The music that precedes and follows the Long Call.
• Forging the sword
  The end of Act I.
• An Interpretive Approach to the Long Call
  A boy, a bird and a sleeping giant.

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I manage to get in 2-3 hours of practice each day and I do it mainly for personal pride and enjoyment. I strive to maintain a high professional standard for the two main groups I regularly perform with: Arizona Opera, and the West Valley Symphony.

I am not the busy performer that I once was and in combination with my current day job as a web developer, this collection is plenty to keep me on my toes. Fortunately my wife is very supportive and understanding of my sometimes very noisy and repetitive practice habits.

Lots of music to practice.

Gallay 12 Studies, Opus 57

Springtime is a busy time for opera, symphony and chamber music concerts and I have my hands full with lots of repertoire to learn. That being said I do like to work on etudes and other projects to stay sharp and keep thinking creatively.

I am currently working on #8 in various transpositions and octave ranges. Musically, I want to make the opening as free, happy and easy-sounding as possible. For myself, this involves bending the time a little or stretching a note here and there.

Getting the right lilt is the trick with Gallay #8.

Ward Fearn: Exercises for Flexible Horn Playing

The first exercise in this book is something that I play several times a week. Transposing it in different keys helps to keeps things interesting.

It starts with a relatively small range and gradually, it expands in range and dynamics. This exercise in its entirety is two pages and the sample below is only an excerpt.

#1 is an excellent long tone / flow study.

This excerpt from Exercise #4 is another good example of the quirky melodic style.

Harder than it looks.

Verdi: Otello (Horn III)

Verdi’s music is not subtle, and for those that prefer more cerebral German opera, the heart-on-your-sleeve nature of Verdi can seem a tad overwrought.

Verdi’s Otello is currently on my practice stand for an upcoming Arizona Opera production opening this weekend in Tucson. This is my 15th year with the Arizona Opera and the rehearsals so far indicate that this production will be a great one. Principal horn Peter Erb is doing a solid job, and he is also a good guy to work with.

The horn writing in Otello is technically much more advanced than in Verdi’s early operas. Gone is the oompah-pah writing of Rigoletto; we now get tricky chromatic passages and long, vocal melodies.

The excerpt below is a permanent fixture on the Arizona Opera horn auditions. It is very fast and is for Horn in E. Click for a larger view.

This second example is exclusive to Horns III and IV. It is a long, exposed melody in unison with the bassoons.

Each phrase ends with a unique chromatic twist and this is something I listen and watch for.

Did I mention that all of this is for Horn in A-basso?

Rochut: Melodious Etudes for Trombone, Book One

This particular volume is a touchstone that I regularly revert to. The vocal style goes hand-in-hand with Verdi.

A typical example of the vocal-style writing in the Rochut books.

Beethoven: 2nd Symphony (Horn I)

In a few weeks, rehearsals will start up again for me as principal horn in the West Valley Symphony. On the plate (among other things) is Beethoven’s 2nd symphony.

Horn in E. There is a companion line for Horn in A that appears later in the same movement.

This will be the first time that I have played principal on this piece. I am looking forward to the challenge.

Wagner: Götterdämmerung

On the practice stand too – hidden in back – is the first horn book to Wagner’s opera, Götterdämmerung. I am reviewing this for a future article on the Short Call.

Related to this research, I have recently organized all past Horn Matters articles on Siegfried into a new sub-category.

As it currently stands, most of the articles pertain to the Long Call from Siegfried and the topic is well-covered.

• Siegfried

In the final chapter of the Ring cycle however the Call appears yet again – and in a completely different context. This story is something that will be addressed in a future article, but in the meantime …

I need to go practice!

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The basic “A-horn” rule-of-thumb for the 3rd hornist is this:

1. If your “up” transposition puts your sounding pitches above the 1st horn, you most likely need to invert the interval transposition to sound below the 1st horn.
2. However, if your A-horn passage is a solo, it might be an “up” transposition.

This is not a hard-and-fast rule as there are some exceptions, most notably in Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor.” A prominent horn quartet passage (in Act II) can go either way depending on the conductor’s preference. I have performed it both ways.

Semiramide

This week I was reminded of Rossini’s Overture to Semiramide and its unique pitfalls. The opera itself, which takes place in ancient Babylon, is rarely performed these days due mainly to the male contralto lead role (a castrato part).

Its overture on the other hand is a regular staple in orchestra concerts. After an up-tempo introduction, the horns (and bassoons) are prominently featured in a hymn-like prayer. The horns at this point are keyed in D.

Click for a larger view.

This passage is fairly straight-forward in terms of horn transposition. However, things become less clear later in the same overture. The transposition for Horn III is Horn in A and there is no indication of whether it is basso or alto.

Click for a larger view.

For the intrepid horn player caught unprepared, this passage can be a good lesson. While the solo at m. 181 is performed in A-alto, the remainder is A-basso. While I have yet to find any documentation as to why it is this way, this is the time-honored tradition in 19th-century Italian operatic horn parts.

This is especially true in bel canto opera.

Lessons from youth

I have a pretty vivid memory of playing this part many years ago in youth orchestra and being utterly confused. I made the mistake of asking the conductor what to do (instead of my private horn teacher). The conductor insisted that everything was to be played in A-alto.

As a horn player with only a few years under my belt and a weak high-range, the experience was both humbling and humiliating.

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When recently playing principal in Arizona Opera’s Carmen production, I was reminded of how many times I have played this opera and the unique challenges it has for horn players.

For a newcomer playing opera, the horn parts at first glance look fairly simple. They are mostly rhythmic accompaniment and may not look like much. It is very easy to underestimate the difficulties that lie ahead.

Without cuts, Carmen can exceed three and one half hours. In the Arizona Opera production we took some cuts but the final time clocked in around three hours and fifteen minutes.

Compared to the epic Wagner Ring cycle, and this is barely one opera. If however you were to compare this to an average symphony or recital concert, this is huge.

Besides its length, Carmen also has many of the rarest transpositions as a challenge. These are the really odd ones that you only hear about, including:

• Horn in G-flat / Horn in F-sharp (yes, there is both!)
• Horn in A-flat
• Horn in D-flat

For the 1st and 3rd horns, there are a number of pitfalls with vocal-cue notes – sustained solo notes that give the singer onstage a reference pitch. They are many times in the oddest transpositions and in the oddest places.

The transpositions in general are tricky, and they change frequently. No matter how many times I perform this opera, I always need to be on my toes. This opera runs in a constant cycle of transpositions.

A few survival tips

Do not underestimate the challenge
For all the reasons mentioned above, it pays to prepare ahead of time.

Whenever possible, put the horn down
Lay the horn flat on your lap – or on the floor – and let your arms dangle freely at your side. Even a few minutes of this can make a big difference and, it provides opportunities to stretch and breath.

I found that even in a non-playing/resting position, holding the horn with both hands for a long time can get tiring on my wrists. Giving your hands a complete break can help.

Concentrate and balance your warm-up
Myself, I am a big proponent of an opposing warm-up when playing a big concert. In a nutshell, if the concert is comprised of music that is high, fast and loud, my warm-up will mostly be low, slow and soft.

Whenever possible, cheat a little
Does the third horn double the same note as you at the same time? Is the brass section blazing in full glory? If you do not have an assistant (which I never have had in opera) this might be an opportunity to rest.

Pace yourself for the long haul and the big moments
Opera can escalate orchestral music to a very dramatic and intense level. For the audience, the experience is a lot like going to the movies.

In Act III of Carmen, there is a very prominent first horn solo – in the Flower song. It is a big moment that happens after 90-100 minutes of playing.

The Flower song is a quiet moment, the calm before the storm that is coming. It ends with a very exposed horn duet while the lovers embrace onstage. When playing Acts I and II, I kept this tender moment in mind.

Label your transpositions
With old French music editions, a backwards eighth-note rest represents and replaces the traditional quarter-note rests which we normally see. To the uninitiated, this can be very confusing.

Compounding this are the frequently-changing transpositions notated in French.

Marking every transposition clearly in pencil might save you some unnecessary embarrassment. If a transposition remains for several pages, add reminders on each page. In the heat of the action it can be very easy to forget which key is in play and these reminders can help.

Most transposition mistakes can be avoided, with a pencil.

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AZOOMA – the Arizona Opera Orchestra Musicians Association – is the opera orchestra that I perform in, and we are currently in the middle of some very difficult contract negotiations.

It has become apparent that with the new management has come a new vision. In short, it involves drastic cuts and unrealistic expectations.

In response, the musicians met last Sunday 9/26/2010- teleconferencing from across Arizona and over 11 different cities across America – and took a strike authorization vote.

Checks and balances

What does this mean?

Strike authorization votes give a negotiation committee the power to call a work stoppage. It is an excellent fail-safe mechanism that guarantees that musicians have the final say on calling a work stoppage.

It gives a negotiation committee the power of if and when.

If necessary, a committee can say when a strike happens.

New stuff

In the meantime, here is a sample of the new areas I have added recently at the AZOOMA web site:

• 4 Easy Ways to Support AZOOMA
  A short list of simple ways to express support

• Say Hello!
  Encouraging patrons to come down to the pit.
  

• Part-Time Work, Full-Time Commitment
  For many musicians, we have a Frankenstein career made of many inter-dependent parts.
  

• Supporting Arizona Opera’s Future
  One neat thing about AZOOMA is that we have been fairly proactive in independent outreach.

[Later this afternoon, look for the regularly scheduled Random Monday article]

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Sometimes – from the musician perspective – it can feel a little bit like being a monkey in a zoo. Musicians accustomed to staged performance can practice in peace, without being stared or waved at. In a pit, it is not that way. People are looking at and watching you from higher ground.

From the audience perspective, visiting the pit is an inside look into the makings of the production. It is a peek behind-the-curtain, a backstage pass.

Whoa! What’s that instrument? Look at that guy…

From a new article I posted over at the Arizona Opera Orchestra Musicians Association (AZOOMA) site, Why is it so dark down there? -

Upon first approach a visitor looking in will see a hot-bed of activity and lots of musical instruments. It can be an intimidating sight, something like a black hole full of busy bees.

The musicians are dressed all in black. They look serious and focused. Like an orchestra full of ninja.

Opera is different

At a symphony orchestra concert – where the orchestra is onstage and elevated – audience members tend to find their seats and stay put.

OK… maybe some wine in the lobby, but just one.

At the opera the orchestra is contained in a sunken black box, like a diorama on display. The audience wants to and can look inside.

At AZOOMA we are asking people to come on down.

• Why is it so dark down there?
  An article about pit black, what it is for and how it might impose an artificial barrier.

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When living and working in Chicago years ago, I played in the Chicago Civic Orchestra, worked at a record store, and played some gigs. This included a few orchestras in Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan.

At lot of road time was burned in those days and eventually the realization sunk in that for all the work I was doing, I was seeing very little of it in the bank. I was busy all the time but had nothing to show for it.

Plenty of experience was being gained, but a large chunk of my income was getting lost on the road through car and hotel expenses. Once I realized this and started to do the math, those jobs in other states started to look less and less appealing.

Eventually I decided to shift my focus towards a better living. I began insisting on local work.

Working smarter, not harder

An article by Chicago freelancer Jason Heath sums it up very well. His advice:

Work close to home!

Unless you’re being compensated accordingly, try your utmost to build something up in your community. If opportunities don’t exist, create them for yourself (see my article Musical Entrepreneurship for my suggestions and a more elaborate discussion of this topic).

Consultant Drew McManus has a very handy Gig After Gas Calculator that still gets plenty of use for crunching numbers. For myself, if the profit ends up being a significant loss, the job gets rejected.

A time for everything

Of course sometimes there may be little choice in the matter.  Just like when I myself was young, the need for experience – or just the desire to play – may outweigh the desire for great sums of money.

For a young music professional this can be a great way to learn about the world, but in time practicality might need to step in and take over.

As the old saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. This saying can have many meanings but for the traveling freelancer, it takes on a particularly ironic twist.

Traveling with the opera

These days there is one exception to the traveling rule and that is with the Arizona Opera.

Because Arizona Opera presents shows in both Phoenix and Tucson, there are many long evening hours driving back and forth for dress rehearsals. The musicians in the orchestra commute from throughout Arizona – Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff.

Late night trips on Arizona’s I-10 or I-17 interstate freeways are many times necessary.  The musicians in the Arizona Opera Orchestra are people and professionals who work and have families. Most need to work multiple jobs in order to make a living.

Continuing with the AZOOMA article from last Wednesday, “What Are Opera Rehearsals For?” the discussion turns to the dress rehearsal. For myself, the dress rehearsals for the Arizona Opera mean lots of late night driving back and forth from Phoenix to Tucson.

It is a two hour drive but fortunately in our case, our travel expenses are covered. At least for the time being.

• Part II on Opera Rehearsals: On the Road and Into the Pit; Dress Rehearsals

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Picture by SoloStaff.com

For a player new to the world of opera, opera rehearsals can feel a little foreign. The music can go on for long periods – not unlike in Mahler or Bruckner symphonies. Tempos can suddenly shift and change every 2 or 3 measures. You really have to stay on your toes.

The progression of rehearsals is very different too than in symphony orchestras. During the sitzprobe, the singers are much louder than you expect. Earplugs are something to think seriously about, especially when playing in a stage pit.

Over at the AZOOMA site – another site I administrate – I have written a detailed, two-part article on opera rehearsals.

Below is an excerpt:

* * *
Organizing and fine-tuning an opera production is a huge undertaking to say the least. Of course this is something that is not accomplished overnight. The unique combination of drama, theater and music that comprises opera requires a great deal of preparation and planning.

A major element in this preparation is rehearsal time. This is time set aside for practicing, polishing and putting together all the pieces that make up a great night at the opera.

How long does it take?

Stage preparation begins as separate technical rehearsals – for staging and lighting, the chorus, orchestra and the soloists. Because hundreds of people might be involved in a production, schedules are worked out many months in advance. This alone takes a lot of planning and organizing.

For the Arizona Opera Orchestra, the process moves forward through four stages:

• Individual practice
• Reading rehearsals
• Sitzprobe
  
• Dress rehearsals

These stages build upon each other and take place throughout the weeks prior to opening night.

…continue here on the AZOOMA site.

* * *

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The rest of this article is here on the AZOOMA site.

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Siegfried is a conflicted and complicated hero on a tragic path. His story deserves your undivided attention. Get your thinking cap on.

Mighty Valhalla!**

Epic Epic-ness

The Long Call is without a doubt, epic.

It is an epic piece of writing, featuring a solo horn at a pivotal harmonic moment (F major), in an epic opera, within a epic cycle of operas.

We love it. We dream about it. We win and lose jobs with it.

That being said, opinions on the horn call from Siegfried and how it should be played can spark cult-like obsessions and frothing at the mouth. A tendency too perhaps is to blindly philosophize on Siegfried’s horn with a sledgehammer, before thinking in detail about the story and its subtleties.

To begin interpreting your own inner Siegfried it certainly helps to look at it in terms of mythic proportion.

We can start this discussion with two classic archetypes.

Siegfried, the Lion-heart

Siegfried is in his youthful prime and does not know the meaning of fear. He is full of bravado and energy. He and Nothung (his sword) are akin to Thor and his mighty hammer.

Siegfried is a product of a very sheltered upbringing. He is easily exploited and when provoked, can do radical things that upset the universal balance. This balance is what separates the humans from the gods, heaven from earth.

His combined bravado and naivete lead him deeper and deeper into what becomes the inevitable fall of Vahalla itself.

While playing his Call, he roars proudly at the little birdie in the tree – and in the process wakes up a Dragon. He slays it con mucho gusto and tastes its blood to absorb its magical spirit.

Boy meets girl, lion meets lamb

His horn call characteristics:

• aggressive and heroic
• performed like a Shakespearean soliloquy
• slowly paced and deliberate
• played more like Mahler, less like Mozart
• Dionysian

Siegfried, the Lamb

In a sense, Siegfried is a tool.

This is not to say that he is unintelligent or slow, but rather extremely naive and easily influenced. Our hero is the product of a very sheltered (and perhaps twisted) childhood, having had the devious Mime as his father figure. He is a tragic hero with flaws.

His destiny is on a predetermined path. He is the sacrificial lamb – an unwitting tool within the greater power struggle to obtain the all-powerful Ring.

Ultimately, his life is extinguished. His corruption and death become the catalyst for the Nordic apocalypse.

Siegfried is a child of the Forest and in talking to the Bird with his horn, he is being earnest in his attempt to communicate. His first try at bird-talk after all – before the Call — is with an improvised, flute-like instrument made from a stick.

It is his innocence in this case really, that gets him in trouble. He has been tricked and lead to this place to stumble upon the Dragon, to slay it and to obtain the Ring.

Siegfried, in his own mind, slays the Dragon simply because it is a corrupt monster that should be extinguished.

His horn call characteristics:

• earnest and innocent
• performed as an attempt at dialogue
• lightly paced, sometimes even a little impatient
• played more like Mendelssohn, less like Star Wars
• Apollonian

Food for thought

Are you getting serious about Siegfried and his horn? Siegfried is much more than a rebellious teenager, and deep ideas like these are something to devote serious thought to.

Think carefully too about adhering solely to one extreme or the other. Siegfried, much like ourselves, is a character on a continuum shaded with tones of gray.

Related articles/summary so far:

• The Ego-Driven Music Teacher
• Siegfried Poll
• Slaying the Dragon; Before & After the Long Call
• Forging the Sword; Excerpts from Act I

* * ...actually, the Wallaha museum in Regensburg, Germany. Photo credit: istockphoto.com.

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Scene III begins with the hero Siegfried becoming persuaded then determined to reconstruct Nothung, a mythical blade that has been shattered into several pieces. His evil mentor Mime lacks the skill to restore the blade himself. It can only be fixed by someone who knows no fear.

Motivic noodles

Of course, we already know that Siegfried is the prime candidate to fix the sword. Early in this scene there is a long dialogue between the dim-witted Siegfried and the manipulative Mime.

Perhaps suggesting the energetic pace of the dialogue, the harmony gets very active. The horn call motif gets tossed about in a number of keys.

This development continues for several pages.

Later, one encounters (what was for me at least) one of the most confounding passages in the entire Wagner Ring Cycle.

The gauntlet

This excerpt is in E horn, at a tempo of about 110-120 bpm. The orchestral context can further compound the difficulty level.

These passages are a excellent illustration, of why it is important to practice your Siegfried call in a variety of keys and patterns.

Motif soup

As the scene advances towards Siegfried himself forging the magic sword, a number of motifs from previous operas are thrown in and mashed together. A few can be seen here:

Finale

The act ends with an exuberant Siegfried holding the repaired sword high in the air. This is the same sword that will be used to kill the magic dragon in Act II.

The tempo at the prestissimo is in one, at about 100-110 bpm. This too is one of the trickier passages in the entire Ring cycle – it is at the end of a long act, it is loud and it requires some tight fingering control.

Thus ends Act I of Wagner’s opera Siegfried.

This by the way, is all music for the principal horn to digest way before the Long Call which is still two more scenes away!

• Download the entire 8-page excerpt*

Please see our terms and conditions for information on sharing and fair use.

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Of course for starters, there is the famous Long Call in Act II of Siegfried.

In some situations a fresh horn soloist might be engaged to perform the Long Call. In my experience though – - which I imagine is fairly typical – - the circumstances dictated that the principal horn play in the pit, then sneak out to play the Long Call backstage, then sneak back to continue playing the rest of the opera.

The call is famous of course, but what may not be so well known is what occurs before and after. The end of Act II, Scene II has some surprises – especially for the stand-in principal in the pit.

Tweets from the murmuring forest

Starting on page 40 of the Horn I part, a solo horn makes a quick appearance as the Bird of the Forest – perhaps representing Siegfried’s desire to communicate with this timid forest creature.

This is performed in the pit and afterward, the solo horn the leaves the pit for the backstage solo. Meanwhile, the acting principal – - an assistant or associate – - has some solo moments to perform.

First, as Siegfried becomes increasingly impatient with the Bird, his blood gets boiling a little. An impulsive burst of energy – a fanfare – appears very suddenly.

This is something to be aware of. It is in E horn, and it is loud and prominent. It also occurs after a long playing break so some planning might be needed to keep it on ice.

As things calm down, our hero starts to get the silly idea that he can communicate with the Bird using his horn. A nice horn duet occurs at this transitional moment.

The big moment

* [ INSERT YOUR LONG CALL HERE ]

Here then is the big moment – where the Long Call is played. Yes that is right, he is trying to talk to a bird using his horn! If you haven’t figured it out yet, Siegfried isn’t terribly bright. Could it be because his mother and father were brother and sister?

After the call

The young man’s infernal horn blowing angers Fafner, a magic dragon taking a nap nearby whose stirrings are rendered by growling Wagner tuben and low brass.

A short battle ensues and the acting principal in the pit again has some tricky passages to cover. For the horn section too, which has just heard the solo horn play the call, this moment is a bit like releasing a pack of blood-thirsty hounds hungry for fresh meat.

Siegfried then quickly slays the dragon with his magic sword and takes a little taste of its blood. (Who knows why – inbreeding? Yuck!)

About this time the solo horn returns to the principal spot in the pit, where a few exposed solo passages like this are in store.

In a nutshell

After gathering his minimal wits, Siegfried starts to understand that pesky little Bird in the trees. This, due to some mystical, bird-language-understanding properties in the dragon blood – so we presume.

At this point Wagner updates the voice for the Bird, from a solo clarinet to a solo soprano. This is a nice touch that beautifully supports the drama at a key moment.

There is an important dialogue and shortly thereafter, the scene ends.

The lesson

This is a very broad overview of course but the big point here is that, as with all audition excerpts, it is important to always ask this basic, two-part question:

• What happens before?
• And, what happens after?

Any of this is fair game as audition material. It is best to be prepared and find these answers.

The download

• Here is the 4-page excerpt as a PDF. This includes the Long Call itself.*

See also “Forging the Sword; The End of Siegfried Act I”

*Please see our site terms for sharing and copyright information.

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• Hans Pizka
• Annamia Larsson
• Helene Tomböck

Which is your favorite?

Vote on your favorite below in this completely unscientific and anonymous poll. In other words, this is just for giggles.

For RSS readers, this post will only work (I think) directly on the site, so if you would like to vote please click through to the web site.

Annamia Larsson

Hans Pizka

Helene Tomböck (a few days before giving birth)

• The back story

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