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I recently noted a link to a 1998 interview with Philip Myers, Principal Horn of the New York Philharmonic. He is a very notable advocate of the triple horn and explains at length his reasons. This reason for me really sticks out above the rest:
Accuracy. Man, I was so tired of floating through the solo of Tchaikovsky 5th and then a few measures later missing some accompaniment note between third space C and G. Maybe I simply have more of a problem with accuracy than others, but I was tired of not being able to get through a concert clean, usually of some soft attack on an accompaniment note. I remember Clevenger telling me “we’re the first generation that are accurate enough that we’re not sitting on stage worrying about whether we’re going to miss something or not”, But I told him right then, “No, not me, I’m worried plenty.” (I don’t know if he would remember this conversation, it was 1978 and you see, he is that accurate, but I never was.) But now, twenty years later, with the triple, I finally feel like part of the generation that Clevenger was talking about – I don’t worry about missing stuff, I can just think about what I’m trying to do musically. On the double I couldn’t take that approach. So, if for me, that takes the triple I think I’ve got to accept that about myself.
Later in the article he states that it took him two years to get it all together with the triple horn. To really take full advantage of the instrument takes dedication, you have to learn how to use the high F side well (he notes “Do you know how weird it is to think about fingerings for the first time in twenty-five years?”).
This gets at why some players can have a bad first impression of triple horns. They are typically somewhat heavy and can be perceived as less responsive to play if you treat them more or less as a double horn. It is however a different animal with fingerings to come to terms with to make the best use of the instrument.
For more of my own thoughts on the topic check my publication Playing High Horn at Horn Notes Edition.
