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Stuck in Kopprasch? Tired of the same-old-same-old? Looking for a group of short, contemporary etudes and solo horn works?
Just in time to brighten up a long summer of practice is a new publication, 30 Modern Preparatory Etudes and Solos for French Horn. An expansion of a shorter publication I brought out in 2016, you will find these etudes and solos to be incredibly useful in your teaching, study, or personal practice. Affordably priced at $9.99 in print or $4.49 as Kindle, search for these on Amazon or follow the links from http://hornnotes.com/
Here’s the blurb, and I have a bit more to add after it.
These new etudes and solos, composed in a modern style, bridge a gap in the horn etude literature and function as a concise, modern version of the classic Schantl/Pottag book of Preparatory Melodies. The 26 short etudes focus primarily on technical issues, but the goals overall are accuracy and preparing students for performance of more difficult 20th-century etudes and works of a similar character which present a variety of challenges. The book concludes with a set of four new works that review the melodic materials of the etudes, formatted as solo horn works suitable for jury or studio class performance.
The solos are a special feature of this publication. The Cugnot Thirty Etudes for Horn, a 19th century etude publication, divided their etudes into groups and had a “recapitulation” etude that covered those materials as a review. Taking that idea as an inspiration, I used melodic elements from each of the etudes to create “solo horn works” patterned (in form and character) on the most popular of those for horn, to serve as a review of the etudes and to challenge students toward a higher level musical performance. Laudation is based the Krol Laudatio, Fantasia for Horn is based on the Arnold Fantasy, Allegory for Solo Horn is based on the Persichetti Parable, and Intergalactic Corona is based on the Messiaen Appel interstellaire. If the resulting solo works of mine are worthy of recital performance I will let you decide, but I think you will at least find them an interesting feature to explore.
Finally, I return to the topic of Kopprasch. It is an effective study and teaching material, but also overused, and maybe emblematic of lazy teaching if it is the main or only material used. TRY SOME NEW MATERIALS! Especially right now, as so much playing time is being devoted to individual practice, time to play something new. For these new etudes and more check http://hornnotes.com/
UPDATE: Two sample etudes to try from the publication may be found in this article
