- - Please visit: Legacy Horn Experience - -
I believe many Horn Matters readers will recognize the name of Erwin Miersch (1886-1969), as he wrote a set of Melodious Studies for French Horn that are still in print (Carl Fischer) and are fairly widely used with intermediate horn students. Yet, who exactly was Erwin Miersch?
As a performer, he was a member of the Cleveland Orchestra horn section, having also performed in the Detroit Symphony and the Boston Symphony. A resource online includes a very intense list of all the orchestral players that were ever in major orchestras in the USA, part of the stokowski.org website. In his case, the list of Cleveland Orchestra musicians is here, where we learn that he was a member of the orchestra from 1924-1926 and again from 1936-1951, serving as Fourth horn, having also been a member of the Detroit Symphony (1926-1935) and the Boston Symphony (1913-1919).
The other key career detail I can add is he was a Gumpert (“Gumbert”, more here) student at the Leipzig Conservatory – other graduates of that studio who made a mark in the USA and who have names students of the horn would recognize today include Anton Horner and Max Pottag.
For me personally the name of Miersch came up recently because one of my predecessors at ASU, Ralph Lockwood, brought by a copy of a pamphlet by Miersch on Tuning the Reynolds Double French Horn. It must date to the 1950s, and in it Miersch is described as being a “Retired member of the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra.”
As to the pamphlet, after noting, “Achieving good intonation is to a great extent dependent on the lips and embouchure of the performer,” the key point made is that “The open tones on the F and Bb Horn should be tuned first. They should be brought into pitch with each other before undertaking the more difficult step of adjusting the valve slides.”
From there he discusses hand position and the importance of a consistent hand position, and finally there is a tuning chart for the valve slides. “This tuning chart for the Reynolds Double Horn has been thoroughly tested and should be your guide. A slight adjustment of the slides may be necessary to meet your personal needs.”
The chart is interesting, most every slide is a bit different and every slide is pulled out somewhat. As it states, “The following chart has been made with proper hand position and is the result of extensive tests with the stroboscope at concert pitch 440.”
Beyond tuning, I have found it interesting to look at the etudes again thinking of his background and career, and hope that readers might also give them a fresh look.
