In 2016, as part of my original line of epublications, I was able to bring to print a group of 35 forgotten melodic etudes by Meifred and Schantl. Drawn from the method books of two important 19th-century horn teachers, Joseph Meifred (1791-1867) and Josef Schantl (1842-1902), as we start 2020 they are back again in a second edition, hard copy and Kindle, in three versions:
- Standard edition, very comparable to the venerable Pottag/Schantl Preparatory Melodies (for reasons I’ll explain in a moment)
- High horn edition, with the keys raised to target the highest notes of the horn
- Low horn edition, with the keys lowered to target the lowest notes of the horn
The reason the standard version resembles the Pottag book (but with more emphasis on remote keys) is that Pottag selected just 98 melodies from the original Schantl collection of 120 melodies. All the remaining Schantl etudes (omitted by Pottag) are included in my publication, along with a group of etudes of a similar character from the Meifred Method, forming a nice collection.
I also felt in my teaching that there was a need for two more versions of this book, relatively simple etudes but in more extreme ranges. Typically, etudes that really reach these ranges are too difficult for initial study and development of these ranges. The high and low versions raise the difficulty level somewhat, providing materials for effective study in these ranges. The high and low versions have some of the feel of the Hackleman books, but with somewhat shorter/easier etudes.
For a sample page showing the relative ranges of all three version see this PDF page:
As with my other publications, these are available very affordably worldwide, in print versions and as Kindle ePublications. For more information search on Amazon or visit my publication website, hornnotes.com
The video below, from 2016, describes the first edition, with more information on all three versions.
**And yes, I opted to call these etudes for French horn. I want potential buyers worldwide to clearly know what they are! Seriously, some of you out there need to lighten up, “horn” is a very generic term to the general public. French horn, on the other hand, is very clear in meaning to everyone.