APPROVED: William Scharnberg, Co-Major Professor Stacie Mickens, Co-Major Professor Andrew May, Committee Member Kirsten Broberg, Committee Member John Holt, Chair of the Division of

Instrumental Studies Felix Olschofka, Interim Director of Graduate

Studies in the College of Music John Richmond, Dean of the College of Music Victor Prybutok, Dean of the Toulouse

Graduate School

ADDRESSING TECHNICAL AND MUSICAL DEMANDS OF CONTEMPORARY

MUSIC FOR HORN THROUGH NEWLY-COMPOSED ETUDES

Eric Thomas Hessel, B.M., M.M.

Dissertation Prepared for the Degree of

DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS

August 2019

Hessel, Eric Thomas. Addressing Technical and Musical Demands of Contemporary

Music for Horn through Newly-Composed Etudes. Doctor of Musical Arts (Performance),

August 2019, 116 pp., 66 figures, 1 appendix, bibliography, 77 titles.

Contemporary music for horn often requires techniques and musical or notational

considerations that are unconventional with respect to the standard pedagogy of the instrument.

As such, these considerations often represent a level of challenge to which the average—

intermediate to advanced—hornist is unprepared to approach or altogether unfamiliar. The most

prominent of these demands arising in the last few decades of the twentieth century through

today include microtonality (such as extended just intonation and quarter tones), extended

techniques in combination or juxtaposition (such as multiphonics and right hand technique),

rhythmic complexity (including metric modulation, non-dyadic meters, additive rhythms, and

nested tuplets), and unconventional notations (graphic, spatial, and other temporal notations).

This document first surveys the challenges of the repertoire in question, which includes works by

György Ligeti, Thea Musgrave, Milton Babbitt, Brian Ferneyhough, Iannis Xenakis, Heinz

Holliger, and Douglas Hill, among others. After considering the merits and limitations of

existing pedagogical materials that work towards these ends, the document then underlines a

strategic pedagogical goal for understanding and approaching unconventional contemporary

repertoire through newly-composed etudes. This document is written in conjunction with and

justification for the author’s 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, and includes examples

therefrom.

ii

Copyright 2019

by

Eric Thomas Hessel

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My sincerest appreciation goes to my co-major professors: Dr. William Scharnberg, for

his tutelage, and extensive pedagogical and editorial experience; and Dr. Stacie Mickens, for her

new perspectives and valuable insights at a pivotal point in the process. I would also like to thank

my related field professor in composition, Dr. Andrew May, for challenging and developing my

compositional style, and my committee member Dr. Kirsten Broberg for her further insights into

composition and horn. I am also very grateful to my friends and family, especially my wife Mai

Tadokoro Hessel, for encouraging me along every step of the process.

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... iii

LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................................ v

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Significance and State of Research ......................................................................... 2

1.2 Method .................................................................................................................... 5

CHAPTER 2. THE STATE OF REPERTOIRE ............................................................................. 9

2.1 Microtonality........................................................................................................... 9

2.2 Other Extended Techniques .................................................................................. 25

2.3 Rhythm .................................................................................................................. 30

2.4 Notation................................................................................................................. 36

CHAPTER 3. THE PEDAGOGICAL GAP ................................................................................. 39

3.1 Exploring the Natural Horn .................................................................................. 40

3.2 Harmony ............................................................................................................... 46

3.3 Extended Techniques ............................................................................................ 55

3.4 Rhythm .................................................................................................................. 60

3.5 Graphic Notation ................................................................................................... 64

CHAPTER 4. COMPOSITION OF NEW ETUDES ................................................................... 67

4.1 Etudes for the Crooked Horn ................................................................................ 69

4.2 Etudes in Extended Just Intonation ....................................................................... 73

4.3 Etudes in Approximated Quarter Tones ............................................................... 76

4.4 Etudes Combining Extended Techniques ............................................................. 79

4.5 Etudes Exploring Advanced Rhythms .................................................................. 83

4.6 Etudes in Unconventional Notations .................................................................... 88

CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSION...................................................................................................... 95

APPENDIX: SELECTIONS FROM 24 UNCONVENTIAL ETUDES FOR HORN..................... 98

BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................................... 113

v

LIST OF FIGURES

Page

Figure 1.1: Basic overtone series on C2 to the sixteenth partial, with intonation deviation. ......... 7

Figure 1.2: Double horn fingerings related to fundamental harmonic series in concert and written pitch................................................................................................................................................. 7

Figure 2.1: Benjamin Britten, “Prologue” from Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings ............. 11

Figure 2.2: György Ligeti, “Vivacissimo molto ritmico” from Horn Trio, mm. 54-65. .............. 12

Figure 2.3: György Ligeti, “Signal, Tanz, Choral” from Hamburgisches Konzert, mm. 9-15. ... 13

Figure 2.4: Jörg Widmann, Air für Horn Solo, systems 2-3. ........................................................ 14

Figure 2.5: Patrick Kavanaugh, Debussy Variations No. 11, systems 6-8. .................................. 17

Figure 2.6: Thea Musgrave, Horn Concerto, rehearsal 75. ........................................................... 19

Figure 2.7: Thea Musgrave, The Golden Echo (I), system 22. ..................................................... 19

Figure 2.8: Ezra Sims, Tune and Variations, preliminary exercises vi-vii. .................................. 20

Figure 2.9: Douglas Hill, “Lost and Found” from Jazz Set, mm. 16-25. ...................................... 21

Figure 2.10: Robin Hayward, Handwork, mm. 1-4. ..................................................................... 23

Figure 2.11: Andrew Perkins, 19-tone equal tempered fingerings. .............................................. 24

Figure 2.12: Heinz Holliger, Cynddaredd—Brenddwyd, systems 24-27. ..................................... 27

Figure 2.13: George Crumb, trans. Robert Patterson, An Idyll for the Misbegotten, system 4. ... 29

Figure 2.14: Milton Babbitt, Around the Horn, mm. 8-21. .......................................................... 32

Figure 2.15: Brian Ferneyhough, Carceri d’Invenzione I, mm. 84-86. ........................................ 33

Figure 2.16: Iannis Xenakis, Thalleïn , mm. 144-146. ................................................................. 34

Figure 2.17: I. Mitsuoka, Pachyderms, systems 5-6. .................................................................... 37

Figure 2.18: Pachyderms, systems 9-10. ...................................................................................... 38

Figure 3.1: Phillip Farkas, Legato Warm-Up Exercise 1. ............................................................. 41

Figure 3.2: Phillip Farkas, Slur Exercise. ..................................................................................... 41

vi

Figure 3.3: Bruce Atwell, natural horn exercises, Natural Horn/Valved Horn Technical Etudes, mm. 244-270. ................................................................................................................................ 43

Figure 3.4: Bruce Atwell, valved horn exercises, Natural Horn/Valved Horn Technical Etudes, mm. 295-312. ................................................................................................................................ 43

Figure 3.5: Verne Reynolds, No. 11 (Allegro Moderato) from 48 Etudes for French Horn, mm. 1-4. ................................................................................................................................................ 48

Figure 3.6: Douglas Hill, “Quarter Tone Fingering Chart for the Full Double Horn” ................. 50

Figure 3.7: Douglas Hill, “Optional Quarter Tone Fingering Chart” ........................................... 50

Figure 3.8: Timothy Thompson, Etude 5.1, “Quarter-tones employing pitch bend and out of tune overtones combined.” ................................................................................................................... 51

Figure 3.9: Timothy Thompson, Etude 5.2, “Quarter-tones employing retuning.” ...................... 51

Figure 3.10: Ricardo Matosinhos, No. 4 “Quarter Tone Blues” from 12 Jazzy Etudes, mm. 1-7. 52

Figure 3.11: Ricardo Matosinhos, No. 11 “Dance of the Overtones” from 12 Jazzy Etudes, mm. 9-12. .............................................................................................................................................. 53

Figure 3.12: Scott Whitener, Harmonic series on the F horn open and stopped, from A Complete Guide to Brass............................................................................................................................... 56

Figure 3.13: Francis Orval, “The Functions of the Six Standard Hand Positions” ...................... 58

Figure 3.14: Gunther Schuller, No. 12 (Lento) from Studies for Unaccompanied Horn. ............ 59

Figure 3.15: Michael Mikulka, “Producing your first multiphonics” from A Practical Method for Horn Multiphonics. ....................................................................................................................... 60

Figure 3.16: Gunther Schuller, No. 7 (Con moto) from Studies for Unaccompanied Horn. ........ 62

Figure 3.17: Ricardo Matosinhos, No. 2 “Two, Three, Five” from 12 Jazzy Etudes, mm. 1-15.. 62

Figure 3.18: Jacques François Gallay, No. 24 from 40 Préludes, systems 1-2. ........................... 63

Figure 3.19: Verne Reynolds, No. 44 from 48 Etudes for French Horn, systems 1-3. ................ 64

Figure 3.20: Timothy Thompson, Exercise 2.13 “Overtone Glissando” ..................................... 65

Figure 3.21: Edmond Leloir, No. 5 “Grafico” from Dix études, systems 9-12. ........................... 66

Figure 4.1: Eric Hessel, No. 1 (Andante con moto) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 1-4. ........................................................................................................................................ 71

vii

Figure 4.2: Eric Hessel, No. 1 (Andante con moto) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 16-18. .................................................................................................................................... 72

Figure 4.3: Eric Hessel, No.1 (Andante con moto) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 22-25. .................................................................................................................................... 73

Figure 4.4: Eric Hessel, No. 5 (Lento misterioso) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 13-16. ............................................................................................................................................ 74

Figure 4.5: Eric Hessel, No. 5 (Lento misterioso) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 25-36. ............................................................................................................................................ 74

Figure 4.6: Eric Hessel, No. 7 (Vivacissimo molto ritmico) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 1-11. ............................................................................................................................ 75

Figure 4.7: Eric Hessel, No. 7 (Vivacissimo molto ritmico) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 35-48. .......................................................................................................................... 76

Figure 4.8: Eric Hessel, No. 10 (Allegro con brio) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 1-4. ........................................................................................................................................ 78

Figure 4.9: Eric Hessel, No. 10 (Allegro con brio) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 14-19. .................................................................................................................................... 79

Figure 4.10: Eric Hessel, No. 10 (Allegro con brio) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 24-29. .................................................................................................................................... 79

Figure 4.11: Eric Hessel, No. 12 (Humoresque) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 1-5. ................................................................................................................................................ 80

Figure 4.12: Eric Hessel, No. 12 (Humoresque) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 14-18. ............................................................................................................................................ 80

Figure 4.13: Eric Hessel, No. 12 (Humoresque) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 41-54. ............................................................................................................................................ 81

Figure 4.14: Eric Hessel, No. 14a (Nocturne. Adagio) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 1-8. ........................................................................................................................................ 82

Figure 4.15: Eric Hessel, No. 14a (Nocturne. Adagio) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 21-27. .................................................................................................................................... 83

Figure 4.16: Eric Hessel, No. 8 (Freely, floating) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 13-17. ............................................................................................................................................ 84

Figure 4.17: Eric Hessel, No. 12 (Ritmico) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 6-12........................................................................................................................................................ 86

viii

Figure 4.18: Eric Hessel, No. 12 (Ritmico) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 20-23e. ................................................................................................................................................ 86

Figure 4.19: Eric Hessel, No. 12 (Ritmico) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 41-46e. ................................................................................................................................................ 86

Figure 4.20: Eric Hessel, No. 21 (Marcia funebre) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 1-7. ........................................................................................................................................ 87

Figure 4.21: Eric Hessel, No. 21 (Marcia funebre) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 21-31. .................................................................................................................................... 88

Figure 4.22: Eric Hessel, No. 16 (Impetuoso) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, systems 1-2. ................................................................................................................................................ 90

Figure 4.23: Eric Hessel, No. 16 (Impetuoso) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, systems 6-7. ................................................................................................................................................ 91

Figure 4.24: Eric Hessel, No. 16 (Impetuoso) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, systems 10................................................................................................................................................... 91

Figure 4.25: Eric Hessel, No. 24 (Agitato) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, systems 5-7..................................................................................................................................................... 94

1

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Etudes for horn are often used as pedagogical tools to introduce, develop, and hone

different aspects of a student’s fundamental, technical, and musical abilities. Pedagogues have

implemented their own strategies for guiding students through technical and musical

development with etudes or other materials, and an important component for many has been the

etude repertoire from or related to the nineteenth-century tradition of horn playing. As chromatic

and rhythmic demands upon the instrument grew through the twentieth century, major

publications by pedagogues such as Verne Reynolds, Gunther Schuller, and Douglas Hill helped

to fill in a growing gap between the conventional nineteenth-century method and the

performance requirements of contemporary music. However, as trends in modern music continue

to diverge from or transcend these pedagogies, gaps between performing and teaching materials

today continue to expand.

This document provides an examination and pedagogical basis for aspects of horn

repertoire that are neglected or poorly addressed in the current body of literature and etudes, and

is published in conjunction with and justification of the author’s 24 Unconventional Etudes for

Horn, a set of semi-progressive, intermediate to advanced etudes. These aspects include

extensions of natural horn principles, various extended techniques, and unconventional rhythms

and notations. The composition and notation of the etude book are informed by previous

experience in horn and composition, and by related-field studies in composition at UNT.

Together the document and the book of etudes strive to serve as a resource for teachers

and students interested in pursuing intermediate and difficult contemporary repertoire. However,

the goal here is not necessarily to achieve a complete mastery of all extremes of contemporary

2

horn writing, nor is it to endorse or dissuade their composition in the first place. The true goal is

to provide technical and mental tools necessary for approaching any music confidently and open-

mindedly. The information found here should also be considered by other composers interested

in the capabilities of the horn and how hornists achieve them. As will be shown, this research is

only a starting point in addressing the current issues facing hornists in new music. The future

will always lie beyond, manifest in composers and performers willing to reimagine the horn’s

place in the evolving landscape of musical styles and languages.

1.1 Significance and State of Research

A primary element to explore in contemporary repertoire is the use of the natural

acoustical properties of the double horn in modern technique and repertoire. More specifically,

the double horn embodies a set of twelve natural horn crooks through different fingering

combinations and can therefore produce the colors and intonational characteristics of the natural

horn. Realizing this concept in newly-composed etudes corresponds with a growing niche of

repertoire that uses the extended harmonic series of any given fingering for the purposes of

extended just intonation and microtonality. This document will explore several major

representative works, including the Trio and Hamburgisches Konzert by György Ligeti, the

Concerto by Thea Musgrave, and other works that have followed along similar lines.

Along with addressing the changing needs of the repertoire, approaching the horn from

this perspective also drastically improves "conventional" performance on the instrument.

Exploring extended just intonation allows the player to develop a better understanding and

hearing of justly tonal and equal-tempered intonation, as well as an understanding of the specific

tendencies and usages of different partials on different fingerings in all musical contexts.

3

Furthermore, facility on the “crooked" horn1 develops a level of accuracy and audiation (hearing

a pitch before playing it) that aids in the execution of conventional technique. The book of etudes

will begin in this area before proceeding to more advanced areas of intonation.

Some recent dissertations and theses do broach this topic, as well as the etudes in Bruce

Atwell’s book, Natural Horn/Valved Horn Technical Etudes. In his preface, Atwell describes

many of the same positive aspects of natural horn study as it applies to the modern instrument:

improved articulation, improved intonation, improved flexibility, and improved accuracy.2 While

his etudes arguably achieve these goals, they are primarily focused on the limits of tonal

harmony and repertoire from the era of the natural horn in the eighteenth and early nineteenth

centuries. For example, the right hand is only mentioned in reference to historical hand horn

technique; that is, the opening/closing of the bell to temper the “out-of-tune” partials and to fill

in gaps below partials with usable, half- and whole-step neighbors. The next step in applying

these concepts to the works of Ligeti, for example, is through a pedagogy that teaches how to

hear and embrace the extended intonational schema of the horn, and how it can be applied along

with right hand technique to a myriad of different microtonal systems. Some resources do

introduce younger players to microtonality in ways that are certainly useful, but

misrepresentative of the specific intonations that the horn can create.

Other less-addressed aspects include extended techniques, specifically certain techniques

that need to be better integrated into modern contexts or considered in combination with each

other. These included variations of right hand technique (stopping, echo-horn, portamento), half-

1 The word crooked [one syllable] in this document refers to the historical horn, the length of tubing of which was altered by the addition of crooks in different lengths, and not to the more common English word meaning “bent” or “not straight.” 2 Bruce Atwell, Natural Horn/Valved Horn Technical Etudes (Tallahassee: RM Williams, 2001), 3.

4

valve, flutter tongue, and multiphonics. An important introduction and basic instruction to all or

most of the horn’s extended techniques is Douglas Hill’s Extended Techniques for the Horn.

While it is the most comprehensive resource on these techniques to date, this book is not

intended to function as a practical application of different techniques in specific musical

contexts, as an etude book should function. An example of a resource for mastering and

musically contextualizing a specific technique is A Practical Method for Horn Multiphonics by

Michael Mikulka. The work is important to consider in that provides an effective model for how

to develop other techniques musically. While Mikulka delves far more in depth into multiphonics

than this project, many of his ideas could be incorporated further into contemporary rhythmic

and intonational contexts.

Etudes in compound/complex meters are often included in recent literature, and

unmetered notation has played a role since as early as the etudes of Jacques François Gallay in

the mid-nineteenth century. However, other metrical and rhythmic possibilities still warrant

exploration and can be of benefit to study. These include metric modulation, proportional

(spatial) notation, graphic notation, and complex, layered rhythms (after music from the school

of “New Complexity”). These varied rhythms and notations require the musician to think

differently about the temporal and gestural components of music, and are mostly unexplored

territory pedagogically. Although one example from Edmond Leloir’s Dix études provides an

attempt at depicting music graphically, it does so in a conventional context: some phrases require

interpretation of various lines, squiggles, and stems in an allotted amount of time, but otherwise

the music is represented with standard noteheads, articulations, rhythms, and dynamics in an

unmetered context. Many of these ideas can be taken further in understanding the different

intentions of contemporary graphic notation.

5

This selection of topics represents a body of repertoire that an average student is not

prepared to approach. The book of etudes published with this dissertation provides a progressive

approach to introducing and mastering the various aspects of contemporary intonation,

microtonality, extended techniques, and rhythm and meter. More importantly, the etudes strive to

be musically engaging and even concert pieces in and of themselves, as to replicate (at least in

the practice room) the emotional and performative contexts in which these techniques are found

in today’s repertoire. While the existing examples listed above have taken initial steps into each

of these areas, there is still a gap between the requirements of the repertoire and the pedagogy to

lead a student there; often the repertoire represents several steps above what is available

pedagogically to the student.

1.2 Method

The second chapter of this document provides a survey of the unconventional challenges

that have appeared in repertoire over the last several decades. These works are assessed not

necessarily on a basis of any conventional challenges in range, technique, or endurance, but

rather in their inclusion of the unconventional listed above. Often the difficulty associated with

new music includes both the execution of these aspects, and recognizing them or deciphering

their notation as well. Thus the discussion of the repertoire will also consider some of the

similarities and differences used by different composers in depicting the desired techniques.

The third chapter examines the pedagogical materials that are available to hornists as they

begin or continue to tackle these issues. There are several places where almost nothing exists

pedagogically in relation to the examples of the first part. However, other places have seen some

improvement recently, but often with misconceptions, inaccuracies, or to too little effect. This

6

chapter lays out a case for how the 24 Etudes and other future materials can help to solve the

problem of the pedagogical gap.

The fourth chapter of the document introduces the strategic and pedagogical process

involved in the composition of new etudes for the horn, including examples from specific etudes

(also included in the appendix). While it should be assumed that no one resource can fully cover

music of today, the insights and suggestions offered here are intended to lead both teachers and

students through the conceptual stages; and the music is intended to provide for those concepts to

be realized in a satisfying and engaging way.

A number of specific acoustical and technical properties of the horn are important to

consider before delving into how the horn is used. Specific octaves of pitches in this document

are labelled as numbers: Middle C is C4, and all pitches up to the next highest C are also labelled

as 4. The general range of the horn in this system is from a written E2 to C6 (some examples can

call for range beyond this, though). For the most part, these pitches are only given as written

pitches, but it should be understood that the actual sounding pitch of the Horn in F is a perfect

fifth lower.

Microtones are most often derived from the harmonic series acoustically inherent to the

instrument (Figure 1.1). Different overtones in the series are referred to by number as “partials”

on a brass instrument, and can be measured against equal temperament in how many cents they

deviate above or below the “standard” pitch. Microtones as required in contemporary horn

writing most frequently derive from the seventh, eleventh, thirteenth, and fourteenth partials.

The next important piece to consider is the valves. Most contemporary music calls for a

double horn with F and high B-flat sides. Fingerings in this document are frequently referred to

as crooks (if they are used that way), and can be labelled according to the double horn. The

7

primary valves are 1 (a whole step), 2 (a half step), and 3 (one and a half steps). The trigger (T)

switches between the F and B-flat sides, and can either be set up to stand in F and depress to B-

flat or vice versa. This document will use T to denote B-flat fingerings, and no T to denote F

fingerings, though some composers prefer a notation that uses F and B-flat instead of the T.

Because of the differing notations involved in the repertoire, it can be helpful for hornists and

composers to reference a chart as found in Figure 1.2, which relates fingerings to their

fundamental harmonic series in both written and concert pitch.

Figure 1.1: Basic overtone series on C2 to the sixteenth partial, with intonation deviation.3

Figure 1.2: Double horn fingerings related to fundamental harmonic series in concert and written pitch.

Harmonic Series Fingering

Concert Pitch Written Pitch Standard (T=B♭-side) Alternate Notation

B♭ F T0 B♭/0

A E T2 B♭/2

A♭ E♭ T1 B♭/1

G D T12 B♭/12

G♭ D♭ T23 B♭/23

F C 0 F/0

E B 2 F/2

E♭ B♭ 1 F/1

D A 12 F/12

D♭ A♭ 23 F/23

C G 13 F/13

3 Luke Dahn, For M is Musick, February 13, 2010. https://lukedahn.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/basicovertoneseries.jpg. Accessed March 3, 2019.

8

Harmonic Series Fingering

Concert Pitch Written Pitch Standard (T=B♭-side) Alternate Notation

B F♯ 123 F/123

9

CHAPTER 2

THE STATE OF REPERTOIRE

Uses of the horn by composers of the last few decades fall into four specific categories

that are unconventional with respect to standard pedagogy and performance. Foremost is the

exploration of different microtonal possibilities, most often via extensions of the harmonic series

acoustically inherent to the instrument, and/or through physical modifications to the horn. A

second category involves some other common extended techniques, specifically right hand

techniques (stopped, half-stopped, portamento), multiphonics (singing while playing), and the

combinations of various techniques. Rhythmic challenges constitute a third category. These can

require a mathematical understanding of the way rhythm works in standard notation, as in the

execution of nested tuplets, metric modulations, or serialized rhythms. In other cases, challenges

to rhythm can be notated indeterminately or aleatorically, written against a grid that represents

time, or performed or in relation to the passage of time (i.e., how many seconds an event should

last). Some of these rhythmic considerations overlap with a final category of notational

challenges. Because of the limits of standard notation, a composer can also choose to include

graphic elements that require literal or creative interpretation, spatialized and proportional

notations relating distance/height/size/orientation/etc. in the score to certain elements of music,

or even forego a score entirely in favor of a set of written instructions.

2.1 Microtonality

The expansion of music written for horn into different realms of microtonality frequently

stems from a composer’s understanding of the horn’s acoustical properties. Aside from

manipulations of pitch through embouchure, tuning slides, or right hand placement, intonation of

any pitch is determined by which partial it is within the harmonic series of each fingering.

10

Generally the higher in the harmonic series, the more partials exist that are “impure,” or deviate

significantly from equal temperament. Furthermore, the modern double horn embodies a set of

twelve natural horn crooks through different fingering combinations and can therefore produce

the colors and intonational characteristics of the natural horn spanning from a high B-flat crook

(with a fundamental on B-flat 1) to a low B crook (with a theoretical fundamental on B0).

Combining the abundance of “out-of-tune” partials with the full chromatic set of crooks allows

for the middle and upper ranges of the horn to be saturated with microtonal possibilities.

Benjamin Britten was perhaps one of the first twentieth-century composers to realize the

microtonal capabilities of the horn as integral to the sonic experience of a piece. In the

“Prologue” (Figure 2.1) and identical “Epilogue” of the Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings,

Op. 31, Britten requires that the unaccompanied horn perform on natural harmonics (without any

tempering of the pitches by the right hand). What feature strongly in the aural experience are the

naturally “detuned” seventh, eleventh, and thirteenth partials—the written B-flat, F, and A,

respectively. The result is not necessarily a jarring, unapologetic microtonality, but more of a

contemplative recollection of a pastoral horn call—perhaps echoing the past but also transporting

the listener into unexpected territory. Performing these movements does require training in

accuracy, and in being able to audiate1 the microtonal pitches. However, even for a hornist

unfamiliar with microtonality or the extended harmonic series, this can feel comparable to the

Sonata of Ludwig van Beethoven or a similar natural horn excerpt in F without valves.

The most significant and influential repertoire, though, remains to be the two major horn

works of György Ligeti. Mike Searby describes the first of these, the Horn Trio (1982), as

coming from a pivotal point of change in Ligeti’s career. A previous reliance on harmonic triads,

1 i.e., hearing the note in one’s head before playing it.

11

thirds, and sixths, as well as fleeting modal centers is combined in the Trio with the natural

intonation of the horn to propel Ligeti’s music towards a more directed and integrated atonal

aesthetic.2 What is most evident in this piece is Ligeti’s desire to contrast his previous

conception of harmony with a horn that is both from the distant past as well as from some

foreign present. This is achieved in the second, third, and fourth movements by limiting phrases

or parts of phrases to a single “crook” of the natural horn at a time.

Figure 2.1: Benjamin Britten, “Prologue” from Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings3

Because the specific intonations are integral to the soundscape of the piece, Ligeti

originated a method of notating various crooks and intonational deviations: passages belonging

to one harmonic series are written in F, but bracketed with the name of the fundamental of that

series in concert pitch.4 “Out-of-tune” partials are also given accidentals modified with upward

or downward arrows to show the direction of the deviation. Then to further clarify the difficult

thirteenth and fourteenth partials, Ligeti also includes those numbers adjacent to the noteheads.

2 Mike Searby, “Ligeti the Postmodernist?,” Tempo, no. 199 (1997), 12. 3 Benjamin Britten, Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings (London: Boosey & Hawkes, 1944), 2. 4 While the efficacy of this method is evaluated in later chapters, it is pertinent to note that horn players can relate the concert keys to the corresponding fingerings relatively quickly. These concert keys are the same for transposing repertoire from the era of the natural horn in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries (e.g. “Horn in E-flat”).

12

Figure 2.2 contains a difficult passage from the second, scherzo-esque movement. The horn is

required to perform consistently in the middle to upper registers and frequently to make irregular

intervallic leaps between different partials.

Figure 2.2: György Ligeti, “Vivacissimo molto ritmico” from Horn Trio, mm. 54-65.5

Ligeti’s Hamburgisches Konzert from 1999 demonstrates a refined version of what he

explored in the Trio. He uses the same techniques and notations of extended just harmonies, but

combines the microtonal valved solo horn with four obbligati natural horns in different keys

(who do not temper any pitches with the right hand) against a small orchestra. It is evident that

Ligeti seeks to create a completely new sound world and harmonic possibilities, rather than

estrange the aural experience with sounds from the past. The entirety of the Konzert offers an

intriguing performance challenge in the way that the soloist is pitted against the four obbligati:

they dance around each other with imitative acrobatic figures in contrasting transpositions, or

sometimes in parallel progressions of odd intervals. In other instances, the five horns must be

conscious of the composite, microtonal melody and harmony that Ligeti hockets between them.6

Figure 2.3 includes a passage from the second movement, “Signal, Tanz, Choral,” scored only

5 György Ligeti, Trio for Violin, Horn, and Piano. (Mainz: Schott, 1982), 11. 6 For an analysis of the full harmonic and textural implications of these, refer to Charles Corey’s 2011 dissertation covering two seminal microtonal works of Ligeti: Charles Corey, "Pitch and Harmony in György Ligeti's Hamburg Concerto and Syzygy for String Quartet," (PhD diss., University of Pittsburgh, 2011): 12-182.

13

for the five horns. A primary challenge for performance is in maintaining the harmonic integrity

of each line as it passes between players at different transposition levels. The slurred melodic

lines appear in parallel intervals (approximately tritones) while the rhythmic quadruplets are

constantly hocketed between the remaining players. The second half of the movement is a

perplexing microtonal chorale over a cantus firmus, performed by the four obbligati horns. These

horns are required to leap unusual intervals—often greater than an octave—in order to create the

composite effect of the chorale through different voice crossings.

Figure 2.3: György Ligeti, “Signal, Tanz, Choral” from Hamburgisches Konzert, mm. 9-15.7

7 György Ligeti, Hamburgisches Konzert (Mainz: Schott, 2002), 6. Note that this score is in sounding pitch.

14

In relation to the earlier Trio, the system of notation remains the same, except for the

inclusion of different types of arrows (open and black or white closed arrowheads) to denote

different degrees of intonation difference. Open arrowheads denote a lesser degree—the

naturally flat major thirds of the fifth and tenth partials, while closed arrowheads denote a greater

degree—black for the flatter seventh and fourteenth or white for the flattest eleventh.

Most microtonal examples that utilize the harmonic series as the primary intonational

source follow Ligeti’s notational aesthetic. Despite the time and study required for a composer to

incorporate this technique properly and idiomatically, the number of pieces that include it

continue to grow. A notable example is Jörg Widmann’s Air für Horn solo (2005), written for

Bruno Schneider as a commission by the ARD International Competition that year. This eight-

minute unaccompanied piece shares many of the same challenges as appear in Ligeti. Figure 2.4

shows the first occurrence of harmonic series-based microtonality.

Figure 2.4: Jörg Widmann, Air für Horn Solo, systems 2-3.8

While later passages approach the material of the opening with more technical, virtuosic

playing, the focus here is on the intonation of the E-flat crook, which is juxtaposed first gently

against an echoed (half-stopped) figure in assumedly standard intonation, and then more

8 Widmann, 5.

15

jarringly against that of the A crook. Widmann describes the harmonic structure as “a number of

natural harmonic series, partially overlapping each other.” He continues, “through this

microtonal cosmos and the constant fluctuation between open and stopped notes, a natural work

on the themes of proximity and distance is created.”9 The notational features recall those of

Ligeti, with bracketed overtone series and arrows indicating the microtones.10 The technical

challenges are similar as well, as evidenced by sweeping runs through the harmonic series and

microtonal intervals often larger than an octave. Air also includes, at the middle and end, two

multiphonics (which do not appear in Ligeti’s horn works). While these intervals are in both

instances major tenths, they are (regrettably) notated with the voice in concert pitch and

parentheticals showing the horn in concert pitch as well, but never with the vocal part at the same

transposition level as the horn.

Another important work in the same vein as Ligeti is the unaccompanied work

Cynddaredd—Brenddwyd (Fury—Dream) (2001, revised 2004) of Heinz Holliger. As Linda

Dempf and Richard Seraphinoff note, this composition is replete with extended techniques and

special considerations that challenge even virtuosic players in the field.11 In addition to harmonic

9 Jörg Widmann, Air für Horn Solo (Mainz: Schott, 2005): 3. 10 There is a possible error in nomenclature here. Widmann, whose primary instrument is clarinet, describes in the legend that arrowed accidentals are meant to be performed as “ca. a quarter-tone lower; but natural harmonic.” However, these accidentals are used equally for seventh/fourteenth partials (about 30¢ flat) and eleventh partials (about 50¢ flat). It is unclear whether all microtones are natural harmonics that should approximate equal-tempered quarter tones, or if they should remain at their natural intonation and “quarter tone” is merely a general term for notes outside of the twelve-tone equal-tempered scale. In their annotative Guide to the Solo Horn Repertoire, Linda Dempf and Richard Seraphinoff also describe this piece as having uncorrected quarter tone pitches, likely referring to Widmann’s own classification. See Linda Dempf and Richard Seraphinoff, Guide to the Solo Horn Repertoire (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2016): 120. For the purposes of this document approximated equal-tempered quarter tones will be treated as a different microtonal system from the extended just-intonation of the harmonic series. 11 Linda Dempf and Richard Seraphinoff, Guide to the Solo Horn Repertoire (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2016): 66.

16

series microtonality,12 the performer is required to interpret graphic notations, execute

independent multiphonic lines, move the right hand rapidly between different degrees of

stopping, and more. The combination of all of these elements is a consideration of its own that is

discussed in subsequent chapters.

One outlier in recent repertoire that utilizes the harmonic series for microtonality, among

other effects, is Debussy Variations No. 11 (1977) for solo horn by Patrick Kavanaugh. This

piece comes from a set of variations for different solo instruments, each adhering to

Kavanaugh’s particular microtonal system in which, as he describes it, the notation is “designed

to release the organization of sound from the limitations of constantly equal divisions.” This is

for the purpose that “the performer need not be limited by the use of only twelve pitches...but

obtain the possibility of producing any pitch within the range of his instrument, as there are

obviously an infinite number of pitches within any given interval.”13

Throughout the composition, Kavanaugh uses individual fingerings for expansive

sweeps, up and down, through the harmonic series to explore the range and intonation of the

instrument. Instead of Ligeti’s notational system, which came a few years later, Kavanaugh relies

on the standard double horn fingerings, in which the valves are labeled 1, 2, and 3, and a T

denotes the trigger that switches from the F to B-flat instrument.14 Figure 2.5 contains a semi-

scalar passage over a feathered beam full of microtonal elements. Here the general ascending

direction of the passage is somewhat deceptive compared to the resulting intonations of the

12 The notation here is the same as in Ligeti, but the bracketed harmonic series are labelled as “in [key].” The inclusion of “in” can lead to some confusion, as it is usually reserved for actual transposition of the notes. In any case, the composer should be clear and consistent with what the instructions mean. 13 Patrick Kavanaugh, Debussy Variations No. 11 for Solo Horn, (New York: Pembroke, 1977), 1. 14 The trigger is commonly reversed so that the instrument stands in B-flat, but this piece assumes that the instrument stands in F, which was the most common arrangement in American playing at the time.

17

fingerings. For example the first two notes, A on 2 and 12, do create an ascending microtonal

interval, but the third and fourth notes, B on 2 and 12, share practically the same intonation. It is

unclear whether this gesture should sound more as a rising timbral bisbigliando15 or a more fluid

microtonal gesture, in which case a well-versed performer could substitute more effective

fingerings for some of the notes. Also evident in Figure 2.5 are combinatorial challenges with

regard to multiphonics, half-valve, extended techniques, and graphic notation similar to those of

Holliger’s Cynddaredd—Brenddwyd.

Figure 2.5: Patrick Kavanaugh, Debussy Variations No. 11, systems 6-8.16

15 i.e., a trill or tremolo that relies on timbral changes with leeway for intonation difference as well. 16 Kavanaugh, 4.

18

Another way in which composers have exploited the horn’s microtonal abilities is in the

approximation of quarter tones. Around the same time as Ligeti’s Trio, the esteemed hornist and

pedagogue Douglas Hill completed the initial draft of his landmark Extended Techniques for the

Horn (1981, revised 1996). He includes a chapter describing the use of quarter tones derived

from seventh, eleventh, and thirteenth partials.17 As he notes, any resulting scale is imperfect

compared to a truly equal-tempered twenty-four-tone scale due to the actual tendencies of those

partials, but can be achievable through manipulations of the embouchure and/or right hand, so

long as the hornist develops an accurate perception of a quarter tone interval. Another option

towards this end is a hybrid detuning of the two sides of the horn, so that the F-side is a quarter

tone flatter than the B-flat.18 In this chapter, Hill alludes to some composers who by that time

had already asked for quarter tones, “most often in isolated and primarily ‘chromatic’

patterns.”19 Some of these instances he recalls are possibly the works of Thea Musgrave and

Ezra Sims.

Thea Musgrave’s Horn Concerto (1971) predates Ligeti’s and most of Hill’s works. It has

seen continual performances since its premiere, and most prominently by Barry Tuckwell, the

original dedicatee. The piece contains excessive demands, of which quarter tones are one small

aspect. Musgrave’s concept of how microtonality fits into the piece should be understood far

differently than Ligeti’s. Where Ligeti sought to create new possibilities and sound worlds

through the natural properties of the horn, Musgrave chooses to modify the conventional sound

17 Douglas Hill, Extended Techniques for the Horn (Hialeah, FL: Studio 224, 1996): 65-66. 18 This option can result in a greater range of available microtones that are more accurate in many cases. However, the performer should take special care that the timbral difference between adjacent notes, especially in the low range or the B-flat horn and high range of the F horn, can be as negligible as possible. The same can be said for introducing F-horn eleventh partials between standard B-flat fingerings. 19 Hill, Extended Techniques, 65.

19

of the horn with approximate quarter tones heard in scalar “chromaticism.” In three important

and exposed passages at the end of the Concerto, the horn performs descending scalar passages

of quarter tones, each at a faster rate than the previous. Musgrave’s notation is exceptionally

clear, giving suggested fingerings and arrows above the notes showing the direction of detuning.

The first of these passages is shown in Figure 2.6. The effect of the scalar motion is a sort of

culmination and release of the harmonic and chromatic tension up to this point: The horn “fills in

the gaps” and finalizes the saturated landscape of the piece before the imminent end.

Figure 2.6: Thea Musgrave, Horn Concerto, rehearsal 75.20

Figure 2.7: Thea Musgrave, The Golden Echo (I), system 22.21

In subsequent works for horn, Musgrave picks up where she left off in the Concerto. In

1986 she was commissioned by the International Horn Society to compose two companion

20 Thea Musgrave, Horn Concerto (London: Chester, 1974), 73. Note that this score is in sounding pitch. 21 Thea Musgrave, The Golden Echo (I) (London: Novello, 1986), 7. Note that the horn and tape depiction are both notated in F.

20

pieces: The Golden Echo (I) for horn and reel-to-reel tape, and The Golden Echo (II), in which

the tape accompaniment is reimagined for an ensemble of sixteen horns. While not as famous as

the Concerto, both versions have seen a number of performances since the premiere. In the solo

part Musgrave takes the microtonal elements a degree farther, sometimes calling for a number of

alternate fingerings that result in slight intonation differences. However, the primary effect of the

descending quarter-tone scale is essentially replicated from her previous work (see Figure 2.7).

As a pioneer of microtonal music, Ezra Sims likely also had an influence on Douglas

Hill, or possibly a few orchestral or chamber scores that floated by his stand as he began work on

Extended Techniques. One composition by Sims, Tune and Variations (1982) for one or two

horns comes from around the same time as Hill’s treatise. While the horn is often used for its

natural harmonic intonation, a few areas in the middle of the piece begin to combine different

valves for different microtonal intervals and semi-quarter-tonal melodies. Sims’ notation is the

most specific of those covered so far: arrows next to pitches indicate intonational deviation,

while fingerings beneath each note include B-flat or F and the partial on each fingering. What is

most intriguing about Sim’s work is not necessarily the music, but the inclusion of preliminary

exercises after the score intended to give performers a grasp of the required techniques and

intervals (See Figure 2.8).

Figure 2.8: Ezra Sims, Tune and Variations, preliminary exercises vi-vii.22

22 Ezra Sims, Tune and Variations (Lebanon, NH: Frog Peak, 1982), 5.

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Douglas Hill’s own use of microtonality follows closely that of Musgrave and Sims, both

in intent and in notation. The Jazz Set (1984) for solo horn, a prominent work from around this

time, is a demanding unaccompanied composition in terms of extended techniques including

quarter tones. These effects (Hill describes over thirty in the key) blend effortlessly and

seamlessly within a jazz idiom. As Randall Faust puts it in his program note, the techniques “are

collective vehicles for the personal creative expression of the artist. When well performed, these

extended techniques are as natural as the sounds of a parent singing to his child.”23 Like

Musgrave, Hill’s quarter tones are usually incorporated idiomatically with descending scalar

motion; here they function as a way to capture the nuanced intonation of the jazz idiom while

sliding between adjacent chromatic pitches, as can be seen in Figure 2.9. Hill’s later works, and

those of other composers who cite Hill’s Extended Techniques, find new ways to incorporate

these quarter tone ideas and notations into their scores.

Figure 2.9: Douglas Hill, “Lost and Found” from Jazz Set, mm. 16-25.24

In discussing the microtonal challenges facing hornists today, particularly quarter tones, a

special note should be given for horns that have been custom-modified to include additional

23 In Douglas Hill, Jazz Set (Newton Centre, MA: Margun Music, 1989), i. 24 Ibid., 1.

22

valves and triggers that add fractional amounts of tubing to both sides of the horn. These

modifications are expensive and can pose their own design and performance flaws,25 but a

number of hornists (especially in Europe) have pioneered the new instrument. Samuel Stoll, a

Swiss hornist noted for his performances of microtonal music, often demonstrates and discusses

the merits of his and his colleagues’ modified instruments. As he describes, the instrument lacks

the general intonation problems of extended fingerings or hybrid retuning, but instead produces a

consistent timbre with fairly even intervals.26 As a soloist and member of several experimental

ensembles, Stoll is one of the leading commissioners of microtonal music. His ambitious

biography states that “from 2015 till his retirement in 2045 he will commission every year at

least one new horn solo piece. So far he commissioned Evan Johnson, Michael Baldwin, Max

Murray, Ann Cleare, Timothy McCormack, Nicolas Tzortis, Ray Evanoff, Clara Ianotta, Turgut

Ercetin, Cassandra Miller, Aaron Einbond, and Steve Takasugi.”27 Most of these commissions

involve a high level of extended technique, microtonality, and theatricality, which are areas of

expertise for Stoll.

Many of the microtonal demands these commissions and other compositions for modified

horn exceed the limitations of the standard double horn. While theoretically possible, the

awkwardness of rapid passages on Hill’s fingering system render them practically impossible;

and quarter tones below the range of the seventh partial are unplayable without significant

25 As with many triple horn models, extra valves and rotors (often two to properly integrate a quarter-tone slide into both sides of the double horn) add significant weight. This can both add to the resistance of the horn and detract from the overall resonance. Any significant investment by future horn builders in designing efficient microtonal horns is invariably tied to the broader demand for this type of music. 26 Tulkinnanvaraista, “Samuel Stoll talks about the microtonal french horn,” February 11, 2014, YouTube video, 11:06, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqrcoPs2n4A. 27 Jetpack Bellerive, “About: Samuel Stoll,” Accessed February 12, 2019, http://www.jetpack-bellerive.com/samuel-stoll/

23

alterations to tuning slides. Robin Hayward’s composition, Handwork (2009), dedicated to Stoll

(not listed above), is one such piece that is theoretically playable on standard double horn, but

excessively challenging due to the rapidity of the technique (see Figure 2.10).

Figure 2.10: Robin Hayward, Handwork, mm. 1-4.28

Very occasionally the horn is asked, through various combinations of partial intonations

and valve slide adjustments, to perform a microtonal scale outside of extended just intonation or

equal tempered quarter tones. While the upper range of the horn allows theoretically for any

number of contrived systems, it is important to remember that accuracy is an issue that only

increases in the higher register, and that aural conception of the intervals is the most reliable ally

for the hornist. While Stoll claims that sixth or eighth tones are possible on his horn, Hill shies

away from intervals smaller than the quarter under the pretense that the characteristic horn tone

is much too “problematic” to allow for a sustained system of such small intervals.29 Nonetheless,

several pieces do exist in unusual temperaments. One such piece is Continental Drift (1988) by

Mathew Rosenblum, written for horn, percussion, and a pair keyboards played by one

28 Robin Hayward, Handwork for Microtonal Horn (Berlin: self-published, 2009), 1. Hayward’s fingering notation is tailored for a horn that has a secondary quarter tone trigger. The separation of different aspects of horn performance onto independent staves, as is done with pitch and the right hand here, is a demand that will not be addressed in this document or etude book, but could serve as a component of a future project. 29 Hill, Extended Techniques, 65.

24

keyboardist —one standard and the other microtonal. Rosenblum describes the nineteen-tone

tuning system he created:

The seven added notes form natural intervals with each other and also with the twelve “normal” notes. This system provides a wide variety of intervallic and harmonic possibilities in both just and equal tempered tunings. The french Horn [sic] also plays microtones from the nineteen note system. Continental Drift moves through passages which at times use only one of the two tunings and, at times, combines them.30

Figure 2.11 shows hornist Andrew Perkin’s recreation of this tuning system, including suggested

fingerings, partials, and the deviation in cents of the sounding pitches from the ideal nineteen

tones.

Figure 2.11: Andrew Perkins, 19-tone equal tempered fingerings.31

This survey represents only a small portion of the total microtonal repertoire that exists

today. The hornist who approaches any of this repertoire must first recognize and decipher a

wide variety of notations—which may include various conflicting sets of accidentals that are not

represented here. Secondly they must aurally comprehend, audiate, and reproduce different

extended just intervals and quarter tones. Third, they must work through a new technique that

either involves acrobatic leaps on one crook at a time or new fingering patterns that differ

30 Mathew Rosenblum, “Continental Drift (1988),” accessed February 12, 2019. http://www.mathewrosenblum.com/?work=continental-drift-2. 31 Alan Perkins, “Microtonality and the Horn,” The Oil Valley Hornist (Blog), October 22, 2011, accessed September 2, 2017, https://theoilvalleyhornist.wordpress.com/2011/10/22/microtonality-and-the-horn/. (This blog no longer exists, but the information is archived at https://www.scribd.com/document/267012634/Microtonality.)

25

severely from conventional chromaticism. Most composers take care to be as accurate as

possible with notation, especially with the inclusion of fingerings under/overlayed in the score;

however, the performer should develop an individual understanding that works with their

instrument, and scrutinize all aspects judiciously in order to best convey the effect and intent of

the music.

2.2 Other Extended Techniques

Of the wide range of possible effects, most have been comprehensively catalogued by

Douglas Hill, who gives invaluable direction as to how to experiment and achieve

unconventional sounds. Many of these effects, such as stopped and half-stopped notes, rips,

flutter tonguing, valve flutters, air sounds, half-valve, and even multiphonics, have been part of

the general consciousness of the horn community for the last century or more. For example, the

infamous multiphonic cadenza of Carl Maria von Weber’s Concertino dates to 1806, and right

hand technique has been carefully taught and documented since its advent in the early eighteenth

century. Some of the codified extended techniques could also be considered the result of

“improper” conventional technique (air noises, right hand positions, half-valve, removed slides,

or other timbral distortions, for example), which most hornists are already familiar in having had

to correct at some point.

In a sense, these sounds that fall under a category of extended techniques are, unlike

microtonality, facets of playing that do not require a lot of guided instruction but rather an

appropriate amount of individual experimentation and practice. A primary challenge in

performing repertoire with extended techniques is in the cases where the composer only gives a

general idea or description of the desired effect and the performer must conceive of the best

26

means to achieve it.32 However, the more distinctive challenge that can arise in modern

repertoire, as will be addressed in this chapter and in the conjunctive etudes, is in the

combination of different extended techniques, played either in juxtaposition or simultaneously.

Of the techniques that appear in modern repertoire, the addition of the voice to the played

note, otherwise known as multiphonics, is perhaps one of the most difficult to master. The first

step to learning to perform multiphonics is often to master playing and singing in perfect

intervals and other consonant, tonal intervals. Examples can be found in a number of works in

the repertoire which require isolated instances of chordal multiphonics (the chord comprising

two justly tuned pitches and their resultant tones). For an example of this refer back to the

discussion of Widmann’s Air in Chapter 1, which uses major chords—created by a played

fundamental and a sung major tenth—to mark a middle point and a final resolution. A second

multiphonic skill may involve keeping one line stationary while the other moves freely, before

moving on to contrapuntal lines or chordal progressions. In some cases, the vocal line may even

provide the important melodic and rhythmic motives, as is the case for the opening of Krzysztof

Penderecki’s 2013 Capriccio per Radovan.33 These steps are all prerequisite to some pieces

which require combining the technique with other challenges like microtonality or multitasking.

The aforementioned Cynddaredd—Brenddwyd of Heinz Holliger uses the hornist’s voice

independently from the horn, and often as a tool for shifting the timbre. Figure 2.12 shows a busy

segment from near the end of the piece. On the first system shown, Holliger asks for a several

32 One such case is the instruction of an irregular, distorted sound, which possibly appeared first in the horn solo movement “Appel interstellaire” of Olivier Messiaen’s Des Canyons aux étoiles… (1971-74). While Messiaen includes the instruction that the otherworldly effect should be produced by partially depressing valves (and wiggling them), other composers do not necessarily explain what they might intend by a distorted sound. However, distorted timbre is still generally interpreted as a half-valve instruction, depending on the circumstances. 33 See the first four systems of Krzysztof Penderecki, Capriccio per Radovan (Mainz: Schott, 2013), 6.

27

microtones and motives in the style of Ligeti, combined with some right hand portamenti,34

which lead to a microtonal D-sharp 5 on the D crook.35 On the next system, the D-sharp is

immediately matched with an approximated half-valve pitch, which should gradually crossfade

into a sung pitch. Holliger does leave a note that the sung pitch can be replaced with a

diminuendo al niente if the multiphonic is not possible for the performer.

Figure 2.12: Heinz Holliger, Cynddaredd—Brenddwyd, systems 24-27.36

The third system requires a low portamento, which then forms the pedal point for another

instance of multiphonics. Here the multiphonics do not necessarily match timbre, but travel

upwards through odd intervals and create a dissonant tritone and major seventh with the played

note. (The asterisk here gives the alternative for female voices, which replaces the first A3 and

34 These figures are marked as portamenti, but it should be noted that the fully stopped E and the half-stopped D derive from different partials, so there is no even transition between the two without some other manipulation of fingers or the right hand. 35 The accidental here is likely a mistake, as the eleventh-partial D-sharp on the D crook sounds lower than a normal D-sharp, not higher. (The same applies to the D-natural on the D-flat crook.) Earlier in the line the eleventh partial of the D crook is written as a high D-natural, which is an acceptable alternate spelling. 36 Holliger, Heinz. Cynddaredd - Brenddwyd (Fury - Dream) (Mainz: Schott, 2005), 7.

28

B3 with a G-sharp 4 and A4 an octave higher.) The final system of Figure 2.12 shows that the

performer must then return to the low range, but with a very different oral cavity to execute the

“slap” tongues.

Kavanaugh’s Debussy Variations No. 11, contains more examples of multiphonics which

are unconventional and often juxtaposed or paired simultaneously with other extended

techniques. Figure 2.5 also displays two representative cases in addition to its microtonal

challenges. The first system here begins with a hummed B-flat 4 with a given dynamic contour.

With the right hand (out of the bell), the horn should slowly push in the first F-slide that was

previously removed while the left first finger creates a rhythm out of compression pops. The

played notes reenter with a pianississimo trill under the fortissimo humming, and should match

the perfect octave before descending and ascending. As the played notes move up to a C4 the

voice returns in another octave double which is immediately interrupted by the removal of the

horn from the face so that the effect is carried out only between the voice and a free buzz. The

voice descent here is then matched by a transition back to playing in the horn on a unison pitch.

The short instance of multiphonics on the second system again starts as an octave (now below

the played note) against a trill, but can then move through any pitches along the graphic contour.

The multiphonic demands of this piece and Holliger’s are admittedly excessive compared to

similar repertoire, but it is nonetheless important for aspiring hornists to learn how to split

different facets of playing into independent elements. Furthermore, the skills of reading several

layers of information and multitasking are of great benefit to reading and performing in any

context.

Right hand technique is far more common and conventionalized than multiphonics in

recent repertoire. Besides hand stopping—which is often a necessary skill even for high school-

29

level hornists, or half stopping (echo horn)—which became a staple sound of twentieth-century

Paris Conservatory pieces, portamenti have entered standard repertoire as a common, even

overused effect.37 Works like Vincent Persichetti’s Parable VIII for Solo Horn (1973) or Oliver

Knussen’s Horn Concerto (1994) integrate this technique into the motivic fabric of the

composition, but maintain it as an isolated effect.

The portamento can be combined with other ideas. Sometimes the demands of a

transcription call for innovative extended techniques or combinations of techniques. Such is the

case in Robert Patterson’s authorized 1997 adaptation of George Crumb’s An Idyll for the

Misbegotten (1985). The original solo part for flute called for a tremolo effect that mimicked the

cooing of a turtle dove. Patterson creates the equivalent sound on horn by pairing a microtonal

lip trill with a slow closing of the right hand to create the elusive, falling tremolo (Figure 2.13).

Figure 2.13: George Crumb, trans. Robert Patterson, An Idyll for the Misbegotten, system 4.38

This effect is tricky, as the lip trill required is wider than conventional whole or half-step lip

trills, and the closing of the hand slightly alters how those partials function in the instrument and

on the embouchure. Fortunately, the trill pitches notated are adjacent sixth and seventh or fifth

and sixth partials, and can still be produce as lip trills. The musical context also requires that this

effect be produced at dynamic levels softer than piano. Later in the work, Patterson calls for a

37 The term portamento is equivalent to what some might call a “hand glissando” or slide. This refers to neighboring chromatic open and partially stopped notes where the space between can be prolonged by a slow opening/closing of the right hand. These are most often half steps or microtonal, and the distance that a partial can be bent downward is to about a half step above the next lowest partial. 38 George Crumb, trans. Robert Patterson, An Idyll for the Misbegotten (1985) (New York: Edition Peters, 1997), 5.

30

handkerchief inserted in the bell in order to “remove” the effective partials and achieve a smooth

glissando.

Because the number of combinations of different extended techniques is nearly infinite,

each having its own particular problems to sort out, many examples are left out of this section.

Yet the first concern of any hornist in approaching something new should be in figuring out the

context and imagining what the intended sound could be—perhaps it mimics something nature or

man-made or is a completely invented sound. In any case, the extended technique should be

broken down into its component pieces and put back together with special considerations as to

what multitasking needs to occur to achieve the desired outcome.

2.3 Rhythm

The most unusual of unconventional rhythms that recur among twentieth- and twenty-

first-century music lie at opposite ends of a notational spectrum. One end of the spectrum

requires a hyper specific, even mathematical depiction of rhythms built in nested tuplets39 and in

additive strings of mixed durations. Music like this comes from schools of integral serialism and

“New Complexity,” as well as a number of other recent composers. For instance, hornists will

likely find the more extreme examples of rhythmic complexity in chamber and larger ensemble

works by Milton Babbitt, Pierre Boulez, Brian Ferneyhough, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Iannis

Xenakis, to a name a few. Furthermore, the mathematical concepts behind more complex metric

modulations, as occur in Elliott Carter’s output, occur sporadically across numerous genres,

athough they are not frequently found within the horn solo literature.

39 i.e., tuplet subdivisions that are further subdivided into smaller subdivisions – for example a triplet whose first two subdivisions are divided into a secondary triplet.

31

The other end of the notational spectrum requires a removal of the conventional concepts

of rhythm and duration to differing degrees. Unmetered notations are extremely common and in

the general horn practice even date back to the works of Jacques François Gallay in the mid-

eighteenth century.40 Many of the examples already included above are unmetered. However, in

aleatory, indeterminacy, and proportional/spatial notations, hornists are more likely to find

attacks, rhythms, changes in rhythm, and other events that are not tied to noteheads, stems,

beams, and barlines. They are instead mapped against the external passage of time (marked in

seconds), or against the performer’s perception of distances within the score.

The works of Babbitt are strong examples of serialism’s influence on rhythmic

complexity. While the horn is not featured prominently in his oeuvre outside of orchestral works,

Babbitt did contribute one expansive piece for unaccompanied horn: Around the Horn, written

for William Purvis in 1993. This challenging work is representative of Babbitt’s solo

instrumental style and of his broader rhythmic aesthetic. Throughout, uneven rhythms dismantle

the perception of pulse, irregular tuplets are initiated on offbeats or nested, and heavily mixed

meters abound—all of which belie the underlying serial structure that also affects pitch,

dynamics, and timbre.41 As is true with many other works in this style, the most difficult

challenge is in combining the specificity of all of these layers. Because dynamics are intended to

change drastically between successive notes with few demarcations of crescendo or decrescendo,

the most effective performance is one which dramatizes the interplay of different intensities. The

same can be said of large changes in register, often spanning two octaves within one measure,

and rapid changes between open and stopped. These elements must be gradually ingrained

40 These works are discussed in more detail in subsequent chapters, but mostly derive from one collection of etudes: Jacques François Gallay, 40 Préludes pour le Cor: mesurés et non mesurés (Paris: A. Petit, ca. 1830). 41 Articulation is not as specific. For the majority of the ten minutes it is either slurred or unspecified.

32

during practice to create a composite texture of the piece that works within the mathematical

framework of rhythm. Figure 2.14 demonstrates a number of these challenges, yet any line from

the ten continuous pages of music presents its own perplexing problems.

Figure 2.14: Milton Babbitt, Around the Horn, mm. 8-21.42

If charting these examples along that rhythmic spectrum, one might place Babbitt

towards the most specified and complex, with Crumb’s Idyll slightly further. Although in the

latter there is a degree of freedom in many places where the solo line performs over a sustained

bass drum roll or alternates with the three percussion parts, rhythmic challenges still abound.

Nested tuplets are more common, often with inserted grace notes, and many of the motives are

written out in thirty-second- or sixty-fourth-notes. Crumb also tends to integrate more extended

techniques, as noted in the previous chapter.

Likely the most complex end of the spectrum is exemplified by the compositions of Brian

Ferneyhough, of which only some medium- to large-sized ensembles include horn. Figure 2.15

42 Milton Babbitt, Around the Horn (Baltimore: Smith Publications, 1993), 1. Accidentals affect only the note that immediately follows.

33

contains a particularly dense segment of the horn part (with three other winds playing around it)

from Carceri d’Invenzione I (1982). Confronted with the almost incomprehensible rhythmic

subdivisions, especially in relation to the seemingly incongruous parts around it, any musician

likely comes to the question of whether the eventual achievement of a few short seconds of

music is worth the effort and calculation required to decipher and execute. Would this music not

have the same effect if the performers were merely to approximate the rhythmic shapes?43 For all

musicians this “point of no return,” where the product or challenge is subjectively not worth the

effort it requires, lies somewhere on the metaphorical spectrum of complexity.

Figure 2.15: Brian Ferneyhough, Carceri d’Invenzione I, mm. 84-86.44

It is important to mention here that the goal of this document and the author’s etudes are

not to make all of the extremes of contemporary horn writing easy or even conceivable, nor to

condone or condemn their composition in the first place. It is more important to provide the

technical and mental tools necessary for approaching any music confidently and open-mindedly.

43 Many accomplished new music specialists offer such frustrations along with important insights and learning processes for performing Ferneyhough’s music. For more information see flutist Ellen Waterman’s discussion and interpretation of Cassandra’s Dream Song [Ellen Waterman, “Cassandra’s Dream Song: a Literary/Feminist Perspective”, Perspectives of New Music 32, No. 2 (1994): 154-172.] or percussionist Steven Schick’s dissection of Bone Alphabet [Steven Schick, "Developing an Interpretive Context: Learning Brian Ferneyhough's Bone Alphabet," Perspectives of New Music 32, No.1 (1994): 132-153.] 44 Brian Ferneyhough, Carceri d’Invenzione I (New York: Edition Peters, 1983), 20.

34

While it may not be possible to erase the “point of no return” from the performer’s personal

spectrum, pushing it further and realizing new capabilities are certainly worthy pedagogical ends.

Figure 2.16: Iannis Xenakis, Thalleïn , mm. 144-146.45

Rhythm in Iannis Xenakis’s scores is decidedly complex, but differs widely from that of

Babbitt, Crumb, or Ferneyhough. Often Xenakis invents a new method of displaying rhythm

across the page, as is most evident in some of his works for percussion like Psappha (1975),

which forgoes standard notation in favor of a continuous graph with vertical lines representing

beats. Xenakis attempted this on a larger scale through different segments of Thalleïn (1984) for

fourteen instruments (including horn). Figure 2.16 contains one such section. The stems of a

underlying sixteenth-note pulse are extended across the entire score of instruments (as well as in

the individual parts). While some instruments like piano play exclusively on select sixteenths,

45 Iannis Xenakis, Thalleïn (Paris: Editions Salabert, 1988): 19.

35

most instruments including the horn (denoted as “C” here for Cor) play rhythms that fall

between the constant vertical line pulses. The earliest instance of this notation includes the

instruction that the performers should respect the geometric implementation of these notes. This

type of rhythmic consideration is not common, but many composers do follow after Xenakis in

aligning aspects of their scores geometrically.

Fully proportional or spatialized notation, referring to scores in which time is represented

as literal horizontal distance on the score, is rare in horn writing. Different ways of notating the

idea have arisen in a number of genres, usually providing tick marks to represent the passage of

seconds or other regular time intervals. Notes are represented by their attacks and different

beams or lines that determine their duration. The most salient example remains in the first

version of Luciano Berio’s Sequenza I for flute from 1958.46 Although the horn is not confronted

with this type of notation very often (Kavanaugh’s Debussy Variations—Figure 2.5—does

introduce some semi-proportional notations at different times), doing so provides a unique way

of thinking about rhythm as divisions of unfolding time rather than as subdivisions within a set

number of beats.

At the furthest end of the spectrum, with very little rhythmic specificity, are those types

of pieces where the gradual introduction of events is tied to the passage of time. Many of these

are self-evident or well understood by most performers: notes or rests that should last x number

of seconds, aleatory that finishes at minute x:xx, or an even more generalized assignment for how

long a certain line or section should last. These ideas spring from experiments in indeterminacy.

46 In 1992 Berio, unhappy with the wide variety of interpretations, published a second version in conventional rhythmic notation. Flutist Cynthia Folio has contributed several insightful articles analyzing and comparing the two versions. For more information see Cynthia Folio, “Luciano Berio’s Sequenza I for Flute: a Performance Analysis,” The Flutist Quarterly 15, No. 4 (1990): 18-21, and the subsequent “Luciano Berio’s Revision of Sequenza for Flute: A New Look and a New Sound?”, The Flutist Quarterly 21, No. 2 (1995): 43-50. Berio’s concerns over the variety of interpretation are certainly valid, but do not necessarily diminish the viability of proportional notation.

36

Some of the possible challenges include proper pacing of air or dynamics over greater lengths of

time, or in synchronizing a timekeeping device or estimating seconds. After grasping the broader

sense of time, a piece like the half-hour Music for…. (1985) of John Cage, which has a written

horn part, is relatively easy with respect to deciphering the rhythmic component. For the most

part, these considerations are not necessary to include in this project.

2.4 Notation

By this point in the discussion, many of the ways that composers choose to realize music

outside of conventional notation have already been revealed in previous examples: from the

spatial or geometric arrangements that affect primarily rhythm, to graphic depictions of air or

pitch in extended techniques, and even to the pictorial instructions as to how the fingerings or

right hand align with the microtonal intentions of the music. As is often found in indeterminate

music that is intended for any musician (or speaker, actor, etc.), the score merely defines in

words or pictures some sort of artistic goals with or without parameters that can be achieved in a

performance. The possibilities here are essentially infinite and highly piece- or performance-

specific, so there is little reason to included them in an etude book for horn players.

Graphic notation, though, is something that recurs through a high percentage of recent

works for horn. In most cases the inclusion is only for isolated extended techniques, in which the

composer wants to generally define the pitch or dynamic element of a sound that does not fit the

standard expression of those elements. This is the case for distorted sounds in examples from

Messiaen or Holliger, as well as for many of the valve flutters and other indefinite techniques

that Hill includes in his compositions. Kavanaugh’s Debussy Variations remain an interesting

outlier in which a good deal of the played pitch, when not specifically microtonal, is left to the

performer. As he might put it, the usefulness of graphic depictions in music are in unlocking the

37

creativity of the performers and giving them license to produce whatever sounds might best

represent a parallel artistic goal—whether those sounds are conventional or not.

The majority of graphic notations in music written for horn serve a supplemental role to

the conventional notations of pitch, rhythm, dynamics, articulations, etc. Only a small number of

pieces are written completely in graphic notations. A notable example is I. Mitsuoka’s

Pachyderms (1976) for unaccompanied horn (Figures 2.17 and 2.18). It reads as a number of

lines, curves, squiggles, and arcs that represent individual phrases or fragments against a treble

staff. The general contour is given, as well as terminal lines, and the number of seconds of

silence between each phrase. All other elements, including actual pitches, internal rhythms and

articulations, dynamics, or even how long the phrases themselves last, are left up to the

performer. The primary challenges here are in creatively interpreting the intent and contour of

the piece, and in pacing the events both registrally and temporally.

Figure 2.17: I. Mitsuoka, Pachyderms, systems 5-6.47

47 I. Mitsuoka, Pachyderms ([USA]: The Musical Evergreen, 1976), 1.

38

Figure 2.18: Pachyderms, systems 9-10.48

48 I. Mitsuoka, Pachyderms ([USA]: The Musical Evergreen, 1976), 2.

39

CHAPTER 3

THE PEDAGOGICAL GAP

Etudes and other pedagogical tools are often introduced as full courses of study or as

supplemental materials to the study of the horn. For many students they provide an opportunity

to establish technical prowess and performance capability in relation to and beyond the demands

of regular ensemble practice; yet etudes can also provide a fulfilling musical experience without

the added pressure of public performance.1 Pedagogues have implemented their own strategies

for guiding students through technical and musical development with etudes or other materials,

and an important component for many has been the etude repertoire from or related to the

nineteenth-century tradition of horn playing.2

However, as trends in modern music continue to diverge from or transcend these

pedagogies, gaps between performing and teaching materials today continue to expand. Some

resources do begin to broach the topics at hand. Among these are a number of pedagogies that

reinterpret the merits of natural horn techniques as applied to modern performance, and a

reexamination of when and how the harmonic series should be introduced to students. The next

step in this area is in the continued application of the ideas towards both microtonality and right

hand technique. On the topic of extended techniques, since Douglas Hill’s book was published

1 As is true enough for piano solo or violin solo literature, etudes can be viable concert pieces. It is reasonable to consider that horn etudes can work in public performance as well. Verne Reynolds, for example does offer the hope that his etudes “contain sufficient intrinsic musical merit to warrant their inclusion in the solo horn literature,” giving some specific examples [Verne Reynolds, 48 Etudes for French Horn (New York: G. Schirmer, 1961), 1]. Some of Reynolds’ etudes have in fact made their way onto recital programs as unaccompanied works. 2 This document qualifies the use of some of these examples as they pertain to the contemporary technique, but it does not seek to survey or explain different teachers’ use of the body of etude repertoire. For a more detailed analysis of specific materials among American teachers (especially nineteenth- and early twentieth-century etudes), see William Robinson’s landmark 1974 survey of methods, etudes, and solos as reproduced in David Hedgecoth’s Thesis: David Hedgecoth, "Life and Career of William Calvin Robinson,” (Master’s thesis, Florida State University, 2003), 80-86. Most of the books contained therein remain valuable and widely-used tools.

40

only multiphonics have seen any significant developments. Rhythm seems to be addressed only

up to the point of mixed meters and single layer tuplets, but notational considerations like

proportion, geometry, or graphics are rarely included—if at all. A set of resources that do

occasionally share a similar goal with this project (reinforcing the idea of a pedagogical gap) is

the ongoing etude compositions of Ricardo Matosinhos, which will be discussed below. The

following chapters explore the current state of pedagogy, including research, methods and

etudes, and posit how new etudes can build upon it to help bridge the gap.

3.1 Exploring the Natural Horn

The area of natural horn technique has been well addressed in recent years, but only in

relationship to standard repertoire. The interest in the topic comes partially as a rebuttal to the

dominant teachings of Philip Farkas, regarded as a father figure among twentieth-century horn

pedagogues. Farkas’ method was and is a powerful tool, but pedagogues today still debate over

many of his ideas. One idea is the treatment of “impure” partials, or in other words, those

seventh, eleventh, thirteenth, and fourteenth partials which lie 30-50 cents from the nearest

equal-tempered neighbor.3 Farkas’ treatise from 1956 The Art of French Horn Playing, gives

almost no reference to or usage for these partials. The section titled “Fingering and Tuning”

leaves out any discussion of tuning tendencies that result from the harmonic series, yet the chart

he provides inexplicably gives parenthetical alternate fingerings for notes above G4 that would

result in seventh, eleventh, and fourteenth partials without any consideration of the actual

intonation of those fingerings.4 Furthermore, Farkas offers a number of exercises for warm-ups

3 This stigma of “impure” partials in relation to the “pure” partials (whose tuning inconsistencies are null or correctable) is seen throughout other treatises since the beginning of valve horn technique in the nineteenth century. For example, see Kurt Janetzky and Bernhard Brüchle, The Horn, (London: Bratsford, 1988), 82-87. 4 Phillip Farkas, The Art of French Horn Playing (Los Angeles: Summy-Birchard, 1999), 15.

41

and other purposes that rely on the harmonic series (see Figure 3.1). These altogether avoid

partials outside a simple major arpeggio, excluding even the stable and in-tune ninth and

fifteenth partials. If working through Farkas’ pedagogy alone, the only point at which a hornist

might be aware of the extended harmonic series is in his procedure for achieving larger, slurred

intervals (Figure 3.2). Here he teaches that those intervals (only octaves are demonstrated) can be

properly slurred first by inserting the intervening harmonics, then quickening the glissando, and

finally removing the extraneous notes. This method is effective, but treats the intervening

harmonics as a part of the broader gesture of airflow and lip motion. No explicit consideration is

given for gaining control off each partial individually.

Figure 3.1: Phillip Farkas, Legato Warm-Up Exercise 1.5

Figure 3.2: Phillip Farkas, Slur Exercise.6

What is lacking in Farkas’ treatment of the harmonic series is any acknowledgment of the

accuracy problems that often begin above the sixth partial on a given fingering. After this point,

5 Phillip Farkas, The Art of French Horn Playing, 33. 6 Ibid., 47.

42

the partials become continuously closer, from the wide whole step between seven and eight, to

the half step between fifteen and sixteen (and smaller up to the extent of the player’s range).

Farkas focuses on teaching accuracy through a repetitive reinforcement of air, embouchure, and

audiation, but only in application to the singular, desired partial. Such reinforcement underpins a

sort of “survivor bias” conception of finding the right pitch, 7 rather than a more holistic

approach that incorporates a mastery of the incorrect partials that lie in close proximity to the

intended partial.

One of the first sources that really challenges this conception of the harmonic series is

Bruce Atwell’s 2001 Natural Horn/Valved Horn Technical Etudes, which seek to reapply

concepts of natural horn playing to the modern valve horn. In the preface, Atwell notes the

possible benefits of incorporating natural horn performance that go beyond the pedagogy of his

predecessors. Among these, he finds tendencies for improved articulation, improved intonation,

improved flexibility, and improved accuracy.8 Atwell’s process is certainly effective, albeit

limited to conventional tonality—most of the repertoire-inspired examples found later in the

book address solo and orchestral literature from the nineteenth-century. The layout of the first

section of exercises alternates between natural horn and valved horn, working through similar

ranges and patterns to reinforce specific partials and the different contours of the harmonic

series. Figures 3.3 and 3.4 contain two such adjacent passages for natural horn and valved horn

respectively. These gradually work upward through the higher partials of the standard range.

Atwell does not indicate to what extent the natural horn partials should be adjusted by the right

7 Or in other words, reinforcing only the iterations of practice that were successful without considering any possible alternatives of negative reinforcement: gaining a mastery of the partials around the intended one so as to know physically what not to do. See Farkas’ chapter on accuracy: Ibid., 67-69. 8 Bruce Atwell, Natural Horn/Valved Horn Technical Etudes (Tallahassee: RM Williams, 2001), 3.

43

hand to correct pitch, instead referring the hornist to a number of nineteenth-century tutors and

advocating for careful individual experimentation. However, he does indicate sometimes to leave

the written F as an untempered eleventh partial.

Figure 3.3: Bruce Atwell, natural horn exercises, Natural Horn/Valved Horn Technical Etudes, mm. 244-270.9

Figure 3.4: Bruce Atwell, valved horn exercises, Natural Horn/Valved Horn Technical Etudes, mm. 295-312.10

Heidi Wick approaches these topics more comprehensively in her dissertation of the same

year titled, “Applying Natural Horn Technique to Modern Valved Horn Practice.” She identifies

9 Bruce Atwell, Natural Horn/Valved Horn Technical Etudes, 10. 10 Ibid., 11. Though an excellent resource, the current edition of this book does suffer from a number of formatting and engraving errors, such as the slurs seen here or the lack of direction as to where one exercise ends and another begins.

44

many of the same possible benefits of natural horn study as Atwell, with two notable additions: a

more focused air stream that must fluidly change between different levels of resistance (whether

by different valve combinations or different degrees of right hand closure); and a better

understanding of the different vowel shapes of the oral cavity as they relate to different registers

and resistances.11 These considerations lead to the important challenge of timbre that occurs

throughout natural-horn derived technique in modern repertoire—more specifically matching

sound production across the gradual shift from the “stuffy” but dark timbres of the long B and C

crooks to clear but “nasally” timbre of the short A and B-flat crooks. Wick’s research culminates

in an extensive survey of major horn players and teachers with questions regarding the extents of

natural horn ideas applied to their personal playing and teaching. The results are understandably

mixed across a diverse range of hornists, but overwhelmingly support her previous assertions and

even lead to further conclusions. Many teachers confirm that an additional positive outcome is in

the better understanding and usage of the right hand in controlling the intonation and timbre of

the instrument across registers.12

Wick demonstrates all of these positive possibilities with references to specific examples

from the repertoire, focusing first on areas where natural horn considerations can benefit

performance of music originally written for natural horn (Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms13).

More pertinent to this discussion, however, are her descriptions of music written for valved horn

using ideas inherited from the earlier instrument. Regarding music that requires microtonal

facility through the natural harmonic series, Wick only provides cursory descriptions of Britten’s

11 Julia Wick, "Applying natural horn technique to modern valved horn performance practice" (PhD diss., The Ohio State University, 2001), 20-21. 12 Ibid., 50. 13 Brahms’ music, despite having been written well after adoption of the valved horn, was composed for (theoretically) natural horns, but is rarely played that way outside of occasional performances of the Horn Trio.

45

Serenade, and the two works of Ligeti mentioned in above. None of the challenges of audiation,

difficult intervallic leaps, and changes between different lengths of crook are addressed as they

relate to this body of repertoire. Passages from Ligeti’s Trio are also mislabeled as “natural

harmonic glissandi” when they are in fact measured, rhythmic ascents.14 However, Wick’s

subsequent discussion of right hand techniques, including portamento, timbral changes, and

ornamentation, are highly informative and valuable for a hornist evaluating the difficulties of

modern repertoire. Techniques like a right hand “timbral” trill from Kevin Purcell’s Symphony

No. 2 are explained in detail. Other examples from solo and orchestral literature by John

Corigliano, Lukas Foss, and Wolfgang Plagge can serve as interesting models for both hornists

and composers.15

These pedagogical developments can be further enhanced by more comprehensive

explorations of the different intonations and timbres that are prevalent today. It is important to

realize that natural harmonic partials can be approached as centered, audible intervals; mastery of

those intervals can then have a profound impact on flexibility and accuracy, and make more

accessible extended just intonation, quarter tones, and other microtones. In addition, it is

important to note that beyond these resources, substantial work has been done in the beginning

these concepts for younger players. In recent dissertations, both Patrick Richards and Andrew

Phillips conceive of beginning to intermediate methods that incorporate the harmonic series as

means to build students’ embouchures and ranges gradually with a general understanding of the

acoustic principles of the instrument.16 If this current project is ever to gain a foothold beyond

14 Wick, 30-33. The terminology could be disputed here, but most hornists will take the term glissando as an arrhythmic gesture swooping up or down from a beginning pitch to an ending pitch through the harmonics, much like a rip. Douglas Hill’s catalogue of glissandi corroborates this definition [Hill, Extended Techniques, 43-50]. 15 Ibid., 33-46. 16 See Patrick Richards, “A Pedagogical Guide and Argument for Using the Harmonic Series in Teaching Beginning and Intermediate Level Horn Students” (DMA diss., University of Southern Mississippi: 2012) and Andrew Phillips,

46

the subset of hornists already interested in new music, it is important to have a base of future

students already familiar with some of its ideas.

3.2 Harmony

In general, the state of pedagogical material is always catching up to the music that has

been written. This is very much true of the twentieth century, when trends in harmony and

rhythm began to vastly diverge from convention. By the 1950s there was a need to improve

instruction in the growing area of atonality and other modern harmonic systems. Lorenzo

Sansone, an influential hornist and pedagogue, in his note in the preface of Joseph’s Schmoll’s

Fourteen Modern Studies in the Twentieth Century Style, published in 1958, seemed to think that

the book would become a standard course of study.17 These etudes were quickly outdated and all

but forgotten. Although some of the chromatic and serial studies in Schmoll’s book could still be

of use to modern students, others that explore specific modes or are tied to theoretical concepts

(e.g., Scriabin’s “Mystic” Chord) are not as useful among the broader repertoire of the era. The

“Aeolian” mode, for example, seems to be Schmoll’s term for diatonic scales that do not

necessarily follow tonal functions. The technical patterns involved also closely follow the

conventional etudes of Georg Kopprasch, Henri Kling, and Jean-Marie Maxime-Alphonse.

Many etudes written by members of the mid-century French schools begin to push the

limits of chromaticism and tonality for etude literature, but still often tether to tonal centers.

These include the books (most still in use today) of Marcel Bitsch, Charles Chaynes, Pierre Max

Dubois, Lucien Thévet, and Alain Weber. The most adventurous etudes in this body, though,

“Progressive Harmonic Series Exercises in High Range Expansion for Beginning Horn Players” (DMA diss., University of North Carolina Greensboro: 2016). 17 In Joseph Schmoll, Fourteen Modern Studies (New York: Sansone Musical Instruments, 1958), i.

47

were the Vingt Études Atonales (1968) of Julien Falk. These, as the title suggests, are overtly

atonal, but in a style that resembles the neoclassical works of much earlier in the century.

Similarly, the 6 Studi Seriali (1965) by Italian composer Pietro Righini are based on the

principles of serialism, but more representative of the Second Viennese School of the 1920s than

the concurrent integral serialism of Babbitt or Boulez—which is generally more challenging

rhythmically, timbrally, dynamically, and articulatively, as described in Chapter 2.

The most influential etudes of the twentieth century are, arguably, those of American

hornist and composer Verne Reynolds. His 48 Etudes for French Horn (1961) were intended to

transcend the earlier works of Kopprasch and Gallay in a contemporary style.18 The first half of

the book focuses on intervals that gradually expand from the minor second through the octave,

removed from any tonal connotations. The intention here is to build up the aural and technical

skill required to approach music devoid of conventional tonality. These etudes remain in the

modern repertoire because of the high level of challenge and reward they offer, and are still

applicable to most atonal or post-tonal music written today. Also underscoring a number of these

etudes is the foreboding feeling of unachievability that ever draws the venturing musician

forward. Figure 3.5 displays the opening of one of Reynolds’ etudes on the tritone. This is

exemplary of the average challenge of the book; some of the more extreme examples are

practically unplayable at the marked tempos. The 48 Etudes (and indeed all of Reynolds’

compositions) do not venture into microtonality, rhythmic considerations beyond mixed meter or

senza misura, or extended techniques besides stopped horn. However, his sense of clear

pedagogy that balances challenge and reward with a vision for future virtuosity should not be

overlooked by a subsequent generation of pedagogues.

18 Verne Reynolds, 1.

48

Figure 3.5: Verne Reynolds, No. 11 (Allegro Moderato) from 48 Etudes for French Horn, mm. 1-4.19

Many more recent etudes that purport to address contemporary technique more or less

match the harmonic language of Reynolds’ book. Paul Basler’s recent contribution, for example,

strives to be a parallel set of forty-eight that accomplish very much the same goals. John Ericson

leaves a favorable review of Basler’s Etudes for Horn, but mentions that the target audience is

likely those who are looking for Verne Reynolds, but in a shorter and easier format.20 Similar

parallels could be drawn in a number of the other recent etude books as catalogued by Joseph

Johnson in his 2011 dissertation. Etudes by Yehezkel Braun, Randall Faust, Martin Hackleman,

and David Uber each have some unique challenges, but do not address the expanding microtonal

possibilities of the repertoire.21

Academic examination of the microtonal spectrum seems to have begun with David

Whaley’s 1975 dissertation, “The Microtonal Capability of the Horn.” This document does not

contain any practical applications or exercises to help achieve such capabilities, but instead

functions as a scientific study over the effective execution measured in cent deviations of

different microtonal options (out-of-tune partials, embouchure adjustment, or right hand

manipulation) by different players on different horns. Whaley’s research justifies the possibilities

19 Verne Reynolds, 14. 20 John Ericson, “Review: Etudes for Horn by Paul Basler” Hornmatters. http://hornmatters.com/2011/04/review-etudes-for-horn-by-paul-basler/ (Accessed February 22, 2019). 21 Joseph Johnson, "Etude Books for Horn Published from 1985 to 2011: An Annotated Guide" (PhD diss., West Virginia University: 2012), 13-64.

49

of microtonal playing and provides valuable data on intonational tendencies for several horn

models,22 concluding that with the application of any or all of those options, practically any pitch

across the spectrum of the horn’s range is possible.23 However, no major conclusions are given

as to what should be done with the information in practice. Whaley also only gives passing

reference to some of the repertoire that uses microtones, including Britten’s Serenade, Barney

Child’s Variations for David Racusen, and Christian Wolff’s Duet II, but does not mention the

more extensive use in Musgrave’s Concerto premiered the previous year.24 Whether this

document had any significant influence on either repertoire or teaching after its publication is not

certain, though it is noted in a preface to Matosinhos’ 12 Jazzy Etudes.

Douglas Hill’s Extended Techniques, described in Chapter 1, remains the most

informative resource for hornists taking the next step towards microtonality, but overlooks two

key components for a complete understanding of the issues at hand. Hill really only specifies

quarter tones as a microtonal possibility. Despite mentioning that it is easiest to derive them from

out-of-tune partials, he does not mention natural just intonations that are separate from quarter

tones.

The other component is the specific intonation of different valve combinations. It is well

understood that the valves themselves are built in specific ratios to the length of the F or B-flat

instruments, but do not constitute enough tubing to create the same ratio when another valve is

already depressed. Thus the longest valve combinations (13 and 123) are too short and sharp. A

22 It should be stated that by now these figures are outdated. Whaley measures intonation on a Miraphone, a Reynolds, two Alexanders, two Conn 8D’s, and two Holtons. With the exception of Alexander and to a small extent Conn, these brands are no longer used by a majority of professionals. See David Whaley, “The Microtonal Capability of the Horn” (DMA diss., University of Illinois; 1975), 10. 23 Whaley, 112. 24 Ibid., 3.

50

proper aural conception combined with embouchure or right hand adjustment might allow for

usable seventh or eleventh partials on those fingerings, but in his fingering chart (Figure 3.6)

Figure 3.6: Douglas Hill, “Quarter Tone Fingering Chart for the Full Double Horn”25

Figure 3.7: Douglas Hill, “Optional Quarter Tone Fingering Chart”26

Hill overestimates the effectiveness of the lowest quarter tones. Already by the lowest F-quarter-

flat, the sharpness of the 13 fingering negates the flatness of the partial; and the E-quarter-flat

marked parenthetically as 123 in reality is even sharper than a regularly fingered E-natural. If

25 Hill, Extended Techniques, 67. 26 Ibid., 68.

51

examining Hill’s optional hybrid fingering chart (Figure 3.7), where the F instrument is detuned

a quarter tone, one will notice that issues with these fingering only become worse when trying to

extend the scale into the lower range.

Figure 3.8: Timothy Thompson, Etude 5.1, “Quarter-tones employing pitch bend and out of tune overtones combined.”27

Figure 3.9: Timothy Thompson, Etude 5.2, “Quarter-tones employing retuning.”28

There exists only a small sample of etude repertoire or practical exercises to help a

student in conceptual or technical progression through microtones, most of which either conflate

quarter tones and natural harmonics or do not adequately explain the relationship between the

27 Timothy Thompson, “Extended Techniques for the Horn – An Historical Overview with Practical Performance Applications” (DMA diss., University of Wisconsin-Madison: 1997), 129. 28 Ibid., 130.

52

two for horn. Some are found in Timothy Thompson’s 1997 dissertation, “Extended Techniques

for the Horn—An Historical Overview with Practical Performance Applications.” Thompson, a

student of Douglas Hill at the time, takes a number of the examples from Extended Techniques,

and creates a set of exercises and etudes to introduce an intermediate level student to each

concept. These are excellent learning tools; the only drawback is that they focus on the limited

quarter tone concepts of Hill. The two etudes (Figures 3.8 and 3.9) are somewhat short and

lacking in musical content; they instead focus on the difference between out-of-tune partials and

hybrid retuning. These etudes also seem to remain solely in the academic sphere as part of his

dissertation, not otherwise available in a separate resource.

Figure 3.10: Ricardo Matosinhos, No. 4 “Quarter Tone Blues” from 12 Jazzy Etudes, mm. 1-7.29

Since Thompson’s work, a few other contributions to the microtonal etude repertoire

have been made.30 Two isolated examples come from Ricardo Matosinhos’ 12 Jazzy Etudes for

Horn (2010), which appear to be part of a larger etude project making contemporary elements

and modern techniques more accessible for hornists. The scope of this project aligns with the

29 Matosinhos, Ricardo, 12 Jazzy Etudes for Horn (Luxembourg: Phoenix Music Publications, 2010), 12. 30 Some standalone compositions in this category are titled as etudes but exist more for concert performance than for pedagogical purposes. These include Joseph Pehrson’s Harmonic Etude (1986), Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Concert Etude (2005), and Jeff Morris’ Etude No. 3 (2012).

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pedagogical gap that this document and the author’s etudes also seek to fill. Two etudes in this

publication seek to address quarter tones (Figure 3.10) and natural harmonics (Figure 3.11),

citing Douglas Hill and György Ligeti as inspirations, respectively.

Figure 3.11: Ricardo Matosinhos, No. 11 “Dance of the Overtones” from 12 Jazzy Etudes, mm. 9-12.31

While certainly more musically fulfilling and challenging than Thompson’s etudes, these

etudes are limited in other ways. First, they are completely isolated—with no description of the

connection or difference between out-of-tune partials and strict quarter tones, and only minimal

instruction in the preface. As is the case with many of the etudes across three publications, the

hornist is thrown into this particular technique with no pedagogical progression or aural concept.

The second limitation is Matosinhos’ reliance on jazz style. Combined with whimsical titles, it

may make the ideas more palatable for uninitiated performers, but limit a more integrated

understanding of those ideas as broader compositional techniques. The quarter tones of No. 4

“Quarter Tone Blues,” for example, are limited to the function of “blue notes” and never

sustained or explored outside of that context. No. 11 “Dance of the Overtones” falls closer to the

requirements of Ligeti, but also treats the microtonal partials primarily as passing or neighboring

notes on different crooks.32

31 Matosinhos, Ricardo, 22. 32 Note that Matosinhos also uses the bracketed notation labelled as “in [key],” which requires him to define in advance that these are not transpositions, but fingered crooks.

54

Finally, the Quarter Tone Manual (2010) by Daniel Grabois should likely be a staple for

the intermediate hornist working on new music. These etudes offer a progressive course through

the principles of quarter tone playing, while also addressing the variances in notation. The only

real drawback is Grabois’ conflation of quarter tones and extended just intonations, even in

discussing the music of Ligeti. He states that composers may “ask you to float around on one

fingering, like you are playing the natural horn, occasionally touching the quarter tone pitches as

you go.”33 Hornists can get a sense of the alterations that are needed as the instruction progresses

from out-of-tune partials sounding “in the ‘crack’ between two more familiar pitches” in Etude

No. 3, to manipulating a “true quarter tone” by embouchure or the right hand in Etude No. 5.34

However, no description of the natural partial intonation is ever given. Grabois also mentions

Ligeti’s style of notation but avoids using the sounding harmonic series names in favor of

fingerings in F/B-flat. This is certainly more intuitive for the hornist, as is his recommendation to

use only the flat versions of the accidentals in the lower range, where microtones can only be

lowered from conventional pitches via the right hand.

An ideal resource for addressing the needs of the repertoire should take the hornist first

through systematic applications of natural horn and just intonation before moving on to its more

complicated application in quarter tones (or other systems). So far none of the resources

available to the hornist do this to the fullest extent, with Grabois’ book coming closest. The other

major issue that is alluded to in the works of Grabois, Hill, and Thompson (but not Matosinhos)

comprises the aural and kinesthetic components of learning to hear before execution. This should

33 Daniel Grabois, Quarter Tone Manual for French Horn (Lutherville, MD: Brass Arts Limited, 2010), ii. 34 Ibid., 8-10

55

be in some way integrated into the pedagogy behind the composition. On an instrument already

rife with accuracy problems, the “ear” and “feel” can be the most accountable allies.

3.3 Extended Techniques

Of the modern considerations undertaken in this project, certain extended techniques are

perhaps the best understood and utilized in etudes and other pedagogical materials. Some of the

sources mentioned previously—Hill’s Extended Techniques, Thompson’s dissertation, and the

ongoing etudes of Matosinhos—provide options for compositional, notational, and practical

study. However, as described below, different degrees of hand-stopping and multiphonics can

still use further exploration in contemporary contexts, especially if combined with other

microtonal, rhythmic, or technical aspects.

Hand-stopping is well integrated into the modern practice of the instruments since its

original use on the natural horn, but remains misunderstood in several ways. A debate over

whether fully stopping raises or lowers the pitch has lasted for much of the technique’s history,

and an incorrect position was asserted by Farkas and others who followed him. Farkas states that,

The mistaken belief that the pitch goes down a half-step results from almost, but not quite, stopping the horn completely. As the hand gradually closes the bell of the horn, the pitch goes flatter and flatter, until it is almost a half-step flat. It is at this point that the inexpert player quits. No wonder he believes that stopping the horn lowers the pitch! If he would go a little farther and jam the hand quite tightly into the bell, he would prevent the bell from vibrating beyond the point of contact, effectively shortening the tubing…by approximately a half-step.35

On the surface, this argument is correct. Fully stopping on one harmonic series results in a

harmonic series that sounds and feels a half-step higher. Yet several sources have accurately

refuted these claims since then.

35 Farkas, 80. Emphasis in the original.

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As hornist Frank Lloyd explains and demonstrates in an educational video series, the

more important element to consider is that the gradual flattening as the hand closes on the F horn

lowers the pitch to about a half step above the next lowest pitch consistently throughout the

range. No amount of additional hand contortion will change the pitch. The upward leap that

Farkas describes results from when a buzzing frequency that is kept constant eventually matches

more closely the frequency of the next highest partial, which has also been lowered to about a

half step above the original open pitch. The B-flat horn is the shorter instrument and not as

acoustically matched to the bell shape, and thus hand stopping only lowers partials as far as

three-quarters above the next lowest partial.36 This is consistent with experimentation, especially

in the high range, where the sixteenth partial is already a half-step above its lower neighbor, so

gradually closing the bell does not change the pitch at all. The harmonic series issue is more

complex, but by lowering each partial by the lower interval minus one half step, the hand

essentially creates a new harmonic series that externally sounds a half step higher but internally

vibrates at a partial lower (Figure 3.12).

Figure 3.12: Scott Whitener, Harmonic series on the F horn open and stopped, from A Complete Guide to Brass.37

This distinction does bear implications for repertoire, concert or pedagogical, that

incorporates this technique. Because of the decreasing space between partials in the upper

36 Frank Lloyd Horn, “Setting the Record Straight on Stopped Notes. – Tutorial Nr.3 Frank Lloyd ‘No Limits’,” YouTube video, 24:02. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azHNkMBk4bc. 37 Scott Whitener, A Complete Guide to Brass, 2nd ed. (Belmont, CA: Thomson Learning, 1997), 56. This chart shows partials 4-10 on the F horn; when stopped, the pitches are lowered enough to align with partials 3-9 of the G-flat horn. Whitener’s hand stopping section (p. 55-57) also includes a complete refutation of the half-step shortening argument.

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register, technical considerations do change somewhat: portamenti and half stopping become

increasingly less plausible, and fully stopping may become more viable on standard fingerings.

Another impossibility that is easy to overlook from the compositional standpoint is an upward

portamento, which can only be achieved by moving from more stopped to less stopped. While

there are effective uses of these—as in the “Elegy” of Britten’s Serenade or in the “Elegy” of

Reynolds’ Hornvibes (1986)—it is easy to do incorrectly. (For example, refer to the Figure 2.12,

and the adjoining discussion of Holliger’s Cynddaredd—Brenddwyd.)

Right hand technique is well covered in pedagogical repertoire. Fully-stopped playing

shows up in the later books of Jean-Marie Maxime-Alphonse (1922), trickier passages with

quick hand movement in Hermann Neuling’s low-horn etudes (1952), as well as in Verne

Reynolds’ book. The second volume of Domenico Ceccarossi’s Invito al Corno (1984), is an

extensive set of exercises and etudes covering the differences between fully stopped (suoni

chiuso), half-stopped (suoni d’eco), and what he terms “mixed” (suoni misti). This last category

comprises various leaps and intervals where the notes are in different degrees of stopped or open,

but it is not clear (especially in upward motion or larger intervals) when or how quickly the right

hand should open. Francis Orval takes these ideas a step further in his contemporary etudes for

natural horn technique. He identifies up to six different hand positions that can be used to inflect

pitch across different registers. Orval’s book does push this technique somewhat into

contemporary language, and his catalogue of hand positions and notation (Figure 3.13) can be

useful for modern repertoire as well.

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Figure 3.13: Francis Orval, “The Functions of the Six Standard Hand Positions” 38

Gunther Schuller includes one etude in his Studies for Unaccompanied Horn (1962) that

pushes all of these techniques into a contemporary musical idiom. Harmonically similar to

Reynolds’ etudes, Schuller’s compositional style is often more exploratory in terms of rhythm

and timbre. In No. 12 (Figure 3.14), the main goal of the hornist should be in keeping an even

intonation across the different right hand instructions. The upward portamento plays heavily

throughout, but a specific challenge comes in mm. 15-17, where he combines stopping with

flutter tonguing at two consecutive dynamic levels. This specific combination has actually been

well used by teachers for resistance training since this etude, but no other etudes really go further

in combining extended techniques—none especially to the extent of the aforementioned Idyll of

38 Francis Orval, Method for natural Horn, (Switzerland: Editions Marc Reift, 199?), 10. Hand positions are listed by symbol on each staff from hand out of the bell through the greatest coverage. The F harmonic series is listed from partials 1 to 16 on the third staff with arrows leading to corrected pitches via different hand positions.

59

George Crumb.

Figure 3.14: Gunther Schuller, No. 12 (Lento) from Studies for Unaccompanied Horn.39

The other extended technique identified in this project is multiphonics, which has seen

developments in pedagogy in recent years. Douglas Hill describes and catalogues different

possibilities, 40 and Matosinhos does include multiphonics in his etudes books. Matosinhos

incorporates these more successfully than he does microtonality in that he presents them in

varying contexts: in isolated chords, parallel intervals, matching pitches, one voice moving

against a drone, and in different rhythms or counterpoint. The only drawback here is again that

there is very little preparation in how to achieve multiphonics (as in how to properly separate the

vocal chords and the lips within the same aural cavity and airstream).

The more effective resource for hornists unfamiliar with or untested in multiphonics is

the comprehensive Practical Method for Horn Multiphonics (2018) by Michael Mikulka. This

book takes the student progressively starting form hearing/singing before combining with

39 Gunther Schuller, Studies for Unaccompanied Horn (Oxford University Press, 1962), 17. 40 Multiphonics are unfortunately not included in Thompson’s work.

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playing (Figure 3.15), to balancing the two competing vibrations. From there the exercises and

etudes progress through the same possibilities identified by Matosinhos from easiest to hardest.

Mikulka also includes other considerations like controlled beats between singing and

playing in near unison, and more specificity for composers interested in writing an of the

options. In regards to the harmonic and technical language of this book, it is evident that

multiphonic pedagogy can still be taken further to address the needs of the repertoire. However,

Mikulka’s method should be an initial starting point for the subject, and an excellent example of

how to explore one extended technique pedagogically. As the book is better incorporated into

contemporary teaching, the efficacy of Mikulka’s method can be better ascertained.

Figure 3.15: Michael Mikulka, “Producing your first multiphonics” from A Practical Method for Horn Multiphonics.41

3.4 Rhythm

Pedagogy in rhythm has not moved far beyond the etude books of the 1950s and 1960s:

41 Michael Mikulka, A Practical Method for Horn Multiphonics (Austin: self-published, 2018), 6.

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those of the French schools along with Verne Reynolds and Gunther Schuller. The trickiest

rhythms in these books, though still difficult to master, comprise mixed meters at the eighth- and

sixteenth-note level, and some other asymmetrical or additive meters. Tuplets are explored to the

extent of five, six, or seven (or more) subdivisions—sometimes alternating per beat, included in

mixed meters, or subdivided in interesting ways.42 Works by Ricardo Matosinhos and Daniel

Grabois represent the furthest extensions of these concepts. Grabois’ Twenty Difficult Etudes for

the Horn’s Middle Register (2009) is one of the best resources for thinking of rhythm in odd

subdivisions or additive values, while also removing the additional stress of high register playing

(which can be excessive in Reynolds’ etudes). Not represented in this literature are more

complex rhythmic ideas like serialization, metric modulation, non-dyadic time signatures,43 or

nested tuplets.

A few specific etudes point towards the possibility of more advanced metric modulations.

No. 7 (Con moto) from Schuller’s Studies for Unaccompanied Horn is constructed in a binary

form with a short coda, all three parts of which contain the same music written in three different

meters: 6/8, 6/16, and a fast 3/4. Once the hornist realizes that they are in fact the same music (a

jaunty setting in twelve-tone serialism), the remaining rhythmic challenges are merely in feeling

different subdivisions of two, three, and four within the compound meters. Figure 3.16 contains

the beginning and the two transitions of this etude. While written as metric modulations, the only

effective difference is in how the performer reads the music.

42 Interesting subdivisions might include, for example, a dotted-eighth paired with an eighth in a quintuplet, or rests interspersed among the subdivisions. 43 While not prevalent in repertoire, non-dyadic time signatures do appear in some chamber works. These time signatures are based on denominators that divide a whole note into fractions that are not powers of two. The most common examples would be “sixth-” or “twelfth-notes,” which correlate to quarter-note triplet values and eighth-note triplet values, respectively.

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Figure 3.16: Gunther Schuller, No. 7 (Con moto) from Studies for Unaccompanied Horn.44

Figure 3.17: Ricardo Matosinhos, No. 2 “Two, Three, Five” from 12 Jazzy Etudes, mm. 1-15.45

A more complicated example of an etude that develops skill related to metric modulation

is Matosinhos’ second etude, “Two, Three, Five” from 12 Jazzy Etudes (Figure 3.17). As in the

previous example, this etude is notated as a form of metric modulation, but the musical result

could be better expressed through a different notation. Throughout the two-page work,

Matosinhos takes two unequal meters, 3/8 and 5/16, in juxtaposition, yet the metric changes

indicate that the tempo of the measure should always equal the measure. This should not be

thought of as a modulation. In deciphering this rhythmic study, the performer should think of

44 Schuller, Studies, 10-11. 45 Matosinhos, 12 Jazzy Etudes, 8.

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each measure as a dotted quarter beat that is alternately divided into eighth-notes, quintuplets,

and duplets. This restructuring also resolves the lack of clarity in the 5/8 bars, which maintain the

eighth-note pulse of the 3/8 bars. Matosinhos also instructs that the sixteenths of the 3/8 and 5/8

bars should be swung, but not for the 5/16. A re-notation would also resolve confusion here.

On the other end of the rhythmic spectrum described in Chapter 2—where rhythm is

more freely interpreted in relation to time, aleatory, etc.—only the area of senza misura has been

substantiated in the etude repertoire. This idea originates in the Préludes non mesurés (ca. 1830)

of nineteenth-century hornist and teacher Jacques François Gallay (see Figure 3.18). Gallay’s

works are operatic and challenging, and remain excellent teaching examples for developing

phrasing, musicality, and gesture without the strict implementation of rhythm. These ideas hold

true for many works, especially unaccompanied, in the horn repertoire today. The only difference

between Gallay’s etudes and etudes of today are in harmonic language and the inclusion of up to

thirty-second-notes and less predictable rhythmic groupings.46 Removing the harmonic features,

one of Reynolds’ unmeasured etudes (Figure 3.19), might look nearly identical to those of his

predecessor.

Figure 3.18: Jacques François Gallay, No. 24 from 40 Préludes, systems 1-2.47

46 This is not to leave out the fact that Gallay’s Preludes were originally composed for natural horn, though they are most commonly practiced on the valved instrument today. 47 Jacques François Gallay, 40 Préludes pour le Cor: mesurés et non mesurés (Paris: A. Petit, ca. 1830), 20.

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Figure 3.19: Verne Reynolds, No. 44 from 48 Etudes for French Horn, systems 1-3.48

There are currently no etudes that explore aleatory, spatial notation, or other broad

methods of rethinking rhythm. Some examples do include approximate durations of particular

notes in seconds, as occurs in Leloir’s Grafico etude discussed below, but not in ways that

challenge or enhance the hornist’s perception of rhythm. The extent of unconventional rhythmic

features in pedagogical material currently stops at the level of mixed meter and senza misura that

was already well known by the first half of the twentieth century, and does not delve into the

complexities of more recent compositions.

3.5 Graphic Notation

The varieties of graphic notation found in new music are also poorly addressed in the

pedagogical literature. This is likely because the number of valid realizations of sound into visual

representation and vice versa is essentially infinite. It takes courage on the part of the pedagogue

and the student hornist to comprehend that the lesson within graphic depictions is not necessarily

technical or musical, but purely creative. The teacher/composer must allow that there cannot be a

48 Reynolds, 49. Reynolds identifies this etude as one that should be considered a viable concert piece.

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singular valid performance for most graphics, while keeping strict through instruction/notation

what interpretations could almost certainly constitute an invalid performance.

Douglas Hill’s book contains a number of well-defined graphic elements used in relation

to certain glissandi and valve-flutters. Usually he includes a note that the composer should

specify exactly what is intended. For this reason—since Hill has a particular sound that he relates

to particular graphics and describes technically, this is not the intended use of notation for this

document. Thompson moves closer to pure graphic notation in his exercises on glissandi. The

similar exercises (see Figure 3.20) on harmonic and valve-flutter glissandi are creative and

reminiscent of Mitsuoka’s Pachyderms. However, different interpretations of these lines will still

sound very similar: The harmonic content will change slightly depending on the chosen valves,

and the durations may not align exactly, but the general gestures will be evaluable.

Figure 3.20: Timothy Thompson, Exercise 2.13 “Overtone Glissando”49

The only example of an etude that includes graphic notation for creative merit comes

from Edmond Leloir’s Dix études (1981). This book is an eclectic collection of etudes that cover

such wide-ranging topics as twelve-tone serialism, “hexaphonique” [whole-tone] and “Egyptian”

scales, blues, and in one instance graphic notation. Most of the elements involved in No. 5

“Grafico” (Figure 3.21) are conventional: definite pitches and rhythms with occasional durations

49 Thompson, 49. The instructions read, “using overtone glissandos on various changing valve combinations, follow the general contour of the line in an improvisatory fashion.”

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given in seconds. Other elements are still written in definite pitch (minus one squiggle), but

require more creative interpretation to perform. These elements include groups of notes whose

stems meet at a single point and segments of apparent polyphony traced with straight lines

between noteheads. At any given time, the graphic notation determines only one dimension of

the music, and Leloir does not experiment with indefinite pitch. An etude like this could

certainly be an effective starting point for considering graphic notations, but more should be

done with leaving multiple musical elements up to the artistic intelligence of the performer.

Leloir’s composition does pose some questions to be solved by the hornist, but not necessarily in

a way that makes them fully question what techniques they have or nearly have that can fulfill

the ink on the page. One of the major strengths of this type of notation should be in the stretching

of the imagination and the connection to visual art forms.

Figure 3.21: Edmond Leloir, No. 5 “Grafico” from Dix études, systems 9-12.50

50 Edmond, Leloir, Dix études (Paris: Billaudot, 1981), 7.

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CHAPTER 4

COMPOSITION OF NEW ETUDES

In the section titled “Afterthoughts: A Call to Action,” of Collected Thoughts on

Teaching and Learning, Creativity and Horn Performance (2001), Douglas Hill offers a stream

of insightful (and sometimes whimsical or fanciful) sentiments, including the following:

It would also be helpful to have more progressive studies for younger students of modern musical and technical problems, such as multi-meters, unexpected intervals, unique notation, and some of the more basic techniques like flutter-tongue, half-valve, stopped horn, echo horn, vocalizations, various glissandi, and quarter tones. These ear-stretching, mind-expanding musical challenges should be confronted long before a player has arrived in college, or before they have developed a too-conservative, close-minded opinion about such important musical gestures and techniques.1

He continues by pointing out the lack of new music for horn when compared to other brass

instruments, mainly due to the tonal preferences of renowned performers and the reputed

inaccuracy problems of the instrument in general. However, he also notices an ongoing shift in

repertoire towards fresh ideas and innovation:

During the past couple of decades, however, this trend seems to have shifted a little, thanks to new commissions, contests, and recorded performances by a few of the talented and visible performers. Every performer should continue this trend by encouraging composers to write and by being willing to perform such works. Better yet, we horn players should write for the horn. Composers might notice and take the hint and learn about what our capabilities and preferences are. Our instrument’s future may defend upon it.2

The future is perhaps not as dire as Hill casts it, but these brief summaries of new music

and pedagogy reflect the conclusions of the first two parts of this document. They also remain

1 Douglas Hill, Collected Thoughts on Teaching and Learning, Creativity, and Horn Performances (Miami: Warner Bros., 2001), 192. 2 Ibid.

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mostly true today, even while hornists like Daniel Grabois, Ricardo Matosinhos, and Michael

Mikulka have started taking up Hill’s call to action in different ways.3

In some ways the 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn composed for this project are also

a response to Hill’s call to action. However, the premises upon which he argues for more studies

are not fully representative of the learning processes that should be undertaken. Some

considerations like flutter tonguing and hand stopping can be seamlessly integrated into the

instruction of pre-college hornists—and even to the benefit of the horn player in that they require

focused air, proper shaping of the oral cavity, correct tongue placement, and a right hand that is

actively part of the instrument. Other considerations like microtonality and vocalizations require

an already consistent and steady control of tone and air, as well as a detailed comprehension of

the acoustical properties of the instrument. These are by no means beyond the capabilities of a

pre-college student, but likely proceed during a more dedicated pursuit of the horn.

The more troubling premise behind Hill’s musings is the understated assumption that new

music, or the interest in it, is inherently and necessarily different from what has come before it—

the “too conservative, close-minded” preference for nineteenth-century tonality. Essentially he

argues that new music requires a separate course of study that needs to be ingrained early, or else

it may never be discovered later. It is easy to echo this assumption anecdotally of certain students

and other teachers, but steadfast belief that new and old are rivals needlessly segregates them and

belies the creative potential of the student. Advancement of any of these techniques should

reflect the fact that all new challenges and developments are irrevocably tied to the challenges of

yesterday that have been mastered. Microtonality on horn, for example, can stem from an

3 Thompson’s dissertation also covers several of the elements that Hill mentions, but is perhaps targeted for an older student than Hill imagines here. In any case it is uncertain why Thompson’s etudes are not noted at all in Collected Thoughts, despite Hill having led Thompson’s advisory committee only four years prior to the book’s publication.

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understanding of the harmonic series that also gave birth to tonality. Fine-tuning the ear in one

intonational context gradually strengthens the perception of another. New rhythms strengthen the

apprehension of time. New notations have meaning not because they rebuke convention, but

because they help to reveal that the aural experience is merely represented by—but not contained

in—the written score. Music through history has been full of “un-conventions” that have

challenged the contemporary musicians and stretched their abilities, but always to the broader

advancement of performance itself. Music today is no exception.

What follows below is the compositional process which seeks to address unconventional

needs described in Part I while understanding the gaps in pedagogy found in Part II. The

examples are the author’s original compositions to be published as 24 Unconventional Etudes for

Horn together with this document. Furthermore, the format of this etude book parallels the

dissection of contemporary challenges, from an exploration of harmony beginning with crooked

horn facility, through just microtones and approximated quarter tones, to extended techniques in

varied combinations, to advanced rhythms and new notations—often finding ways to combine

these categories to reflect the possibilities of new music. The etudes are arranged semi-

progressively through each area, and are intended for intermediate to advanced hornists—even

verging on virtuosic. The full etudes from which examples are taken are included in the appendix

to this document.

4.1 Etudes for the Crooked Horn

Proficiency on the crooked horn is the intermediary step between the natural horn that

characterizes the recent music of Ligeti and others and its original ancestor for which classical

technique was first developed. The first four etudes are crook studies intended to familiarize the

hornist with the harmonic content of each fingering. Along the way, many of the benefits noted

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by Atwell and Wick of natural horn study in modern contexts should become evident: increased

flexibility and accuracy related to using the air and embouchure without the aid of valve changes,

improved audiation, and a better understanding and control of the timbral component related to

the different lengths and resistances of each fingering. It should be noted, though, that practice in

this way may be more taxing initially due to a higher reliance on the embouchure for accuracy.

These first etudes are also set in a more tonal language that emphasizes patterns within the more

in-tune partials, but with occasional seventh partials used in the tonal context.4 Progressive

etudes require larger and larger intervals on each fingering through No. 4 (Giocoso), which

serves more as a low horn study that mimics some of the requirements of traditional second-horn

literature.5

These four etudes also start along the notational lines of Grabois, so that the more

intuitive fingers are used when first exploring the crooked horn, but also familiarize the student

with other notations. No. 3 (Allegretto) uses actual transposition between various crooks (“in A-

flat alto,” “in E-flat,” etc.), to first introduce the association between fingers and the harmonic

series.6 No. 4 then removes the transposition and leaves the harmonic series name (bracketed C,

G, etc.). It is important not to shy away from the notation that is commonly used today, whether

it immediately transfers to the fingers or not. One suggestion for learning these etudes is first to

4 Although they will sound strange to an ear trained in equal temperament, the natural seventh partial more or less provides the “correct” intonation for a just dominant seventh, and can help to elucidate harmony in that context as well. Though not advisable in most large ensemble settings, hornists playing inner-harmonies might even experiment with seventh partials where appropriate to create a justly dominant coloration. 5 In Classical and early Romantic literature, the second horn often fulfills harmonic roles that require leaps of an octave plus a fourth/fifth. For example, a secondary key area on the dominant shifts the lowest root and fifth to a third partial (written G3) and a ninth partial (D5), since D4 is not available without significant hand alteration. 6 By now transposition rarely appears in new composition; even the use of horn in E to simplify accidentals is no longer deemed necessary. One quirky and challenging resource that does apply rapid transpositions in a somewhat modern context is Charles Conord’s Quarante-cinq etudes de déchiffrage et transposition. (Paris: Henry Lemoine, France, 1958.) Most other resources in transposition are intended for use with Classical and Romantic literature.

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practice them on conventional fingerings, then buzz them on the mouthpiece or sing them, before

playing as written.

No. 1 (Andante con moto) demonstrates these ideas in an intermediate-level context,

focusing on two key concepts: matching pitch and timbre between different fingerings

(especially across repetitions of the same pitch as different partials) and the audiation of certain

tonal melodic figures as they develop and move through different key areas. Both of these

concepts occur in the first four measures (Figure 4.1). The first measure begins on the open F

horn in the middle register, which allows the hornist to start with their most fundamental,

genuine tone. For most hornists, the second measure on the A-flat crook (T1) will tend to sound

contrastingly bright, and the G will sound as a slightly flat 5th partial, requiring a reflexive

adjustment towards the intonation and tone of the previous measure. While these pitches are not

usually played on the B-flat side, developing an “ambidexterity” between the F and B-flat sides

in this range is also an essential skill for facilitating passages which may be too quick for rapid

alternations of the thumb valve.

Figure 4.1: Eric Hessel, No. 1 (Andante con moto) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 1-4.

This concept of matching timbre and pitch is even more important in mm. 16-17 and 19-

20 (Figure 4.2). In these measures the E-flat and D-flat, respectively, are repeated on three

consecutively shorter lengths of tubing represented by different fingerings, requiring the hornist

to maintain the darker timbre of the first iteration. However, the intonation of these two passages

should be adjusted to the last iteration, which is the standard, most “in-tune” fingering. A student

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working on this etude may work on these two passages forward and backward to match both tone

and intonation.

Figure 4.2: Eric Hessel, No. 1 (Andante con moto) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 16-18.

The other important concept of No. 1 is the melodic figure introduced in m. 3. Starting on

the open partials of the first measure, the figure sweeps upward to the ninth partial and resolves

to the eighth. Developing flexibility and confidence between the eighth and ninth partials is an

essential step for the student hornist. Often “wrong partial” entrances in horn playing occur in

this register, where adjacent partials span only a whole step or less. Hearing and executing the

proper “buzz” frequency without the aid of typical fingerings is an effective strategy for working

through issues in this register. The melodic figure sometimes remains constant across different

crooks, as in measures 5, 10, 18, 38, and 41, but is also developed to move through higher and

lower registers and connect another problematic partial: the seventh. This partial is naturally very

flat and also dangerously close to the eighth. The seventh partial is used tonally in the sequence

in mm. 22-25 (Figure 4.3), the first three measures of which end with the seventh partial of the

respective crook modulating downwards to a subdominant (F to B-flat to E-flat to A-flat). The

final important aspect is the return of the opening material in the coda at m. 36, which is now to

be performed stopped and is labelled with fingerings a half step lower to accommodate.7 The

student might practice these measures alternately with the opening in order to match intonation

7 Recalling that the B-flat side of the horn (used twice in the coda) only stops to three-quarters of step above the written pitch, the hornist should again defer to their ear to help keep a consistent intonation here. The same can be said for the use of the sharp 123 fingering.

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between the open and stopped notes. The optional stopped low C is impractical, but should be

attempted in order to hint at similarly-ranged stopped examples in Ligeti, Tchaikovsky, and

Rachmaninoff.

Figure 4.3: Eric Hessel, No.1 (Andante con moto) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 22-25.

4.2 Etudes in Extended Just Intonation

After becoming comfortable with the feeling of the seventh partial in a tonal context, the

first category of microtonality becomes immediately more approachable. The more “out-of-tune”

eleventh and thirteenth partials merely extend the same context, even though they have no

correlating tonal functions. As with all new concepts, it is essential to practice listening skills to

help determine what these partials should even sound like. While countless sources for hearing

the harmonic series can now be found online, the horn itself can serve as a good listening tool as

well—provided that the hornist attempt these partials with a focused, centered sound. Some of

Atwell’s etudes or Grabois’ preliminary exercises or even the Prologue/Epilogue of Britten’s

Serenade are excellent for exploring these new intonations. The hornist should also practice

buzzing or singing these exercises to engrain a sonic image of these microtones.

Etudes 5 through 7 begin to explore the musical incorporation of these partials while

remaining on the crooked horn of the previous studies. No. 5 (Lento misterioso) is not as difficult

as No. 4, but moderately increases the difficulty from No. 1. Besides the overt use of microtones,

denoted by the altered accidentals as in Ligeti’s Trio, the student may begin to notice some of the

more minute differences between more in-tune partials—such as the C written as an eighth

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partial on 0 in mm. 1-2 suddenly restated as a slightly flat tenth partial on 23 in m. 3. The

passage in mm. 15-16 (Figure 4.4) begins to suggest the microtonal scales that are possible using

the seventh and eleventh partials in the upper-middle range. In order to master this passage, the

student should practice the falling scale in the upper notes of the triplets separately from the

rising lower-notes before putting them together.

Figure 4.4: Eric Hessel, No. 5 (Lento misterioso) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 13-16.

The greatest challenge of No. 5 occurs in mm. 29-32 (Figure 4.5): the hornist must

execute a falling microtonal sequence while maintaining the eighth-note subdivision across a

meter change and preparing for a crescendo to subito piano. One deceptive aspect of this section

is that the similar intervallic motive that persists in these measures occurs each time as different

microtones of the respective crooks: The appoggiaturas move successively downwards from a

fourteenth partial to a tenth while the meter shift also takes place. The last four notes should feel

mostly resolved in comparison. Neither of these F’s is usually played on T23, and both will sit

slightly low as major thirds, yet they will feel more stable than the microtones. It is best to relax

the embouchure slightly and let the pitch sag into a just third.

Figure 4.5: Eric Hessel, No. 5 (Lento misterioso) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 25-36.

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Etude No. 7 (Vivacissimo molto ritmico) takes the concepts of the previous two and

applies them unapologetically to the demands of Ligeti. Most everything about this etude,

including the tempo, dynamics, articulations, and melodic and rhythmic figures, is lifted directly

from the second movement of the Trio.8 Although the most difficult in the book up to this point,

No. 7 only scratches the surface of its derivative work. Instead of the constant spinning-out of

new angular motives, it mostly focuses on the interplay of the primary driving isorhythmic

material and the upward sweeping motion (Figure 4.6).

Figure 4.6: Eric Hessel, No. 7 (Vivacissimo molto ritmico) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 1-11.

In a few places this relatively quiet interplay is interrupted by louder, asymmetrical

technical passages both on and off the crooked horn, as occurs in mm. 46-49 (Figure 4.7).

Although the range here is demanding, ending on a slow ascent to a high C6 at pianissississimo,

none of the additional range called for by Ligeti is included here. This etude requires slow

8 Etudes based on specific examples from repertoire are common in the published literature. Books by Henri Kling, Bernhard Mueller, and Martin Hackleman all include etudes along these lines. One example that follows a similar goal as this project are the etudes written by Carol Deats in her dissertation intended to help with the performance of Persichetti’s Parable. See Appendix B of Carol Deats, “Toward a pedagogy of extended techniques for horn derived from Vincent Persichetti's ‘Parable for Solo Horn,’ Opus 120,” (D.M.A. diss., Texas Tech University, 2001).

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practice before attempting the full one-bar tempo. It may be beneficial to rethink many of the

rhythms additively instead of reading odd groupings across the barlines.

Figure 4.7: Eric Hessel, No. 7 (Vivacissimo molto ritmico) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 35-48.

4.3 Etudes in Approximated Quarter Tones

By the time the hornist has conquered the first seven etudes in the book, he should have a

general conception of how equal temperament sounds and feels on his horn. Because the horn

functions within the just acoustics of the natural harmonic series, equal temperament is actually

the more foreign concept to the instrument in many cases. Thus strengthening natural horn

performance on different valves helps to reveal the compromise necessary for evening out the

discrepancies between overlapping partials into equal temperament.9 However, extending the

concept to equal-tempered quarter tones is quite a bit different, as none are naturally found on

the horn—the eleventh partial is very close, but only exists in the higher range and may vary per

fingering.

9 An important discrepancy to overcome is the concert A, to which most hornists tune their middle-range E4. Conventionally fingered, this note will be a naturally low fifth partial on the F crook, but it is a mistake to tune this pitch up to match the concert pitch. This would push the F side or the entire horn too sharp. Better fingerings to check the tuning pitch are 12, T2, or possibly T13.

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In order to approximate true quarter tones, one must consult some external source of

them, as in an adjustable tuner, synthesizer, or online program (of which there are many). The

process here is in establishing an aural schema that can be correlated to the physical action

required to produce it (air, lips, fingers), as well as to the notation that signifies it (accidentals,

arrows, fingerings). Julia Werntz describes this process for a number of different microtones:

All microtonalists—composers and performers alike—necessarily begin their ear-training by hearing the new intervals in relation to the traditional twelve In this initial phase musicians usually make the same observations about seventy-two note equal temperament, namely that in either a harmonic or melodic context: the twelfth-tone alteration of a traditional interval sound like an inflection (perhaps “brighter” if larger and “darker” if smaller); sixth-tone alterations are perceivable as truly different, and even sound peculiar; and quarter-tones are in a category of their own, sounding like neither of the traditional intervals on either side.10

This advice follows for horn as well, and the initial emotional response to the sound should not

be overlooked as part of the process. Because many of the quarter tones (besides eleventh

partials) require a significant amount of compromise and adjustment, starting with quarter tones

too quickly into the aural process likely results in overcorrections towards conventional

intonation (what the player already knows).

Etudes 8 through 10 incorporate quarter tones that are approximated through out-of-tune

partials. These etudes progress from neighboring and scalar motion through the microtones to a

more advanced use of perfect intervals and unprepared leaps. Most of the repertoire uses

neighboring/scalar quarter tones out of necessity. Larger microtonal intervals, however well

performed, have a risk of sounding unintentionally out of tune to the average audience member.

A way to avoid this could be to create sequences of similar intervals at different transposition

levels. As seen in the repertoire and pedagogy examined above, there exist a number of different

10 Julia Werntz, “Adding Pitches: Some Thoughts, Ten Years after Perspective of New Music’s “Forum: Microtonality Today”,” Perspectives of New Music 39, No. 2 (2001): 188.

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notations, with the only constant being the inclusion of specific fingerings above or below the

notes in question. These etudes limit the accidentals to quarter flat and quarter sharp11 for ease of

associating air, fingerings, and embouchure. However, this limitation can hinder the automatic

recognition of contour, requiring more concentration on the actual notes.

No. 10 (Allegro con brio) is the fastest and most technically demanding of these etudes. It

meanders primarily through neighboring motion between quarter tones that alternates with

perfect fourths, as can be seen in the first four measures (Figure 4.8). The perfect fourths that

occur between quarter tones are easier than they appear, but force the player to maintain a

constant quarter tone intonation despite switching fingers. However, in all cases these finger

changes stay on the same valve while just the thumb changes, keeping the same partial (and its

specific intonation) constant. For an embouchure that may already be adjusting for quarter tones,

this is more idiomatic.

Figure 4.8: Eric Hessel, No. 10 (Allegro con brio) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 1-4.

In a few places, this etude mixes in the crooked horn ideas in the new quarter tone

context. Figure 4.9 contains the second iteration of this. While it is tempting to relax the seventh

partials here back to their natural intonations, the hornist should stay diligent in hearing and

executing the slightly lower quarter tones, so as not to change the harmonic effect of the etude.

The last two lines work through some of the challenges of range that are necessitated by

microtonal horn music. From mm. 24-30 (Figure 4.10), the hornist should first work through the

11 Quarter flat = ; quarter sharp =

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technique of the long descending passage, noting places where motion stalls upwards

momentarily, before pacing it over one fluid breath. The initial pitch of B here should remain

“locked” in mind to help with accuracy of the terminal B-quarter-flat in m. 29 followed by a

jagged ascent back up to B-quarter-sharp on the downbeat of m. 30.

Figure 4.9: Eric Hessel, No. 10 (Allegro con brio) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 14-19.

Figure 4.10: Eric Hessel, No. 10 (Allegro con brio) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 24-29.

From this point 24 Etudes does not altogether leave microtonality, because it reappears in

different contexts, often combined with other considerations. The second half of the book travels

through different considerations of extended techniques, rhythm, notation, and combinations

thereof.

4.4 Etudes Combining Extended Techniques

Etudes No. 11 (Canzona, molto rubato) and No. 12 (Humoresque) both work on different

right hand techniques. No. 11 is free and tonal, sounding much like an unmeasured etude of

Gallay with a greater focus on large, slurred intervals, and the shifting timbres of crooks and

right hand positions. One of the main features of this etude is a careful distinction of symbols for

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different degrees of right hand coverage, which reflect Orval’s theoretical system. This etude

should sound in conventional just intonation, so that the primary focus can be on the right hand.

Etude No. 12 fixates on the portamento in both closing/falling versions, and

opening/rising versions. The primary challenges here are deciphering quickly how the right hand

should be moving in each successive figure and maintaining a constant pulse despite the sliding,

inarticulate pitches that result from right hand portamenti. This etude also includes several

microtonal elements and one recurring rhythmic challenge of subdividing two plus three within a

quintuplet. All of these elements are evident by the first five measures (Figure 4.11).

Figure 4.11: Eric Hessel, No. 12 (Humoresque) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 1-5.

Figure 4.12: Eric Hessel, No. 12 (Humoresque) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 14-18.

As No. 12 progresses, the portamento is juxtaposed with fully stopped pitches and two

large half-valve flutters in opposite directions (see Figure 4.12). The middle section, mm. 26-43,

is a slower version of the primary motive, offering a reprieve from the more acrobatic outer

sections. While in a sort of rounded binary form, the third section is not a simple reprise, but

actually a complete inversion of the first. This alteration further solidifies the directional

considerations of portamento, but also drives some different timbral potential in the high range

where it is not possible (see Figure 4.13). The startling change of the portamento in mm. 47-48 to

a flutter-tongue serves as an interesting climactic point while also solving the problem of hand

stopping in the high range. One of the main issues with significant hand work that is not often

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addressed is diminished accuracy: because the right hand is actually shifting where the partials

lie on the horn, it can often be difficult to find them when rapidly switching between different

degrees of coverage. This etude is not the most rhythmically or conceptually challenging, but it

is in fact one of the most demanding in terms of endurance and control.

Figure 4.13: Eric Hessel, No. 12 (Humoresque) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 41-54.

Etudes No. 13 (Glassy) and No. 14 (Nocturne. Adagio) assume a general knowledge and

ability to produce multiphonics. It is recommended to use Michael Mikulka’s book or consult a

teacher if this is an entirely new concept. While No. 13 is more straightforward in its use of

intermittent multiphonic chords in different intervals, No. 14 imagines many of the contrapuntal

potentials of the technique in combination with portamento and Crumb’s “turtle dove” effect

(described in Chapter 2). This etude appears in two versions, A and B, for male voice and female

voice, respectively, as many of its requirements change due to the range of the voice part.

Version A requires the male hornist to create different textures by singing both below and above

the played notes,12 including one major instance of a voice crossing—where the voice holds

steady and the horn crosses below. Most of the interactions between the voice and horn involve

one remaining stable while the other moves, allowing for suspensions and other shifting

12 As occurs in some of the repertoire, sung lines are marked with text, but also given square noteheads. They are also combined onto one staff, and kept at the same transposition level. For complex multiphonics, it is more efficient to execute different intervallic content if the voice and horn are presented together. Noteheads can vary, and even conflict with other representations. For example, Matosinhos’ preference for x-shaped noteheads overlaps with Hill’s use of it for different air sounds. It is most important to remain consistent and include textual instructions where necessary.

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intervals. The most challenging aspect here is in actually keeping these lines independent, rather

than letting the two parallel each other. The characteristic counterpoint, right hand portamenti,

and one instance of the intervening “turtle-dove” (mm. 7-8) combine to create the dark mood of

the first eight measures (Figure 4.14).

A more aggressive middle section occurs from mm. 11-18, in which the horn is required

to play under the voice and separated by more than an octave. The written A-sharp 4 in the voice

part at m. 12 is the highest sung note in the piece (a concert D-sharp 4) and may be a stretch for

some male voices. Most likely it will need to be sung in falsetto, requiring a shift in the oral

cavity to accommodate. This section abates after three isolated cadential chords with the return

of the “turtle dove” effect. Mm. 22-27 (Figure 4.15) function as a coda that introduces the most

salient microtonal features. The voice should remain steady while successions of low

inequivalent fingerings create untempered scalar figures. The intonation difficulty here is really

between measures 24 and 25 in the harmony. The final A3 of the vocal line should not sound as a

just fifth against the slightly sharp D3 in m. 24, but then should against the in-tune D in m. 25.

The etude ends with a slow portamento now in the voice. The hornist should prolong the beating

dissonance as steadily as possible through to the final octave resolution.

Figure 4.14: Eric Hessel, No. 14a (Nocturne. Adagio) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 1-8.

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Figure 4.15: Eric Hessel, No. 14a (Nocturne. Adagio) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 21-27.

4.5 Etudes Exploring Advanced Rhythms

Small rhythmic challenges are spread early on throughout the etude book before targeting

the greater complexities of contemporary rhythms in later etudes. Some of these challenges have

already been discussed in previous examples. The most difficult rhythmic etudes in the first half

of the book are mostly challenging because of the tempo and not necessarily the rhythm. This is

an accurate description for No. 10 (Allegro con brio) and No. 12 (Humoresque), which are quick,

but the initial pulse never changes and the most complex subdivision is the quintuplet. This also

applies to No. 7 (Vivacissimo molto ritmico), in a much quicker pulse (felt as one full bar of 8/8

at 60 BPM). The shifting isorhythm and seeming disregard for the barlines Reflect elements of

Ligeti’s Trio and also add layers of rhythmic complexity while the subdivision of eighth notes

remains constant.

At the other end of the spectrum lie etudes like No. 8 (Freely, floating) and No. 11

(Canzona, molto rubato) which are written in unmetered notation and completely senza misura,

respectively. They also allow different degrees of interpretive freedom, rhythmically. The two

systems from No. 8 contained in Figure 4.16 require a significant amount of creativity. The uses

of beams in this etude signify gestures and important connections between notes more than they

do eighth-notes or sixteenth notes. It is up to the performer to determine the exact durations of

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open and closed noteheads in this context, or if similar gestures should be played as the same

durations. As with most unmetered notations, each rhythm should still make sense in relation to

the rhythms around it, but No. 9 intentionally obscures some of the boundaries.

Figure 4.16: Eric Hessel, No. 8 (Freely, floating) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 13-17.

Etudes No. 15 (Trionfale) and No. 16 (Impetuoso) interrupt the general flow of the book

with a trek into spatial notation. The challenge here is assuredly rhythmic, especially in

converting the proximity of notes and lengths of lines into duration against the steady tick of

time. These etudes are discussed in relation to notation in the following chapter. Etudes Nos. 17-

21 constitute the primary rhythmic course of the book.

Metric modulation is the first topic tackled here. Numerous ways of converting one

tempo to another tempo exist, but mainly falling into two categories: subdivisions that become

different subdivisions, or larger structures (beats or groups of subdivisions) that become other

larger structures. The best examples of metric modulations are not necessarily found in works for

horn, but come from the music of Elliott Carter. Most musicians would benefit from studying

Carter’s Eight Pieces for Timpani (1968) and the metric modulations therein. Generally Carter

uses subdivision shifts to provide a gradual feeling of acceleration or deceleration. Shifts in

larger structures can have this effect as well, but often create a more uneasy change in the

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subdivisions.13 Modulations in Carter and elsewhere are usually notated with a new tempo

marking in BPM. Non-dyadic time signatures are also (usually) treated as a form of metric

modulation in which a triplet or other non-duple subdivision is taken as the new beat.

Etudes No. 17 (Andantino molto cantabile) and No. 18 (Ritmico) focus fully on metric

modulations, and even remove some of the other aspects that might offer other challenges.

Together these etudes do not exceed the range of E3 to A5, and contain no other extended

techniques or harmonies. No. 17 also restricts the number of different tempos to three—80 BPM,

96 BPM, and 120 BPM—and explores the relationships between them. No. 17 is chromatic but

tonal, and tempo is intended to contribute to emotional content of each section. Different tempos

are accompanied by descriptive words like molto cantabile, deciso, grazioso, and appasionato.

No. 18 contrasts this approach in an atonal and more technical setting that provides

several options for different metric modulations. Here instead of mood, tempo creates the parts

of a small sonata form. The exposition quickly accelerates using different subdivisions; by m. 11,

a beat of four sixteenths is replaced by the quicker beat of three sixteenths (Figure 4.17). The

second “tempo area” is then a split of three different modulations from which the performer may

choose, all based on the sixteenth subdivision (Figure 4.18). These all modulate back to the faster

tempo for the closure of the exposition in mm. 24-26. A short development from mm. 27-39

retransitions to the slower tempo primo. The primary difference of the recapitulation is that the

modulations are now based on the eighth-note triplet. The first non-dyadic meter occurs in m. 43

at this subdivision level; this measure in 5/12 should sound essentially the same as the 2/4 in m.

41 minus one triplet eighth-note. These triplets are also taken for the basis of another three-

13 This feeling is akin to traveling at a steady rate along a cobblestone path where the size of the stones suddenly changes to a larger or smaller grade.

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option split on the following line (see Figure 4.19). The melodic material between all of the splits

in both exposition and recapitulation are variations of each other, and the performer should

attempt all nine combinations of both splits.

Figure 4.17: Eric Hessel, No. 12 (Ritmico) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 6-12.

Figure 4.18: Eric Hessel, No. 12 (Ritmico) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 20-23e.

Figure 4.19: Eric Hessel, No. 12 (Ritmico) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 41-46e.

The rhythmic complexity escalates over the next three etudes. No. 19 (Rhythmic,

ponderous), is an unusual etude. It combines sections of compound lines written mostly in slow,

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pulsing sixteenth-notes, with other sections of uneven thirty-second-note additive rhythms that

are somewhat serialized. The latter effect should be reminiscent of Babbitt’s music, while the

former offers a new challenge of trying to perform a duet within one rhythmic line.14 Compound

lines like this can be found in the etudes of Kopprasch or Mueller, but not as much in more

contemporary settings.

Figure 4.20: Eric Hessel, No. 21 (Marcia funebre) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 1-7.

No. 21 (Marcia funebre) represents some of the greatest difficulty of the book of etudes,

exploring complex rhythmic ideas of “New Complexity” against simple meters and strict tempo.

Nested tuplets, interspersed with grace notes, challenge the student to approach rhythm through

mathematical relationships. In order to realize the rhythms, the student should first remove the

melodic aspect and determine which tuplet rhythms should be isolated. For example, the quarter-

note triplet in the second measure (Figure 4.20) may be taken out of context in order to first

understand its internal subdivisions (with and without the grace note). After deciphering the

internal subdivisions, the triplet might be reinterpreted as a figure in three-halves the tempo of

the music around it. The 3:2 relationship is eventually much easier to feel than more complex

tuplets. For example, the 7:6 ratio in m. 5 can be achieved the same way, especially starting

14 The compound lines are composed as two separate layers, but should not be interpreted as multiphonics.

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without the written accents. However, fitting this into the context of triplets and quintuplets

around it is something that might need to be learned metronomically by rote.

Tuplets occurring on off-beats and over bar lines and rhythms grouped gesturally rather

than according to beats and subdivisions represent other challenges in this etude. The most

excessive example of this lies in mm. 21-28 (Figure 4.21). Here the baseline sextuplet rhythm is

grouped into alternating fives, fours, threes, and twos against the subdivision and bar lines. The

student should approach the rhythm by taking the eighth-note triplet subdivision as a new basic

pulse and removing the bar lines. When placing this back in context, the pause at the end of the

previous line is an excellent place to switch the sense of internal subdivision to triplets. After

conquering the rhythmic challenges of this etude, the melodic difficulty is still great; but if

supplemented with the similarly atonal studies of Verne Reynolds and Gunther Schuller, it

should pose a lesser challenge than the rhythm.

Figure 4.21: Eric Hessel, No. 21 (Marcia funebre) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, mm. 21-31.

4.6 Etudes in Unconventional Notations

Learning to read unconventional notations is the most “mind bending” of opportunities

that Hill might describe. Compositionally, these notations are ways of writing pitch and rhythm

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(or indeed any element) to create sounds that are not easily notated or even possible in standard

notation. It is important for the modern hornist to be familiar with some of the common systems

that are used outside of the norm, but indeed learning one new musical language helps to make

the process of deciphering future languages more conceivable and natural. Pedagogically, their

study also helps to realize in performance aspects of rhythm and gesture that can be buried or

inhibited by the connotations of traditional music reading.

A student’s first journey into completely spatial notation can be disorienting. A complete

removal of beats in favor of larger time intervals is the first challenge. The time increments,

represented by regular tick marks, can feel both unpredictably far apart or too close together

depending on the number of pitches that must occur between them. It is important to realize that

in standard notation, quicker rhythms stack vertically. As the speed of the notes increases, the

number of beams above/below the notes also increases (as in eighth- to sixteenth- to thirty-

second-notes). This usually also results in less distance between the notes, but a measure full of

thirty-second-notes could be spread across the page without affecting how the performer

interprets the rhythm. In spatial notation, though, the quickness of the rhythm is invariably tied to

the horizontal dimension: the rate of performance is directly proportional to how quickly the eyes

trace along the page. The rhythmic possibilities along this axis are infinitely more varied than

can be displayed through beaming alone (insofar as the performer can replicate the distances

aurally). Though difficult to master, one of the main benefits of this study is in a better sense of

how the musical gesture should be conveyed within or despite the rhythm.

For etudes No. 15 (Trionfale) and No. 16 (Impetusoso), it is important to maintain the

marked tempo while working with the rhythm alone. The broader gestures are firstly and lastly

the most important to convey, but eventually the player should reconsider the details of the

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horizontal spacing and incorporate more into the performance.15 Figure 4.22 displays the first

two lines of No. 16. On a first play-through, the four notes occurring in the first increment might

come out evenly spaced. A second time might better show that the G-flat 4 and C5 are the closest

together, but a third time should reflect that the A-flat and G-flat are part of one unit that is

quickly interrupted by the marcato C. Once the gesture of these three notes is fully understood,

the pianissimo lowered D-flat 5 can sound as a sudden, reactive contrast to it.16 This gesture

becomes one of the central components of the composition, and already by the second line it sees

some spatial development.

Figure 4.22: Eric Hessel, No. 16 (Impetuoso) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, systems 1-2.

No. 16 combines several different challenges. The falling portamenti are also recurring

gesture, and the performer should attempt to match the rate of hand closure to the shape and

placement of the curved lines. Towards the end of the etude this gesture is inverted, starting

somewhere in the stopped area below the definite open pitch and sliding upward to it.

Microtonality also plays a large role in the harmonic structure. The lowered D-flat recurs several

15 The most dedicated practice might even take a ruler to the page and map the literal distances as subdivisions of the time increment, but this is certainly not necessary for a valid performance. 16 This microtone is intentionally unlabeled. By this point in the etude book, the hornist should be able to decipher fairly quickly that it is a seventh partial on the A-flat crook (T1). There are in fact no other reasonable options: an eleventh partial on the C crook could work, but the fingering (13) is sharp and unwieldly. A partially stopped note would likely not work since the end of the note already has a falling portamento to around a B.

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times as an important integrating factor. Also challenging at the climactic point is an intensifying

succession of microtonal trills, first on the E-flat and D-flat crooks (labeled and bracketed)

before rapidly ascending through adjacent partials on the D crook. The highest note is a

seventeenth partial lowered B-flat 5, which leads into a graphically depicted glissando into the

low range (see Figure 4.23). This B-flat is tricky to find, especially after trilling through different

partials that begin to sound the same distance apart. This etude also has one of the largest ranges

of the whole book: a pedal E2 enters two systems after the highest note. This spatial etude also

offers several moments for the performer to begin realizing how musical gestures look or are

spaced in real time. This is very clear in the repeated C’s on the second to last system (Figure

4.24), where a sort of accelerando-ritardando is written out over two time increments.

Figure 4.23: Eric Hessel, No. 16 (Impetuoso) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, systems 6-7.

Figure 4.24: Eric Hessel, No. 16 (Impetuoso) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, systems 10.

Etude No. 22 (Fugue) is a singular example in the geometric notation of Iannis Xenakis.

The rhythm in geometric notation can have a similar feeling to spatial notation when not placed

on the vertical pulses, but is generally more straightforward rhythmically. All of the beats are

given, and only the sense of meter is missing. The etude actually focuses on similar composite

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issues as No. 19 (Rhythmic, ponderous). Two voices of a fugue are notated in different

noteheads, and the main challenge is to create as distinct lines as possible while maintaining the

melodic subject of the fugue.17

The challenge associated with a great deal of graphic notation is in creatively depicting

the visual aspects of the printed music sonically. In cases like Figure 4.23, or many of Hill’s

graphically notated glissandos, lines, and squiggles represent a contour of a specific sound that

either cannot or does not need to be written out in standard notation in order to produce the same

effect. As ideas become increasingly graphic, a proper interpretation is one that offers a

compelling sonic representation of the artistic idea that is on the page. Graphic pieces may run

the risk of becoming too conceptual for use in pedagogy (like the infamous Treatise, 1963-7, of

Cornelius Cardew), since the number of valid interpretations could be too many for a teacher to

evaluate. To be included in an etude book, a graphic example should include some distinct

parameters by which different performers can debate over an ideal way to realize the ink on the

page. While there is not a single valid interpretation, the notation suggests some sort of ideal

sound, even if the ideal comprises different notes, rhythms, and techniques for different players.

Etude No. 24 (Agitato) sets these parameters in the way that it combines specific ideas

from conventional notation with the more gestural or conceptual graphic elements. Furthermore,

the parameters here allude to different challenges covered by previous etudes in the book, so that

No. 24 ultimately serves as a summary of what has happened previously: Throughout this etude

the notation is intended to suggest quarter tones, stopping and portamento, indeterminate and

spatialized rhythms, and counterpoint that could alternately be interpreted as composite rhythms

17 Creating a composite fugue for horn alone is not an innovation of this etude book. For another example attempting to do so, see No. 14 (Fugato – Allegro vivo) in Julien Falk, Vignt Études Atonales. (Paris: Alphonse Leduc, 1968), 10.

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or multiphonics. Essentially no interpretations (even theatrical depictions) of the more unusual

symbols and shapes are out of bounds insofar as they recognize the parameters established by the

conventional inclusions.

If properly planned and executed, the final three lines (Figure 4.25) can be the most

exploratory and effective.18 The first question here should be whether the wedge shape should be

a gesture that is defined by the parenthetical noteheads around it, or if those elements are

separate and simultaneous. The arrival on a G-quarter-flat 5 is a somewhat definite event, but the

exclamation point above it should give something to the note that is not found for any other note

(this could be articulative, timbral, or theatrical, to name a few possibilities). The next distorted

sound is something that was found earlier in the piece, but here is combined with a definitely-

pitched line beneath. The fact that these two lines are continuous and concurrent should suggest

that multiphonics are involved, especially as they converge on a notated quarter tone interval

(“almost in focus”).

The next zig-zagging event is entirely graphic, but appears to be interrupted with a

symbol for the highest note possible. Then the sideways triangles that move “relentlessly”

through the last line are marked as half stopped moving to fully stopped, which above the staff is

possible to execute without changing the pitch. The performer should honor the horizontal

distance between these notes in some way. The final “measure” contains three distinct ideas that

need to be defined by the hornist: two diverging lines and a final black cluster of some sort in the

low range. One possible interpretation sees the diverging lines again as multiphonics, so that the

18 It should be noted that any interpretation offered here may reflect some of the composer’s original conceptions, but should not be taken as the singular “correct” way of performing the piece. In fact, creating several valid interpretations is as valuable to the learning process as trying to find the “best” one.

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voice ends up molto vibrato on the upper C5. Then the cluster can be created as some loud low

sound, articulation, or even as a stomp.

Figure 4.25: Eric Hessel, No. 24 (Agitato) from 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn, systems 5-7.

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CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION

Etudes fill an interesting niche within the development of both new repertoire and of the

individual performer. Pedagogically, etudes consistently lag behind the technical and musical

requirements of concert music, always trying to fill in the gaps between what is asked by

composers and what is taught. In this sense, there will always be a pedagogical gap between the

limitless imaginations of composers and the unsuspecting performers.

Yet etudes can also transcend pedagogical limitations (in the practice room or even on the

concert stage) and offer ways for musicians to imagine new possibilities themselves. The

underlying goal of 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn is to straddle both of these options. This

book, like any other, is not a comprehensive method for all new music—and in fact functions

better in conjunction with informed teachers and many of the resources discussed in Part II.

Through studying and practicing these new etudes, hornists can be better equipped to recognize

and execute the different intonational, technical, gestural, and conceptual aspects that show up in

modern repertoire. They can also acquire a more enveloping understanding of the acoustical and

performative properties of music and the instrument: the harmonic series, the influence of the

right hand, the oral cavity, and the nature of how notation relates to sound. All of these areas are

integral to the challenges of modern repertoire, but, if approached properly, will reflexively

improve conventional performance as well.

The natural horn, as proven by Atwell, Wick, and others, is the derivative of all playing.

Its study improves flexibility, accuracy, intonation, and air usage across all genres of music.

Only a few pedagogical steps are needed to further extend the natural horn into the music of

Ligeti, Widmann, or Holliger. Then, as the ear is trained in just intonations, another step can be

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taken to approximate more rigid systems like the equal tempered quarter tones that are found in

the music of Musgrave, Hill, or Grabois. If the ear is fine-tuned to hear these nuances, it is better

equipped to perform at a high level in conventional contexts as well. However, the hornist should

always realize that conventional intonation is its own specialized field that requires study—the

ear cannot deal with only quarter tones and then fit into a traditional orchestral setting. Both

areas require maintenance.

Extended techniques are integral to new gestural and timbral ideas, but also shed light on

how different aspects of playing are tied together. The right hand is a component of playing that

needs exercise as much as the breath or facial muscles. Hornists cannot be expected to make

minute intonation adjustments if they have not explored the effect of the hand within the bell.

Similarly, they cannot be expected to play accurately or with the correct timbre if they have not

learned to navigate the partials of a stopped or half-stopped horn. Vocalizations require an

understanding of how air and vibration works within the mouth and horn, as well as an ability to

focus on two simultaneously distinct and composite sounds; and they can also provide an internal

experience of how pitches can be tuned to each other (or not).

Different ways of notating time, rhythm, and gesture constantly stretch the mind. In any

type of music, it is important to determine if musical events should be approached with

inflexibility and invariance or if the written notation is only subservient to the broader musical

purpose. Thinking about the horizontal result of written rhythms can help to reveal trajectories

that are not as evident in complicated rhythms. Learning to feel the mathematical relationships

between different rhythms can help convey to an audience the shifting nuances that play out over

time. This is even true for simpler conventions like a shift from triple to duple subdivisions or a

change from triple to duple meters.

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The list of aspects covered in this book still leaves room for other projects that continue

towards the same pedagogical goal. Other aspects that already warrant attention include any

number of extended techniques, the separation of different facets of playing (air, fingers, hand

position, etc.) onto independent staves, or choreography of the bell by itself and in relation to

reflective objects. The horn’s relationship to evolving musical styles always deserves attention as

well. While jazz is somewhat well represented in etude literature, other current popular genres in

which the horn sometimes participates (or not) could be beneficial for study or inclusion in

pedagogy. Yet another large unexplored territory is the growing field of electroacoustic music,

beginning with horn and track combinations and continuing through the unending possibilities of

live processing and interfacing. A vast body of repertoire already exists in this area. Any method

that helps hornists to consider and meet the unique requirements of electronics may have to be as

creative and technologically varied as the repertoire it seeks to emulate.

As the requirements of contemporary music continue to shift, so do the ways that

pedagogical materials need to reimagine how the horn can or should address them. That is what

this document and the 24 Etudes seek to do. They represent an attempt to fill gaps between

conventional horn technique and unconventional music, but they should also serve as an example

for one way that future hornists, teachers, and composers can understand the horn in new

contexts. An integration and mastery of new perspectives and techniques today allows for the

progress towards new perspectives and techniques of the future.

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APPENDIX

SELECTIONS FROM 24 UNCONVENTIAL ETUDES FOR HORN

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Overview of 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn1

No. Title/Tempo Primary Purpose 1 Andante con moto

Tonal crook study 2 Moderato 3 Allegretto 4 Giocoso 5 Lento misterioso Extended just intonation 6 Valse sentimentale 7 Vivaccissimo molto ritmico Preparation for Ligeti’s Trio, mvt. II 8 Freely, floating

Approximated quarter tones 9 Leggiero 10 Allegro con brio 11 Canzona, molto rubato Right hand and natural horn timbral qualities 12 Humoresque Portamento 13 Glassy. Adagio tranquillo Multiphonics 14a Nocturne. Adagio Multiphonics above/below, combined with right hand and

microtonality, for low voice (a) and high voice (b) 14b 15 Trionfale Spatial notation, in E-flat 16 Impetuoso Spatial notation, with some microtonality 17 Andantino molto cantabile Metric modulation 18 Ritmico 19 Rhythmic, ponderous Composite and additive rhythms 20 Drammatico Complex rhythms (nested tuplets) 21 Marcia funebre 22 Fugue Geometric notation 23 Allegro erratico Graphic notation 24 Agitato

1 Etudes in bold are included in entirety in the following pages. Others are only available in the full publication of 24 Unconventional Etudes for Horn.

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Etude No. 1

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Etude No. 5

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Etude No. 7

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Etude No. 7 (continued)

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Etude No. 10

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Etude No. 12

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Etude No. 14a

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Etude No. 16

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Etude No. 16 (continued)

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Etude No. 18

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Etude No. 18 (continued)

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Etude No. 21

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Etude No. 24

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