Day 187: Great horn website
36yearsago.com
Vienna 1971—A Student Journal
A year of music, study, travel, sightseeing &
friends.
Day
187 — Great horn website
05-February-1972
(Samstag–Sat.)
TRANSCRIPT
(Horn section L-R:
Hoegner (missing), Volker, Altmann, Pfeiffer,
Zajer. Courtesey of www.pizka.de.)
I can’t remember what I did (I’m writing from a few
days in advance). Ah! Spent, most of the day in El.
Musik – but didn’t get much done at the end of the
completed sound recordings.
REFLECTIONS
1972.
Nothing
today in 1972.
2009.
A few days
ago, I discovered a great website that contains some
great photos and information on the Horn, and the
Viennese Horn, in particular. This website was
created by Prof. Hans Pizka. Prof. Pizka has
graciously given me permission to post a few photos
and links from his site. If you have an interest in
the Horn or Viennese Horn, I recommend visiting his
site.
All content and photos remain the copyright of the
original copyright holders, and of © 1995/2005 Prof.
Hans Pizka.
Prof.
Hans Pizka. Since
1967, Prof. Pizka has been the principal horn in the
Bavarian State Opera in Munich, holding the
distinguished title of the “Franz Strauss Chair.”
Prof. Pizka has also performed with the Vienna
Philharmonic as first horn. You can read about Prof.
Pizka at
his website. On
the home page, you can find a link to a Quicktime
movie of him playing the traditional horn’s
long
call.
Listen and watch, you’ll enjoy it. To navigate
this traditional HTML site, click on the sitemap
link to locate specific topics. The photo below is
of a Wagnerian-style horn section. Notice the
large number of horns and the Wagner Tubas in the
2nd row. What a glorious sound.
1972 Viennese research. I
discovered Prof. Pizka’s site while researching my
journal entries. For example, I wanted to find more
information about my horn teacher, Prof. Frederick
Gabler. Success, the site had ay 185: Viennese Horn
teachers">photos of
Prof. Gabler. I would guess that Prof. Pizka and
Prof. Gabler may have known each other as
associates. From this website, I also confirmed
that Prof. Gabler was the assistant first horn in
Mahler’s Symphony
No. 5, from
Bernstein’s memorable Vienna concert series of the
Mahler Symphonies in 1972. (See below.)
VPO
plays the Vienna Horn. I did not
realize that the horn players of the Vienna
Philharmonic Orchestra were required
by
contract to use the
Vienna F horn. The single Vienna F horn is harder to
play than the traditional F/Bb double horn used by
many horn players. The Bb horn extension has shorter
tubing and is thus higher pitched, allowing for
easier playing in the higher register. If you are a
public school teacher, you can give a great science
lesson on the Horn and its relation to
science—natural horns, acoustics, production of sound
with vibration, how valves affect pitch, the
harmonic/overtone series).
Links:
Site
Sitemap
Prof. Hans Pizka biography
The Viennese Horn
Viennese horn players
Thank you Prof. Pizka for this great website.
Here are some additional photos.
John
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