Top Links

A quick semi-random cross-section of interesting links...

Sarah Willis Horn - Notable for its “Horn Hangouts” with famous horn players, which are captured in a series of videos. 

Horn Probespiel [= horn audition] - It’s in German, but don’t let that stop you. On the right side of the main text block are 4 choices: Probespiel Orchesterstellen [orchestral excerpts], Unterricht/Probespielvorbereitung [lessons/audition preparation given by Herr Kröger], Musik [recordings by H.K. ], and Stellenmarkt [ads]. The one of most interest is the first. Click on it and it brings up High Horn Excerpts, Low Horn Excerpts, and excerpts for 2 horns. You will find a much larger selection of excerpts here than are readily available in the US - some of these are just hard to find; others are excerpts that are more popular in the opera houses of Germany but not so much in the US (e.g. Lortzing and other operas). [thanks to Nick Westphal for alerting me to the existence of this web site].

Orchestral Horn Excerpts
This terrific and indispensable collection of orchestra excerpts started life as (UI horn studio alumnus) Daren Robbins’ doctoral thesis (at U of Wisconsin-Madision). It is worth its weight in gold for making access to the excerpts exceptionally quick easy. Features: 46 excerpts (from Brandenburg to Oberon), printed (and printable!) excerpts, 4 recorded versions (including with period instruments) of various interpretations that you can hear online. Bravo, Daren! Update: 1) The site has been moved to be part of the web site of the International Horn Society 2) All these excerpts are now available in a 160 page spiral-bound book ($30). 3) A link to a listing of upcoming auditions is included. 4) Julia Rose’s “Audition Repertoire Lists” has been added.

Beyond the Short Call - A Collection of Opera Excerpts for Horn. Author Ericka Grodrian: “This website has grown out of my doctoral final project, Horn Opera Excerpts: A Suggested Addition to Current American Pedagogy. Sheet music selections from the top dozen opera composers’ operas. Also: short but very useful Resources section on “suggested resources for additional opera study”.

MUSIAC - “a collaborative digital initiative between the New World Symphony, Cleveland Institute of Music, Curtis Institute of Music, Eastman School of Music (University of Rochester), Guildhall School of Music and Drama (London), Manhattan School of Music, Royal Danish Academy of Music, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, University of Missouri-Kansas City, and University of Southern California—is an online community of classical musicians and continuously updated video library curated by America’s Orchestral Academy. Just as teachers have traditionally passed down knowledge to their students, MUSAIC provides access to classical music instruction and conversations for students and performers alike.” Video tips, orchestral and chamber music performances, and masterclasses for horn players by such horn luminaries as Peter Kurau, Kristy Morrell, Robert Ward, Sarah Willis, David Pyatt, Bill VerMeulen, Rick Todd, and others. There is also often a link to downloadable (free) sheet music (i.e. public domain).

Arts & Letters Daily - Not a reference site per se, but a terrific sampler of fascinating current articles from all over the web on many, many arts topics.

Horn Etudes - is a bibliography of horn etudes by the ever-energetic Ricardo Matosinhos, which was originally his dissertation - an annotated bibliography of etudes for horn published between 1950 and 2012. He intends to expand this listing to before 1950, but that’s where it is right now. It’s a little deceptive, because it looks very much like an online sheet music store. He does give you information on the publisher (+ web site) if you want to order. Very helpful are his annotations for each volume: highest and lowest notes, clefs, dynamic range, number of etudes, size, difficulty level, composer dates, everything but the composer’s favorite color, and knowing Ricardo, that’s probably next. Well done!

Kickstarter - “A new way to fund & follow creativity.” “…a new form of commerce and patronage.” Kickstarter is a place to support creative projects of all kinds or to start a project and ask for support from others. A great idea for the arts in the 21st century!

Elkin Music International - Reputation as a source for classical music from foreign publishers, especially rare or obscure editions. Download their entire catalog (pdf) - 752 pages!

SoundCloud - A quick, easy, and free way to post your recordings so that friends, relatives, and, well, anyone with internet access can hear them.

Polyphonic.org - Orchestra Musician Forum: articles, interviews, orchestras, news & blogs, research bibliography, links, and more.

IMSLP (International Music Score Library Project) An online repository for musical scores that are in the public domain and may be freely downloaded by anyone. For a list of the free public domain compositions for horn available, click here.

WIMA - Werner Icking Music Archive of free downloadable sheet music. Google search function. Searchable by composer. Sheet Music Archive - enormous list (with links) by WIMA (Werner Icking Music Archive) of sites offering free (pdf) music files. Example: Mozart Horn Quintet, with parts for horn, violin, viola 1, viola 2, cello

QSP Music - vast list of links to music-related topics. Bare-bones site, but lots of links.

Horn Central - Brigitte Labelle’s site, “Helping you navigate the horn world.” Many categories of alphabetized web links.

The Horn in Opera - a CD by Richard Chenoweth, an outstanding and much-needed recording of the most significant horn excerpts in the opera literature.

Audition Boot Camp, Part 1 ; Part 2, Part 3, Session 2 Part 1, Session 2 Part 2, Session 2 Part 3, Session 3 Part 1, Session 3 Part 2, Session 3 Part 3 - a podcasts of a lecture by Bernhard Scully and Jesse McCormick at the 40th IHS Symposium in Denver.

The Midwest Clinic - International Band and Orchestra Conference. If you can't make it to Midwest, check out their list of Clinic Handouts - a vast collection of handouts (downloadable in pdf format) from clinicians from 2000-present.

Embouchures.com - a primary resource for brass players with embouchure problems; excellent reference books for sale, including Broken Embouchures and Rehabilitating Embouchures.

Guide to the Brass Quintet - "A collection of Excerpts, Recording, and Other Resources for Horn Players in Brass Quintets" by James Boldin.

Soft Stands offers a "radical new approach to French Horn Stands." Where most other designs support the horn on only 3 points of contact, Soft Stands supports the horn with over 25 square inches of polar fleece fabric, making it 50 times less pressure per square inch. Kudos to designer/maker Eric Lundberg!

"Do Schools Kills Creativity?" - "Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.

"Beyond Talent: Creating a Successful Career in Music"

"What Historical Recordings can tell us about "Authentic Performance" - article by Henry Fogel in ArtsJournal

Elizabeth Gilbert: A different way to think about creative genius

www.hornhistory.com, by Kayla Nelson. Includes comprehensive timelines of instrumental development, repertoire, pedagogy, and performers.

The Natural Horn Today - excellent article by Jeff Snedeker.

The Hunting Horn - superb treatise on the hunting horn, excerpted at length by Google from the book The Music Topic by Raymond Monelle. The book (304 p., Indiana University Press) covers 3 topics "prominently featured in Western European music: the hunt, the military, and the pastoral." Order a copy here.

The Jazz Horn - This site is a labor of love by Harlan Feinstein, and lists in concise horn just about everyone who’s anyone in the jazz horn world, plus a good jazz horn discography (although it’s pretty lean on Arkady Shilkloper’s work as well as other European jazz hornists). Not many links, but a lot of information in list form.

History of the Horn Mute. Article by Nicholas Smith.

Practiceopedia: The Complete Illustrated Guide to Mastering Music's Greatest Challenge, by Philip Johnston, author of the Practice Revolution. "A huge practice toolkit... to the greatest challenge facing any music student." The web site will give you a multimedia tour of the book. Read the review by Jeff Snedeker in the Feb. 2007 Horn Call (p. 81).

Names of the Keys in French, German, Spanish, and Italian - useful chart, courtesy the Yale University Music Library

Hickey's Music Online
Hickey's is an impressively comprehensive online source for sheet music, accessories, manuscript paper, orchestral scores & parts, chamber music, textbooks, software; it even boasts a repair shop and rentals.

New Mahler Glossary

Dissertations