A quick semi-random cross-section of interesting links...
IMSLP stands for the International Music Score Library Project. The idea is to be an online repository for musical score 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 (Mozart, Kopprasch, Dauprat, Beethoven, Schuber; many categories, including horn and piano, horn concertos, etudes, horn alone, duets, trios, quartets, 5 and more, chamber music with and without piano), click here.
The Horn in Opera - a new 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 Parts 1, 2, 3; Session 3, Part 1 - 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. A new site with printable excerpts, audio examples, bibliography, lists of ensembles, and more. Bravo, James!
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!
Pandora - Radio from the Music Genome Project
Very slick - you can build your own "internet radio station" that plays (through the computer) any kind of music you like, any era, style, artist, song - it will build a never-ending queue of tunes to be played. You can build many "stations" of different styles, and you can have a station that is a mix of any or all your stations.
"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.
Orchestral Horn Excerpts
By Daren Robbins. Features: 46 excerpts (from Brandenburg to Oberon), printed (and printable!) excerpt, 4 recorded versions (including with period instruments) of various interpretations that you can hear (via Quicktime) online. All these excerpts are now available in a 160 page spiral-bound book – order from the web site ($30). A link to upcoming auditions is included.
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.
The Value of Mistakes - article by Jeffrey Agrell
Orchestra Fines
New Mahler Glossary
Dissertations