Looking for books about the horn? Here's some suggested ones:
Blow Your Own Horn! by
Blow your OWN Horn is Fergus McWilliams 'take' on horn playing and more generally on music education.Written in a very spirited style, the book covers all aspects of playing and the profession, including, practical elements such as: auditions, embouchure, breathing, exercises. In addition, McWilliam explores topics such as: mind games, attitude, strategies, relativity, under pressure, why do we need teachers and much more!
The Cambridge Companion to Brass Instruments by
This Companion covers many diverse aspects of brass instruments and in such detail. It provides an overview of the history of brass instruments, and their technical and musical development. Although the greatest part of the volume is devoted to the western art music tradition, with chapters covering topics from the medieval to the contemporary periods, there are important contributions on the ancient world, non-western music, vernacular and popular traditions and the rise of jazz. Despite the breadth of its narrative, the book is rich in detail, with an extensive glossary and bibliography. The editors are two of the most respected names in the world of brass performance and scholarship, and the list of contributors includes the names of many of the world's most prestigious scholars and performers on brass instruments.
The Early Horn by
This introduction to the early horn provides a historical account of the instrument's development during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as well as a practical guide to playing techniques and principles of interpretation. The book aims to help performers to play in an historically appropriate style and to guide listeners towards a clearer understanding of the issues which affected the way the horn was played during the period. It includes chapters on the historical background of the instrument, its design and development, and choice of instrument today. A series of case studies which include the music of Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann and Brahms, will help performers to make a well-grounded, period interpretation of major works from the horn repertoire. Complemented by an extensive bibliography, this accessible guide will appeal to players of all levels.
The Horn Handbook by
AmadeusThis immensely practical handbook is the work of a musician, composer, and teacher at the Eastman School of Music. The first book to cover the topic, it presents a broad introduction to horn study, practice, and performance.
Valved Brass by
In the history of brass instruments, few developments can rival the early nineteenth-century invention of the valve for enduring significance. Nevertheless, the acceptance of valved brass instruments proved controversial, as newspapers and other documents repeatedly attest. Christian Ahrens, (Ruhr-Universität Bochum) in his important monograph, Eine Erfindung und ihre Folgen: Blechblasinstrumente mit Ventilen (1986), devotes considerable attention to this heated controversy, as he traces the early use of valved brass instruments in the realms of art music, military music, and Volksmusik. Stressing social and aesthetic issues over the more familiar mechanical aspects, the author draws on a rich body of journalistic source material to detail a compelling reception history.
Here are some journals about the horn:
