It’s been a while since I posted anything here, but I recently received three excellent publications for review from Legacy Horn Experience, https://www.legacyhornexperience.com/. LHE was created by Steve Lewis, who, as he mentions on the About page, is not “the” Steve Lewis of S.W. Lewis Horns. Rather, this company sells a variety of horn-related items including music and mouthpieces:

We are proud to offer new editions by Martin Hackleman and David Jolley. Other publications offered include those by Vitaly Buyanovsky, Daniel Bourgue, Eli Epstein, Frøydis Ree Wekre, Andrew Lewinter, and John Barrows.  Additionally we publish Wendell Hoss’s 9 Studies which have been out-of-print for decades.

We are also pleased to offer the most commonly used of the Moosewood and L’Olifant mouthpiece cups and rims.

https://www.legacyhornexperience.com/about

Additionally, they plan to offer a “Legacy” line of mouthpieces, including “recreations of Reynolds and King mouthpieces with the benefit of CNC technology.”

This post will briefly review three new LHE publications:

• Vitaly Bujanovsky –  Sonata for Solo Horn No. 1, edited by Martin Hackleman
• Frédéric Chopin – 6 Studies for solo horn, adapted by Steve Lewis and edited by Martin Hackleman
• Richard Strauss – Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, Op. 28, Arranged for trumpet, horn, and trombone by David Jolley

As a composer, Vitaly Bujanovsky (1928-1993) is most well-known for his Four Improvisations (from traveling impressions) for Solo Horn, but he has some other substantial works with horn as well. This edition of his Sonata No. 1 includes “descriptive text and instructions” by Martin Hackleman, which could be very useful to both performers and teachers looking to craft a convincing interpretation of this unaccompanied work. For example, the first movement, Moderato espressivo, includes the editorial phrase “The curtain opens as our hero strolls peacefully through the forest.” The other three movements contain helpful phrases along the same lines. The engraving is clear and easy to read, and the piece is available for download directly from the LHE website. There are a few discrepancies between this version and a recording I found on YouTube by Dmytro Taran.

These discrepancies are presumably the result of this new edition, but I am not entirely sure. Also included is a brief article by Hackleman, “Playing Together But Not at the Same Time,” in which he describes a creative way for two players (teacher and student, perhaps) to work on phrasing and musical effect in a single solo piece. The article is followed by an annotated version of Buyanovsky’s Sonata designed to be practiced collaboratively in this manner. The price ($10 as of this writing) makes this publication an excellent value and well worth adding to your library.

Frédéric Chopin is renowned as a composer of works with piano, and his gift for idiomatic melodies on that instrument is enough to make even a horn player jealous! If you’ve ever wanted to play some of Chopin’s most well-known melodies on the horn, while also working on flexibility, endurance, phrasing, and other fundamentals, this collection of 6 Studies for solo horn is for you. It includes horn-only versions of the following:

• Mazurka in F Minor, Op. 7, No. 3
• Prelude Op. 28, No. 6
• Prelude Op. 28, No. 15 (The “Raindrop” prelude)
• Polonaise in B-flat Major
• from Fantasie-Impromptu No. 4, Op. 66
• “Largo” from Cello Sonata, Op. 65

These adaptations work quite well on the horn, while retaining the essential character of the original compositions. The range and rhythmic requirements are well within the abilities of an intermediate to advanced player, but achieving the appropriate style and overall effect could prove challenging. My favorite so far is the “Largo” from the Cello Sonata, and I’m looking forward to spending more time with these pieces.

Last in this collection of reviews is a brass trio version of Strauss’s famous tone poem, Till Eulenspiegel. David Jolley’s arrangement is in the original key and requires virtuosic technique from all three players. This arrangement is as close to the original as you can get with only three voices, but it is relentless! Most of the major horn excerpts are included, but there’s so much more: violin parts, clarinet parts, etc. Jolley does a great job of spreading these additional passages around the ensemble, but as there are only three voices everyone is playing most of the time during this nearly 10-minute tour de force. Jolley’s recording with the New York Brass Arts Trio proves that it is playable, and musically at that!

Having played in a brass trio for several years, I know how difficult it can be artistically and technically. With this arrangement and others, David Jolley continues to push the boundaries of what is possible on the horn and for the brass trio. Despite the difficulty, it’s a fantastic arrangement with lots of potential for live performances. Portions of the entire work could be excerpted and included on a lecture recital, for instance. At $15 for the score and parts, it’s a great value.