Recently I came across websites for two well-known
professional horn players, Peter Damm (http://www.hornistpeterdamm.de/en-vita.html)
and Hugh Seenan (http://prohorn.co.uk/). Neither player
requires much in the way of an introduction, except to say that
they are at the top of their field, with numerous recordings,
publications, and other significant contributions. Looking first
at Peter Damm’s website, be sure to check out his publications and scholarly editions of music.
Unfortunately, the articles listed there have not yet been
translated from German, but he does have several articles in
The Horn Call which have been translated.
Another interesting page concerns the instruments Professor Damm has used
over the years for various kinds of repertoire. Here’s a brief
synopsis of the makes and models – with the repertoire played on
them – culled from this page.

• Walter Mönnig,
  single b-flat/single b-flat with A slide: operas, Haydn concertos,
  Weber Concertino, Danzi Concerto, Lortzing Concert Piece
• Engelbert Schmid, single b-flat with A and B slides: solo
  concertos, performances with historic organs
• Engelbert Schmid, double horn with stopping valve:
  orchestral concerts
• Walter Mönnig, descant
  horn in B-flat/F-alto with separate A/E-alto tuning slide: Baroque
  works by Quantz, Zelenka, Heinichen, Telemann, Fasch
• Friedbert Syhre, piccolo horn in F-alto/B-flat alto: horn
  and organ recitals
• Other horns by H. F. Knopf
  and Yamaha: chamber music
• Mouthpieces by
  Wunderlich, Christoph Werner Schmidt, Friedbert Syhre: matched to
  specific instruments

My first thought after
reading and digesting all of this information was “wow, that’s a
lot of horns!” However, when you think about it, matching horns to
repertoire is no different than what trumpet players do (although I
will admit this is an extreme example). The bottom line, though, is
that Damm has found what works for him, and isn’t constrained by
the idea that you have to do everything on one horn and/or
mouthpiece. There’s plenty more great information on this site, and
it’s well worth spending some time on it. Moving on to Hugh
Seenan’s site, it seems to be set up with more of a promotional
(rather than informational) goal in mind. It’s clean, and very
well-designed, with some great audio
clips of Mr. Seenan in action. Another must-read page on
this site is his biography, which contains some
wonderful photographs of the horn sections from the Royal
Philharmonic Orchestra, Scottish National Orchestra, and London
Symphony, as well as several recording sessions. With so much
information available on the web, it’s often tough to separate
useful sites from not-so-useful ones. Finding new (at least to me)
and interesting sites like the ones above is always fun and
refreshing. Have you found any new and/or interesting horn or
brass-related sites lately? Feel free to comment
below.