0:00

I'm John Banther, and this

0:02

is Classical Breakdown. From

0:06

WETA Classical in Washington, we are your guide

0:08

to classical music. In this episode,

0:10

I'm joined by in- demand DC area

0:12

horn player, Chandra Cervantes. She's

0:15

held positions with the United States Army

0:17

Field Band and the Shanghai Broadcasting

0:19

Symphony among others. She's also

0:21

performed extensively with the National Symphony

0:23

Orchestra, the Washington National Opera

0:25

and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and

0:28

she's currently a member of the Maryland Symphony

0:30

Orchestra and Inscape. She also

0:32

teaches at the University of Maryland Baltimore

0:34

College. She tells us all about

0:36

the horn, how it evolved over the centuries,

0:39

the different sounds composers have embraced

0:41

over time, and she plays for us

0:43

some iconic music for the horn you don't

0:45

want to miss. Welcome,

0:50

Chandra. Thank you so much for coming in.

0:52

I am so excited to learn everything

0:55

about the horn that I think I've just been too afraid

0:58

to ask.

0:59

Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited

1:01

to be on a podcast.

1:03

Yes. Well, let's start with a

1:05

question I like to ask I think

1:07

in recent times, and that is, how would you

1:09

describe your instrument, the horn,

1:11

to someone who has never seen

1:14

it before? Maybe they've never been to a

1:16

concert of yours, they've never heard

1:18

a great soundtrack to a movie, I don't know, how would you

1:20

describe it?

1:21

Oh, wow. I was going to reference a

1:23

movie soundtrack right away, because I think that's

1:25

the moment when most people have

1:28

heard a horn, whether they know they're hearing it or not. It's

1:32

that instrument way in the back of an

1:34

ensemble that's a really twisty,

1:37

a brass instrument and

1:39

often used as a decoration

1:42

around the holidays. You've seen one,

1:44

whether you know it or not.

1:45

That's true. They tend to pop up around

1:48

the holidays as ornaments or

1:50

decorations.

1:51

Yes.

1:53

Take us back in time then. When does the horn

1:55

come about? Because as I've been thinking

1:57

about this, it seems like it really is one

1:59

of the oldest, one of the

2:01

most original instruments.

2:03

Absolutely. It has a

2:05

really ancient and beyond

2:08

history, sort of evolved from

2:10

playing on a shell, a conch

2:12

shell or an animal

2:14

horn all the way back into the

2:17

shofar and eventually

2:19

evolved into something

2:22

of a brass instrument as

2:24

a hunting horn, and then eventually to the form we see now.

2:31

I heard that some of the original uses

2:33

going to closer to our society

2:36

in the last thousand years are, as these

2:38

hunting horns to call and

2:40

give directions to the other hunters, even the dogs

2:42

could learn some of these, I guess, calls

2:45

on the horn. Some of the first music we see written

2:47

down is different shapes to

2:49

mimic a horn call. I

2:52

guess, yeah, if you're falling off your horse or getting off a lot,

2:54

you might break this big animal horn, but

2:56

if it's made out of a metal-

2:57

Out of metal, right. Then, they're able to

3:00

sort of shape it in a way that makes it easier

3:02

to carry.

3:03

You're not stuck with the literal shape of however

3:06

the animal grew their horn.

3:07

Exactly, right. That would be difficult to

3:09

fall on.

3:10

How does it make a sound? I

3:12

imagine all other brass instruments,

3:14

you're buzzing into a mouthpiece?

3:16

Yes. We have a mouthpiece like

3:18

all the other brass instruments. It's a little bit

3:20

different shape, a little smaller,

3:23

but yes, same sort of concept

3:26

of lots of air over

3:28

vibrating lips.

3:31

The mouthpiece shape, I'm not even totally

3:33

familiar. I think you said it's shaped a little bit different.

3:35

It's more funnel- shaped?

3:37

That's right, yes.

3:37

Yeah, and for us, like trombone, trumpet, tuba,

3:40

more of a bowl shape like a cereal

3:42

bowl.

3:42

Exactly, yes.

3:44

That probably contributes to the

3:46

sound in some way, because I also notice on the mouthpiece,

3:49

yours is so much smaller,

3:52

the end of it. I guess you call it the throat or the

3:54

boar. You can stick your

3:56

mouthpiece, literally the end of it, into

3:59

the small part of my mouthpiece.

4:00

Yes, it's a huge difference. It's

4:02

very small. It makes it challenging

4:05

to get all of your embouchure,

4:07

which I'm sure we'll talk about, into that, but also

4:10

this funnel

4:13

type shape into the conical

4:15

shape of the horn creates a unique

4:18

sound other than the

4:20

other brass instruments.

4:22

That conical part sounds like

4:24

it is a big important part of making

4:26

it sound different than trumpet or trombone,

4:29

which are cylindrical like a

4:32

can of beans. It's the same size on the top

4:34

versus the bottom.

4:35

That's right.

4:35

Versus a cone, which is what our instruments are made out

4:37

of.

4:37

Yes.

4:38

Yours gets bigger once it leaves

4:41

the mouthpiece the whole way through?

4:42

Yes, gradually grows into that,

4:44

the large bell that you see. If

4:47

you stretch it out, it's a huge

4:50

number of feet. The horns we

4:52

play now are double horns. There's two

4:54

horns swished into one. When you stretch them out,

4:56

it makes 25

4:59

feet or something. I'm not giving you exact

5:01

numbers. It really

5:03

makes this very unique sound

5:05

that you don't hear on the cylindrical

5:08

sound.

5:09

I would also describe the sound as very

5:12

rich and colorful and

5:14

has more texture to it. I

5:17

include my instrument in that too, because it's also conical

5:19

compared to the trumpet and trombone.

5:21

There's like a ripping sound you can get with a

5:23

full section that you don't get with a full section

5:25

of trumpets, for instance.

5:27

Yeah. There is sort of a variance and

5:29

there's sort

5:31

of a natural earthy quality

5:33

about it.

5:35

Earthy, I like that.

5:36

Yeah. I think that's a lot

5:38

of where the natural horn idea

5:40

came from. It was called a natural

5:42

horn early days, and I think a lot of what we do now

5:45

connects to that idea that they emerged

5:48

out of something natural, you hear them in nature.

5:51

Yeah, it's a very unique sound. We have

5:53

a couple other things that make our sound unique.

5:58

For one, we have our bells

6:00

facing backwards, which if you have seen a horn,

6:02

you've probably noticed and wondered

6:04

why, and I think that's probably remnants

6:07

of the hunting horn shape as well,

6:09

where they needed it out of the way

6:11

as they held it over their arm to ride

6:13

a horse, so the bell faces

6:16

back and I think that shape

6:18

comes from there, so we have that.

6:20

You don't want to be sitting on a horse

6:22

and blow a trumpet in its ears.

6:23

That's right. Who knows how they would respond,

6:26

yes. The bell is heading backwards,

6:28

we have that, and then in addition, we

6:31

put our hands into the bell

6:33

and we get that question asked

6:36

a lot, " Why do you put your hands in the bell?" That

6:38

also comes from natural horn

6:40

days when we didn't have valves,

6:43

so we had to, in addition

6:45

to our embouchure, use our hands

6:47

to change the pitch if we wanted any

6:49

sort of chromaticism at all.

6:52

Mm- hmm. Let's start there with the natural

6:54

horn. When you don't have any valves, and

6:57

we're looking really at the Renaissance and the

6:59

Baroque periods, it sounds like there's not

7:01

much from the Renaissance,

7:04

not much from the 17th century survives,

7:06

but we do see the horn being used by

7:08

Baroque composers like Telemann,

7:11

who wrote a lot of different concertos.

7:14

Start us there, the natural horn. There's

7:16

no valves, so you're just using your

7:18

hand, which I've heard a horn player say, " That's to keep the mouse

7:20

inside the instrument." But you're

7:22

using your hand to help your lips

7:25

make some of these notes because you can't play

7:27

all the notes in this time of

7:29

Telemann and Bach. You

7:32

can't just play all of the notes on the horn

7:34

like you can on the piano.

7:35

Right, yeah. These natural

7:37

horns were of a certain

7:39

length, and from that length there's a

7:42

playable harmonic series. Those

7:44

are the only notes that you can make sound, and in

7:46

order to move around to find those notes, you're

7:48

using your embouchure and the size of that

7:51

aperture and your air

7:53

to change the pitches where you

7:56

can. Then, you

7:58

can add the hand in if you want to get

8:00

some extra spice in there,

8:02

some extra notes, but mostly,

8:04

you can create what the length of the

8:07

horn dictates.

8:09

Literally, your horn, we'll try to put a picture as well

8:12

on or some video on the show notes page

8:14

at classicalbreakdown. org. But literally, your hand

8:16

makes different movements

8:18

or shapes inside the bell to

8:20

subtly redirect this air.

8:22

That's right. It sits there regularly

8:25

just to warm up the

8:27

sound, that unique

8:30

horn sound. It's there and

8:32

then it can also affect just basic

8:34

intonation, sharp or flat,

8:36

whether we're sounding matching everybody else.

8:39

Then, before the valves,

8:42

I like to think of the knuckles as a little bit

8:44

of a hinge. I'm no expert on

8:46

natural horn and there are a lot of people who still

8:49

make it work. I like the idea

8:51

that we have valves now. I

8:53

like the evolution, but I like to place

8:55

my hand in a way thinking that

8:57

my knuckles are hinged so that I can

8:59

open or close my hand

9:01

in that way. The different pitches

9:08

are half open all the way close. There's just variations in that.

9:11

It becomes automatic for you.

9:13

For someone who does that.

9:15

We should say, you're talking about now someone

9:19

who does this natural horn stuff. Not

9:21

me, because it's a specialty thing.

9:23

Now, it's a specialty, yes.

9:25

People can do amazing things with it, but

9:28

I think most of us are pretty excited

9:30

that valves happened and that there's some

9:32

ease in that.

9:34

Looking at some of the composers

9:36

at this time period, like Telemann and Bach,

9:38

they're writing for this natural horn with no valves.

9:41

Telemann, it sounds like, loved the horn

9:43

and grabbed it right away. Can

9:45

you talk about how some of his

9:47

music or maybe how the horn sounds in general,

9:50

what's it doing within the orchestra

9:52

or the ensemble?

9:53

Right. Early days, partly

9:55

because of its limitations, it really

9:58

didn't show up much in orchestral plane.

10:01

It did start to appear

10:03

probably in the, I don't

10:06

know, is that the 1600s maybe?

10:06

Mm-hmm.

10:07

Maybe earlier. Occasionally,

10:10

but it seemed like maybe more of a

10:12

prop on stage. You're playing

10:14

the character of what you think a natural

10:17

horn would be doing, and

10:19

then, occasionally into the orchestra.

10:21

But there wasn't a lot of capability

10:25

as far as changing all the pitches and fitting

10:27

in, so that's where all

10:29

the different sizes of horns come in

10:31

and eventually crooks to change the length

10:33

of the horn, so you could add more notes

10:36

as they were getting used more often.

10:39

But yeah, it took a little while.

10:41

Yeah. Let's talk about that for a second,

10:43

because Telemann's writing these

10:46

concertos, and it sounds like even

10:48

as you're saying, as they're coming into this role with the orchestra,

10:51

they're basically just continuing

10:53

the idea of this hunting

10:56

horn calls on horseback.

10:58

It's very fanfare, declamatory- esque

11:00

when the horn comes in. You

11:03

mentioned crooks because

11:06

one concerto was in D major, one

11:08

by Bach that features horns is in F

11:10

major. If you have just one horn,

11:13

you're basically just playing in one key, but you have

11:15

these crooks, it's like tubing you can take

11:17

out and then put a

11:19

shorter one or a longer one into play in a different

11:21

key?

11:21

That's right. That's exactly right. Yeah.

11:24

We were limited to that and

11:26

the notes available with those links,

11:28

so a lot of that early writing you hear

11:30

it sounds, I like to compare them

11:32

to Timpani parts in a way, where you're

11:35

doing a lot of 1 5 1,

11:37

there's only a certain range

11:39

of notes that you can play.

11:42

Yeah, that's the early

11:45

sounds for sure.

11:46

I think this is a point for us as

11:48

modern musicians, I can kind of ... It's

11:51

basically misery loves company, because

11:53

I would bet a significant amount of

11:55

money, Chandra, even

11:58

though we've not seen or played with each other in a while,

12:00

I guarantee at some point you have pulled

12:02

over, stuck your hand in your case to make sure

12:05

your mouthpiece is in your gig bag

12:08

on the way to a concert or something, right?

12:10

That's true, yes.

12:11

I lived with a natural horn player for a little bit

12:14

and she pulled out these, she had these crooks and it's just like,

12:16

that's insane. I'm going to break those.

12:19

For us, when we show up to a gig, the fear

12:21

is your mouthpiece is missing. That

12:23

is literally, you're naked at your exam

12:25

at school. You've shown up-

12:27

You're done.

12:28

Congratulations, you are useless.

12:31

You can't play, yes, exactly.

12:31

Yeah. You've locked your keys inside the spaceship-

12:34

That's right.

12:34

... and now you're stuck.

12:36

That's right. No, sounds available.

12:37

I take some solace and

12:40

good feelings that a couple

12:42

of hundred years ago there were people stopping

12:45

the horse digging through their back, " Oh gosh, do

12:47

I have the G major crook?" Someone

12:49

shows up to the gig, " Hey, Chandra, do you have another D major

12:51

crook?"

12:53

That's probably true.

12:53

" My horse stepped on mine."

12:56

Yeah, I love that.

12:57

The stress, it continues.

12:59

It does. Now, it's gets music mouthpiece

13:02

and then also the horns now, a lot

13:04

of us have our bells cut off, so

13:06

we have to reattach them when we take them out of

13:08

the case.

13:08

That's right.

13:09

That's another thing that I

13:12

am terrified that I've forgotten,

13:14

especially if my case feels a little bit lighter,

13:16

somehow less music in there. " Do

13:19

I have the bell?" Yeah.

13:20

Yeah. Always look for that. When you see

13:22

a horn player show up and they pull their horn out of the case,

13:25

yeah, the bell and the

13:27

body are separate parts and they'll screw

13:29

them together.

13:31

That's right.

13:31

Lots of 1 5 1,

13:33

lots of declamatory type

13:36

things. How does this change going

13:38

into the classical

13:40

area, the later part of the 1700s

13:42

into the early 1800s?

13:45

It sounds like we're stuck with the natural horn

13:47

for a bit, but there's more

13:50

being done for the horn in music.

13:51

Right. I think people were getting a little braver, more

13:53

creative with some chromaticism with the hands.

13:57

People were becoming virtuosic

13:59

at it. You hear it at some of the Mozart's

14:01

concertos. That's

14:04

a lot of notes to make happen with just

14:06

your lips and your hand positions. But

14:09

it wasn't until the early 1800s

14:11

that valves came about. Around 1815,

14:14

1814, somewhere in there,

14:18

valves were added, which

14:20

changed everything.

14:22

We get more parts that use

14:24

chromaticism that require the use of changing

14:28

your hand. Sometimes it sounds like you're forcing

14:30

the notes a little bit. You'll know you're hearing

14:32

a recording of perhaps

14:34

a symphony. I think I like the

14:36

Hunting symphony by Leopold Mozart,

14:39

Wolfgang's father. He wrote that in 1756.

14:42

That has a lot of hunting horn aspects

14:45

in it as well. Haydn's Horn Concerto

14:47

in 1762, that

14:50

one's very low- sounding, but when you're listening

14:52

to these, you can tell is it natural

14:54

horn or not? Because you'll hear some notes suddenly

14:57

sound very, very different. Even

14:59

thinking about Beethoven's Symphony No. 5,

15:02

glorious horn parts. Almost

15:05

everyone hears it with a modern

15:07

horn today, but when you hear it with a natural horn,

15:09

it is also glorious, but you'll hear sudden

15:12

shifts in the sound because the whole

15:14

section is having to do something to

15:16

alter the sound to get the pitch to happen. But

15:19

then, we see with Mozart, Haydn

15:21

and Beethoven, now it's used in, well, as you said,

15:24

all different parts in all different expressions,

15:26

even though you might be limited by the chromaticism

15:29

without valves. But as you said in the

15:31

middle of the 1800s, we do

15:33

get valves, and it sounds like that changes

15:36

everything for composers.

15:37

It really does, and I think people started

15:40

to pay attention to it a little bit more for that

15:42

use. before, like we said,

15:44

it was more of referencing their

15:46

history where they came from, natural horn

15:48

sound, that kind of thing, and then eventually,

15:52

we're available to do whatever

15:55

you can imagine. Although

16:03

there were some composers, like Brahms for example,

16:05

famously still loved the sound of

16:08

the natural horn and preferred

16:10

that you either play it

16:12

with that vibe or even

16:15

on a natural horn, he really liked

16:17

that sound.

16:18

That was like for 50 years after about, yeah.

16:19

That went on, yeah.

16:21

The valves seem like power

16:24

steering to me. You can

16:26

race, you can drive without power steering,

16:28

they did it back in the day, but you really want

16:31

power steering. You want to be able to move

16:33

your car and your steering wheel easily

16:35

anyway, which you want, and now it sounds like with

16:37

the valves, that makes it

16:40

pretty, pretty simple. This is for all the instruments too,

16:42

the brass. The trumpet gets valves. The

16:45

tuba is invented with valves,

16:47

basically. It's a big changing

16:49

point, but especially for the horn.

16:52

Yeah, I like that comparison. That's funny, it does.

16:54

Yes, it does make things easier. Although,

16:57

essentially, what happens with valves

16:59

for all of us, is that we have

17:02

a bunch of different horns all mushed

17:04

into one. Every valve combination

17:06

creates a different length of horn, and

17:09

on that length you can play a certain

17:11

number of notes. You have to

17:13

be able to, within one valve combination,

17:16

cover a lot of range. You're

17:19

still harkening back to that idea

17:21

of a natural horn, but yes, it is

17:24

just no comparison in my opinion.

17:27

Some incredible works from this time period.

17:30

One would be, I think, Schumann's

17:33

Concertstück for four horns. Just

17:35

the opening of that is just mesmerizing.

17:39

Also, Richard Strauss, Wagner,

17:41

Bruckner, everyone just starts writing. Mahler

17:44

also later on. The

17:47

horn is really rising into its

17:49

own, but still very, very heroic

17:52

I think.

17:52

Yeah, that was quite a

17:54

heyday. All those composers just have written

17:57

some of the most amazing,

18:00

heroic, the

18:02

lover, the hero

18:04

in every sense, the villain.

18:07

They're covering all of the personalities

18:10

now and just have written some of the most

18:12

glorious music you can hear.

18:14

How do

18:20

those parts compare as you just

18:22

described? How do they compare to something like

18:24

the trumpet, which is, we should mention

18:26

the range as well. The range is huge on the horn

18:29

more so than the trumpet

18:31

basically, but how does it sound or how are the parts

18:33

written differently for horn compared to trumpet

18:36

you think?

18:37

Well, as you said, we're covering a lot more

18:39

range. We say we have a section

18:41

usually, so the orchestra eventually,

18:45

Beethoven and beyond started to move into

18:48

bigger horn section, so the standard

18:51

horn section is forced, and

18:53

within that, often, the first and third

18:55

are playing high, second and fourth are

18:57

playing low. That also speaking

19:00

back to the time where you had to bring your right

19:02

size crook, so you're operating

19:04

in pairs of people who have matching

19:08

crooks. There's four of us, first

19:10

and third play high, the second and fourth play

19:13

low, and so we're really covering

19:16

a very broad range

19:18

of, like you said. But then

19:20

also, just the character. I think that the

19:23

horn is used to represent

19:25

so many different things in music, and so

19:28

we have that flexibility as well with

19:30

the very lyrical, gorgeous

19:32

sounding moments. They're

19:35

very technical and light

19:38

and you think of, these are all Strauss,

19:40

Mahler, they're bringing it all, but the

19:42

beginning of Till, for example, where there's

19:44

the mischievous character, so

19:47

that we are able to address

19:49

all those styles now.

19:50

I think

19:52

one of the big differences, and maybe you don't

19:54

even notice this as a horn player,

19:57

is how not auxiliary

19:59

the horn sounds compared to trumpets,

20:01

trombone, tuba, everyone

20:03

else in the back row. Because when there's interaction

20:05

with violins, when there's interaction with the

20:07

woodwind section, if there's going to be

20:09

a brass section interacting with it, it's

20:11

almost always horn. Thinking

20:14

of Bruckner 4, where

20:16

there's so many moments where it's like the horn itself

20:18

as a director on stage helping

20:20

everyone shape lines. You don't

20:22

really hear that with other instruments compared to the horn.

20:24

That's right. The horn has become

20:27

the one to bridge the gap. A

20:30

lot of our writing is either

20:32

with the brass section where

20:34

it's big and maybe loud,

20:37

maybe fanfare light, all that kind

20:39

of, " Oh, Bruckner has these lovely chorales,

20:41

it's beautiful." But then, we also

20:44

play lots of lines with the woodwind

20:46

section, so we can have that

20:48

lighter feel, more technical,

20:51

more pure sound that will blend with

20:54

the woodwinds a little bit better as well,

20:56

so yeah, we do bridge that

20:58

gap.

20:59

Something else you mentioned, which is really unlike

21:02

any section I think is, you said

21:04

one and three is playing high

21:06

and two and four is playing low.

21:09

There's low horn playing, there's high

21:12

horn playing, there's these different segments

21:15

or distinctions that I'm

21:17

not even totally fully aware of, but there's people who

21:19

specialize in low

21:21

horn, I guess because the range is so huge as well.

21:23

There's some people who specialize in the higher playing or the lower

21:26

playing?

21:26

I think yes, that has been

21:29

that way for quite a while. But

21:31

these days, I think it's changing.

21:33

For one, I've played a lot of new

21:36

compositions where maybe the message

21:38

hasn't been shared,

21:41

and so they'll write top-

21:44

down, which seems sensible. First

21:47

is high, then second, then third and low. If

21:50

you're on fourth, you're low one

21:52

way or another. But sometimes, I'll sit

21:54

down to play a second part with a new composition

21:56

and wonder, " Why am I playing so high? I'm

21:58

ready to play low." But I would say

22:00

that now, the

22:03

level of playing has become

22:06

so incredible. People

22:09

can do anything. There's no limitations, there's

22:11

no story about what you can and cannot do on

22:13

the horn. People

22:17

are playing high, they're playing low. I don't think

22:19

there's as much specializing unless

22:21

you, I guess, sit in an orchestra

22:23

section, where you're only going to play second

22:26

horn for the rest of time. Then

22:28

yes, obviously, you'll be specialized in that.

22:30

But for me, for example,

22:32

as a freelancer, I

22:35

feel I need to be able to sit down and play

22:38

whatever is there in front of me. If

22:40

it's high, if it's low, if it's technical, if

22:42

it's lyrical, if it's modern,

22:44

stopped horn, all the things that happen,

22:47

those all need to be available.

22:50

It sounds like the trend with everything else

22:53

in modern times, you have to do

22:55

it all.

22:56

Do it all, I know. I feel things

22:58

used to be simpler.

22:59

Well, sticking with this time period and something like

23:02

that, what about an

23:04

assistant? Different countries

23:06

and orchestras have different traditions, but

23:08

for example, if you're playing maybe a

23:10

big Bruckner Symphony, where the first horn

23:12

player has a lot of solo parts, oftentimes,

23:15

they will have an assistant, someone else playing that

23:18

they can wave off to play

23:20

parts that they don't need to play.

23:22

They need to be ready for the big solos, the principal player.

23:24

That's right. That is something that the horn section

23:26

does. I don't think that many other sections

23:29

really operate that way. It's

23:31

true. It can be really taxing

23:33

to get through some of those bigger pieces

23:36

and all of a sudden, as

23:38

the soloist, you emerge and you want

23:40

to be prepared and rested, so yes,

23:42

the assistant will come to either cover

23:45

you in spots where you're resting

23:47

or to boost the volume at

23:49

some point, so you don't have to play as

23:51

loud. Yeah, basically

23:53

just spelling you when you need to take a break,

23:56

and that's for the first horn spot.

23:58

I didn't even think about that too much in terms of

24:00

dynamics as well. You can sit

24:02

back a little bit and rest literally while you're

24:04

playing, while they're playing a louder dynamic

24:07

to make up for it.

24:08

Sure, yeah. Then, we're

24:10

having to compensate for that if you want

24:12

to boost the section all around, first

24:14

different halls and what we're playing

24:16

into with our backwards facing bell,

24:19

so there's a lot of factors to consider

24:21

as to how you're going to use an assistant.

24:25

You mentioned double horn

24:28

earlier. There's actually multiple

24:30

kinds of horns. Explain that

24:32

real quick because there's a single horn, there's

24:34

a double horn. There's another

24:36

one I'll talk to you afterwards, but what is that? A

24:38

single horn and a double horn?

24:40

Right. Eventually, the horn settled

24:42

into two different keys. There

24:44

will be a single F or a single

24:47

B flat. F is a longer

24:49

instrument, so maybe more

24:52

classically horn sound and comfortable

24:55

in the lower registers, that warm

24:57

quality. B flat is a smaller

25:00

instrument, so it will be

25:02

lending itself toward higher pitches,

25:05

more pointed sound,

25:07

more direct. The

25:09

horns that we now play on as professionals

25:12

are double horns, which essentially

25:15

smushes those two together. Then,

25:17

we have an extra valve, a thumb valve

25:20

that we use to switch in between those

25:22

two horns. As you're learning

25:24

horn, you'll learn

25:26

that from bottom

25:29

of the staff down, you play on the F

25:31

horn and from there up,

25:33

you switch to B flat horn, we call

25:35

it B horn, to make

25:38

it easier.

25:39

It's literally a whole extra

25:41

set of tubing. When you push

25:43

down the first valve, there's a set of tubing for the F

25:46

horn, then a set for the B flat horn.

25:47

That's right, and so when you see the horn, you can see

25:50

the valves. The valve slides

25:52

stacked on top of each other. Now,

25:56

there are even triple horns. They've

25:58

been around for a while.

25:59

Someone's trying to make money.

26:01

Well, I think they are. There's

26:05

triple horns. I think they have a high F

26:07

or a high E flat side even. There's

26:10

a horn called a descant horn, which is

26:12

a small horn. A triple horn

26:14

is like that got stacked

26:16

on as well. You

26:18

have an additional thumb valve that

26:20

switches you to the even higher

26:22

register. Horn is notoriously

26:25

difficult for picking out high notes.

26:28

Even the composers love to write that. A

26:31

triple horn just gives you that

26:33

little bit of extra comfort level

26:35

up there, still not easy.

26:39

That's one of the hard things that many may

26:41

not realize is, once you get higher

26:44

up, what we call partials,

26:46

they get smaller and smaller. If you look at a piano,

26:49

look how big a difference

26:51

is. It is between a string on the very, very

26:53

low end and maybe even one next

26:55

to it. It might be a couple inches shorter,

26:58

but once you get up really high to the top part of those

27:00

notes on the piano, maybe it's only a few millimeters

27:02

of a difference in the string. Transfer this

27:04

to a brass instrument like a horn,

27:07

you have to be able to slot. It's almost like thinking

27:09

about throwing a dart and

27:11

you got to hit this one little spot.

27:13

Yeah, it is a lot like throwing a dart. It can

27:16

be terrifying. But yeah, so it's so

27:18

close together up there. We have the one

27:20

valve combination down, and

27:22

we're trained to be able to play different

27:25

notes with just the slightest change of our embouchure,

27:27

so somehow you have to put that valve

27:30

down and pick the right one

27:33

right in the middle there. It's

27:35

challenging for sure.

27:36

The embouchure, that's just that little opening

27:40

we make with our lips and how we use our muscles

27:42

to produce these sounds.

27:44

Right, how we set up our face and our lips to

27:46

play. Then, there's the opening,

27:49

the aperture there, that gets smaller

27:52

or larger for higher or lower.

27:54

I've not set it yet, but maybe people can infer,

27:57

the horn is the diva of

28:00

the back half of the orchestra, I think.

28:01

What are you saying?

28:02

I say that because it's so, you're

28:05

playing all these extraordinary parts.

28:07

It's very difficult, it's getting more

28:10

complicated. It just looks like if

28:12

you're playing Bruckner 4, I'm not going to be looking at you

28:14

and talking to you in your face

28:17

five minutes before a concert.

28:19

I'm going to look at the ground and just walk

28:21

by Chandra before

28:23

she plays Bruckner 4.

28:24

Oh my gosh, yes. That's

28:27

true. It is really a

28:29

delicate existence. We

28:34

have our fragile egos and all of that.

28:38

I think the

28:40

story is that a good conductor

28:43

knows not to address

28:45

or look at a horn player before solos.

28:47

Even if they're cueing them in, maybe they're not

28:49

really going to make eye contact, because

28:52

there's so much set up and mental

28:56

gymnastics and physical

28:58

aspects before you just play this

29:01

one note out of nowhere that we

29:04

need to be babied.

29:05

You don't need to be looking at and trying to interpret

29:08

a different facial expression coming at you from

29:10

a conductor.

29:11

No, and just the timing of it. If you look

29:13

away, then maybe you're not going to have

29:15

to worry quite where they're going to hit, but

29:18

yeah.

29:19

It is often a very high- paid position,

29:21

principal horn, by comparison.

29:23

Yes. It's a tricky one

29:25

to fill that spot in orchestras.

29:29

It takes a very, very

29:32

specific type of person. You got to have some

29:35

real courage and

29:37

be able to deal with the day- to- day

29:39

like on the spot pressure

29:42

all the time, yeah.

29:44

Let's go into the 20th century and

29:47

how the horn is used

29:49

today. I imagine a big part of the change is,

29:52

well, we have movies.

29:54

Movies. Yes, I think movies

29:57

have created some of

29:59

the most fun, exciting repertoire

30:01

we have on horn. John Williams, of

30:03

course, which most people know.

30:06

He's written for so many movies. It's sort

30:08

of built in. Sometimes we don't even realize, " Oh,

30:10

that was John Williams too." Everything was John Williams.

30:13

He's written some incredible

30:15

stuff for horn, which we all have

30:17

so much fun playing.

30:19

The horn is really running the gamut, doing

30:22

everything to make different

30:25

sounds in the 20th century.

30:28

There is huge moments in film

30:30

scores, heroic. It seems

30:32

like it took a lot of cues also

30:34

from opera. A lot of, of course, early music

30:37

for film took cues from there,

30:39

but especially the horn, how it's

30:42

heroic. I think Lord of the Rings, there's

30:45

all these-

30:45

So lush.

30:47

Star Wars, yeah.

30:48

Yeah, Star Wars, it's everything.

30:51

Lord of the Rings is really beautiful. I

30:54

see it a lot where it's like they're covering

30:56

vast landscapes and you can just

30:58

hear this thick horn section,

31:01

that natural sound again. I

31:04

was thinking at some point, " How does horn

31:06

show up in movies?" It really is, there was

31:08

just a list of every kind of character that

31:10

we show up, as you said. There's fanfare

31:13

moments. There's these lyrical,

31:16

like Princess Leia has this beautiful lyrical

31:19

horn solo. There's the

31:21

swashbuckling pirates

31:23

and there's the dashing

31:26

hero. That's

31:28

the horn. Or even just solemn, forlorn

31:31

movements. If there's a scene

31:33

where, I don't know, someone has died or you

31:36

hear that, it's just from

31:38

out of nowhere dark,

31:40

warm sound. We

31:43

show up for all of it, and it makes

31:46

it really fun to play.

31:55

One type of sound

31:57

and technique we haven't touched on, and I wonder if it's used

31:59

a lot in the 20th century, and that is stopped

32:02

horn. That's a totally different

32:04

sound. I don't know anything other

32:06

than I sit in rehearsals and I hear it. It

32:09

sounds like your hand is just totally stuffed

32:11

inside the bell, and it's just stopping

32:14

all the air?

32:14

Yeah. Speaking of different characters,

32:16

that's another one too. When we play stopped horn,

32:19

it sounds like a

32:23

buzzing bee. It

32:26

creates that really sizzly,

32:28

brassy sound. Sometimes

32:32

it's referred to as brass mute,

32:34

because if we aren't using our hand, there's also

32:36

a mute that creates the same thing called brass mute.

32:39

It's a tiny little brass mute. Now, they're

32:42

made of other things as well, but with a tiny

32:44

little bell of its own, and it

32:46

gets that really buzzy sound. Yes,

32:49

you're right though, we basically

32:51

want to seal up the bell as

32:54

well as we can. Then,

32:57

we have to give that extra

32:59

oomph to just drive the air through the

33:01

instrument. But it also changes

33:04

the length of the instrument when we do that

33:06

essentially, so we have to

33:08

use a different valve combination, so we have to

33:10

transpose. We play the note, but we

33:12

put down the valves for the

33:14

half step lower.

33:16

Okay, I didn't know that.

33:17

Yeah.

33:17

Yeah.

33:19

If someone wanted to demonstrate, you'll

33:22

hear as the hand is getting closed,

33:24

just like they were doing before with the different

33:26

amount of open and close to get different notes.

33:28

As the hand is closing, sealing up

33:30

that air, you hear the pitch change.

33:33

Okay, I love it. I think we're

33:36

going to hear you play in just a moment right

33:38

after we take a quick break. Classical

33:44

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33:46

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all that and more at wetaclassical.

34:06

org. Okay.

34:09

Chandra, now a moment I and I think

34:12

everyone's been waiting for. We're excited to

34:14

hear you play the horn. What's

34:16

the first thing you're going to play for us?

34:18

The first thing that I chose

34:20

was this

34:23

Handel aria from Caesar

34:25

in Egypt. It's called,

34:27

the arrangement I'm playing, they gave

34:29

it a title, I See a Huntsman, but it translates

34:32

to How Silently, How Slyly.

34:33

That was so

36:17

beautiful, Chandra, and we're

36:19

seeing the horn in all different kinds

36:21

of roles already, as you're putting

36:23

the horn in the spotlight here in an aria

36:25

from Handel. Tell us a little bit

36:28

about this and with

36:30

the horn.

36:32

This is an arrangement that's just

36:34

meant to be for solo horn and piano

36:37

now. I thought this was interesting,

36:39

because it is actually

36:41

this in the opera, but

36:44

a different key. It's

36:46

an interesting use of horns, still

36:48

sort of looking back at, " Oh, here's horn

36:51

as the natural horn, the hunting horn,"

36:53

referencing that character. But

36:56

actually having this very

36:58

soloistic part, and

37:00

then eventually we move into having it

37:02

sit in the orchestra.

37:04

One thing that grabbed me was how

37:07

you, but also the sound

37:09

of the horn works so well, in

37:11

an aria like this compared to my instrument,

37:14

for example. I think that's because, when

37:16

you have those moments, the da- da-

37:18

da- da-da-da, these

37:20

sighs that happened in the music, they

37:22

feel so natural

37:24

and maybe more vocal- esque

37:27

in a way, more compact. I think it's that

37:29

compact nature of the sound that

37:31

makes it sound much more naturally

37:33

Baroque or much more in the style,

37:35

I think compared to if a trumpet played it.

37:38

I think it's that idea again

37:41

where horn covers a lot

37:43

of different characters. But I

37:45

also think that that horn,

37:47

and maybe it is for other instruments as well,

37:49

but I feel like it's very vocal.

37:52

For a brief moment, I took a few

37:54

lessons with the singer

37:57

and some of the mechanics that they

37:59

talk about the way that they're making

38:01

sound resonate and moving air

38:04

and where they're focusing and their face

38:06

are really similar to what I think

38:08

works on playing the horn as well. I

38:12

think now we're making up for lost time. When

38:14

this opera happened, we weren't getting

38:17

really those kind of roles, and so

38:19

it's really fun to get to play arrangements.

38:22

Not just as this actually was representative

38:26

of what was in the opera, but we also

38:28

play a lot of transcriptions of other music,

38:30

of arias, anything that we didn't

38:32

get to play before, it's always fun to go

38:34

back. Even like Bach cello suites, for example.

38:37

I know a lot of instruments do that, but it's so

38:39

fun to get to go back with

38:41

what we have now and try to

38:43

create those different characters.

38:46

Being naturally vocalistic

38:48

with the horn, I'm wondering,

38:51

does your breath last the same amount of time when you're singing

38:53

as you're playing the horn? Because it's so much higher,

38:56

I feel you can play for a much longer time.

38:59

I guess I don't have a definitive

39:01

answer for that. I think the phrasing,

39:04

the range, the

39:06

volume, whatever is involved

39:09

is going to dictate that. I

39:11

think the mechanics of the horn

39:14

are slightly different in that sense, so I think

39:16

with a singer, maybe you're thinking more about

39:19

the lyrics and maybe that extends

39:21

a phrase in a different way than we might

39:23

need to breathe to make something work

39:26

differently. I

39:28

can't make that comparison exactly,

39:30

but I imagine it's similar,

39:33

uses a lot of air and a lot of support.

39:36

What is the next thing you're going to play for

39:38

us?

39:39

Okay. The next thing

39:42

that I'm going to play is a

39:44

brief little excerpt of

39:47

Mahler's First Symphony

39:50

in the 1st movement.

40:31

Now, you're just showing off, Chandra, with this

40:33

heroic Mahler stuff.

40:35

That is I feel like what the horn

40:38

is made for. This

40:40

is one of the most glorious moments coming in the

40:43

1st movement, and it's just you're

40:46

making me want to switch instruments.

40:48

Well, tuba does

40:50

like to play some of the horn repertoire.

40:52

Yes, that's true.

40:53

We're stealing from earlier, you're stealing from

40:55

a ... yeah. I

40:58

like playing this excerpt. I played

41:00

the second part actually, so it doesn't go

41:02

up quite as high as the first part. I

41:05

really like that flashy technicality.

41:09

That's something I've always enjoyed playing

41:11

around with, and that's something that not

41:14

everyone feels super comfortable with, especially

41:16

when it comes to extended technique

41:18

and double tonguing and things. It's

41:20

that flash, it's the heroism of the

41:22

horn. It really builds up into this huge

41:25

moment, and yeah, it's exciting.

41:29

Is there anything that Mahler does special

41:32

or unique to horn

41:34

in his symphonies compared to others

41:36

at this time?

41:39

He's just so individual.

41:41

I think it's maybe just pushing

41:44

the horn to the limit of its capabilities.

41:48

It's a big section.

41:50

Yes. He often uses a lot

41:52

of horns. Some Mahler one, I

41:54

think is, I'm blanking, eight

41:56

maybe?

41:58

But I have another question that relates

42:00

to Mahler when people see, sometimes horns

42:04

put their bells in the air.

42:05

All right.

42:06

Bells up, bells up. What is this?

42:09

That's right. Bells up, so that literally

42:11

just means that we lift our bells

42:13

into the air while we're playing

42:15

and it just brings ... well, it's

42:18

the visual, that's exciting.

42:20

But then also, the

42:23

quality of sound changes. It's very vibrant,

42:25

it's very piercing. Then, even at

42:28

the end of Mahler 1, we stand up. We

42:30

literally stand up on stage, the

42:33

whole horn section, and that pretty

42:35

much never happens.

42:37

All this from a section that

42:39

doesn't even want you to look at them when they enter.

42:43

Here I am putting my instrument in the air

42:45

out of, no, I'm going to stand up the orchestra.

42:47

Yeah.

42:48

Anyone else would get fired if you just stood up and started

42:50

playing in the orchestra.

42:50

I know.

42:51

But that's a funny thing, that's just with horn, with

42:54

Mahler especially, where I guess it just brings

42:56

the sound up in terms of getting

42:59

out over the orchestra. It propels

43:01

it into the air more. It's huge.

43:07

It is huge and tricky.

43:07

Okay. What is something else you can play for

43:09

us?

43:09

I'm going to play

43:12

another excerpt. It's a big

43:14

horn call, a section horn call

43:16

from Strauss, Don

43:18

Juan.

43:56

This sounds like another big glorious

43:59

moment. Strauss uses

44:01

the horns different than Mahler,

44:04

and the more you listen to these two, you can hear how,

44:06

well, it sounds very characteristic like

44:08

you're playing a character here in the music.

44:10

That's right. He's famous for his

44:13

tone poems, which are basically

44:15

pieces that are trying to tell a specific

44:17

story. This is Don

44:20

Juan, the Lover, the

44:22

Player. This is one of his big heroic

44:24

moments. This one's fun because the whole horn

44:27

section gets to do it. It's very lush,

44:29

it's very lyric and thick and

44:33

just full of character.

44:36

I played a second

44:38

part again. I guess I'm addicted to

44:40

the second horn part, so

44:42

it doesn't go quite as high at the end, but everything

44:44

else is a unison horn section, so it really

44:46

just comes to the fore all of a sudden.

44:57

Do you ever get sick

45:00

of playing music like

45:02

this? For some people, myself

45:04

included, if I listen to a lot of Strauss,

45:06

it's like, " Okay, like this, but I need a little bit of a break."

45:09

Or is it for the horn like, "

45:11

I love this. I'm never going to stop playing

45:13

this"?

45:14

I think that the latter. I think as a horn

45:18

player, Strauss, Mahler,

45:21

Brahms, there's certain composers

45:24

that you can't really, I

45:26

don't think you can get sick of. But the thing

45:29

is, unless you're playing full-

45:31

time in an orchestra, and even

45:33

then, certain pieces

45:35

don't come up all that often, so it's

45:37

always a treat to get to. I

45:39

haven't played a tone poem in a while in context.

45:42

That's always such a pleasure. Mahler symphonies

45:45

are always incredible.

45:48

It's such a journey. Bruckner, oh my gosh.

45:50

Some of my most poignant moments

45:52

have been with Bruckner

45:54

on stage. Yeah,

45:57

I don't think I can get sick of it, but there's certainly

45:59

a variety of other things to play that

46:02

are also enjoyable.

46:04

One of them, I imagine, might be some

46:07

film score stuff.

46:08

Absolutely.

46:09

I don't want you to leave here without playing something

46:12

from a film score. You

46:15

have to play something from perhaps

46:18

John Williams?

46:18

Sure, of course. John Williams, he's the

46:20

classic, and he's written so many

46:22

amazing film scores and has horn music

46:24

that has just, it's part of the repertoire

46:26

now. This is just a little excerpt

46:29

from Raiders of the Lost Ark,

46:31

and it's actually an arrangement

46:34

written for a horn solo

46:36

book. As a student, you're

46:38

able to have

46:40

an arrangement that maybe isn't quite as

46:42

technically difficult as

46:45

the orchestral parts themselves, but you

46:47

still get the pleasure of playing the style

46:49

and character. You

47:28

can hear in this arrangement

47:31

that it's a little bit different rhythmically.

47:35

That has to be simplified a

47:37

little bit to be accessible to

47:39

a wide range of levels.

47:42

John Williams music can get really

47:44

challenging, really technical, so this is a

47:47

slightly simplified, but still get

47:49

the same energy and fun out of it.

47:51

Yeah. I think people don't realize how

47:53

hard John Williams is, and

47:56

especially the double- tonguing. That's when you are

47:58

doing triple- tonguing in these very fast

48:02

things that rip into little

48:04

grace notes into an entrance. It's

48:07

very, very difficult. The

48:09

book you were talking about, it's like for

48:12

horn and piano. You see these in music stores. If

48:14

you play an instrument, you can walk in and

48:16

see John Williams and it's like

48:18

all these different tunes and you can just start playing all these tunes. It's a lot of fun, I do it.

48:24

I do it too, I love it. It's something that I really encourage

48:26

in my students as well, because I want them to

48:28

find something that is just

48:30

fun for them to play, something they can connect

48:33

to on a different level than just trying

48:35

to learn the technical aspects of an instrument.

48:38

It's great.

48:39

But you'll just find some of the rhythms changed

48:42

a little bit, maybe in a different key a little

48:44

bit more.

48:45

That's (inaudible) .

48:46

You don't have to be a professional

48:48

principal horn player and some

48:51

big symphony to play your favorite

48:53

moments from Star Wars

48:55

or something.

48:55

That's right. It's out there.

48:57

I love it.

48:57

Everything's out there for you.

48:59

Let's talk now about some

49:02

of the groups that you've played with that you've

49:04

been a member of. You were in the

49:06

US Army Field Band,

49:08

one of the premier military bands

49:11

here in the DC area.

49:13

I'm wondering, what did that entail?

49:16

What was that job like? Your rank,

49:18

I guess, all of that? Tell us

49:20

about that.

49:21

Okay. Well, that is what landed me

49:23

in this area. It is one of the

49:25

special bands, and every military

49:28

branch has a special band here in DC.

49:31

Army actually has two. They

49:33

have one that operates within

49:35

the beltway out of

49:38

Fort Meyer. Then, the field

49:40

band that I was in is up

49:42

at Fort Meade, and they

49:45

essentially travel around the country

49:47

playing concerts, so we're on the road.

49:49

When I was in, and this has been a while back, but when

49:52

I was in, I would say we were on the road

49:54

probably for about four months

49:56

of the year, broken

49:58

up into a few different tours. As

50:00

I was getting out,

50:03

chamber music tours

50:05

were starting to pop up as well. Who

50:08

knows? It's probably developed

50:10

even since then, but I did get an

50:12

opportunity to travel

50:14

with the horn quartet some. There

50:17

was a lot of traveling. Didn't

50:20

quite feel like you lived anywhere for a

50:22

while.

50:23

Because some of the military band jobs here

50:26

are, yeah, you're here and you're never going anywhere

50:28

else, and for some like you,

50:30

it is, you are gone. You are on

50:32

the road playing these concerts. I actually remember

50:35

seeing the US Army Field Band

50:37

at a festival or something. The

50:40

touring is quite intense

50:42

and there's probably a mission

50:44

associated with that playing throughout

50:47

the United States.

50:47

Yeah. I think, when I was doing it, I think we

50:50

had different oversight then. We

50:52

were basically advertising

50:54

for the Army. We were a PR for

50:56

the Army for sure, and we were out there reaching

50:58

out to people who

51:00

wouldn't necessarily see a concert,

51:03

wouldn't necessarily have interaction

51:06

with any military, so

51:08

it was interesting. Honestly, I

51:10

traveled the whole country. I've

51:12

been to every state

51:15

except for Hawaii. Still

51:17

need to get to Hawaii, but I've been to every state.

51:20

You've seen pockets of the country that you

51:22

might not otherwise, and sometimes that was

51:24

great, sometimes it was challenging, but that

51:27

part was really interesting. Yeah,

51:30

I felt like I got ... It

51:33

felt valuable to bring

51:36

something to people that they obviously

51:38

were excited about and appreciated.

51:42

How big is the horn section

51:44

in a band compared to an orchestra?

51:48

It's really similar. A

51:51

professional orchestra may

51:53

carry five to six, and I think when

51:56

I was in, there was about six,

51:58

can't remember. But it was the same,

52:01

operated in a very similar way,

52:03

where someone would play assistant.

52:06

We rotated around more,

52:09

so we weren't necessarily just playing one

52:12

spot all the time. Even

52:15

also, I got to have the opportunity to

52:17

solo with the band as well, which

52:19

is very cool because as

52:22

a freelancer standing in front

52:25

of an orchestra or band soloing doesn't

52:27

come up as often. That

52:29

was an incredible experience, to go on

52:31

the road with as the soloist

52:34

as well. It was really fun.

52:36

I don't even know this. Are the parts the

52:39

same like in orchestra, one and three

52:41

is high, two and four is low?

52:42

Generally, yes.

52:43

Generally, okay, so that carried over into there.

52:46

Yes. We played a lot of orchestral

52:48

rep as well. Now,

52:51

there's just incredible arrangers around

52:54

that can just make anything happen

52:56

and back then too. We,

52:59

in orchestra, often see

53:01

things that cross over. We all

53:03

play Stars and Stripes. We all play a lot of marches

53:06

at certain occasions. There

53:08

was one exciting one that sticks

53:10

in my head from there, which I thought maybe

53:12

it was even written for the field band, but I could

53:14

be wrong. Anyway, it's called American Overture and it has

53:16

a really fun horn rip. Kind of like the Don

53:19

Juan, but faster. It

53:22

has that really, it's

53:24

very flashy, very fun to play on

53:26

horn. Super challenging.

53:29

You are also teaching as

53:32

well, right?

53:32

Yes. I teach

53:34

privately at home, but I also am

53:37

the horn lecturer at UMBC

53:40

and also teach at the

53:42

Levine school.

53:45

How have you seen that change

53:47

or if there's been any changes over

53:49

the years, like when I was in band, the

53:51

tuba parts are so bad in terms of like,

53:54

they're barely, not even that.

53:56

It's just like a whole note rest for 16

53:58

measures, something like that, and now, there's

54:00

more involvement. I'm wondering if

54:02

you've seen any changes over the years?

54:05

Yeah. Of course, there's that expansion

54:07

of repertoire. So many more

54:10

people are writing for horns and so many

54:12

more situations

54:14

that horn can show up in. That's one thing I love

54:17

about freelancing and teaching, is

54:19

that there's such a variety

54:21

in what I do. Even I was telling

54:23

you, I just finished up a recording

54:25

session, doing an album with a big brass

54:27

ensemble. I spent the summer

54:29

playing orchestra and some chamber

54:31

music and opera.

54:34

There's a lot of smaller groups

54:37

like Inscape for example, that have

54:39

mixed instrumentation and

54:42

also doing shows. I've been doing

54:44

a lot of shows in the area now, which is amazing.

54:47

Being part of this whole,

54:49

it's very exciting. There's just so many

54:51

different things you can do on horn, and

54:53

I think and hope that students

54:56

coming out of college now have a

54:58

broader perspective about what

55:00

they're going to do in the world. When

55:03

I was graduating from school, it was

55:05

sort of, you play in an orchestra

55:07

or you're not a professional musician

55:11

vibe. Obviously, that's not true.

55:13

There's plenty of people making a

55:15

living as a musician

55:17

that don't have a regular spot somewhere.

55:20

I really think around here for sure,

55:22

the music

55:24

scene thrives on freelancers.

55:27

They definitely fill a significant

55:29

role. I

55:32

worry that people

55:34

will have tunnel vision about what they can do, and

55:37

I don't think that's the case as much anymore.

55:39

I think it's still there, and

55:41

that can be what someone wants. You want to go

55:43

and be in an orchestra, awesome. Yeah, it's awesome.

55:46

But there is so many more

55:48

ways to do it. People

55:51

have become so creative. Here

55:54

we are, you have your podcast

55:56

and there's just so many different things you can do as

55:58

a musician in music. I

56:02

can't speak to all programs, but I do hope

56:04

that there's a broader take

56:07

on those possibilities

56:09

and maybe talking about business

56:12

or, I don't know, that

56:15

kind of thing, entrepreneurship or whatever

56:17

it is that inspires you

56:19

to get out there and find your place

56:21

in the world, I think

56:24

is important. I also think

56:26

that just a holistic

56:28

approach toward

56:31

the person is really important now.

56:35

So much of what we do is just

56:37

having a good mental place. Mental

56:40

preparation and confidence

56:43

and also the physicality of

56:45

it is really important, and we have to

56:48

know how to take care of our bodies

56:50

in that way, so that they're ready

56:52

to step into whatever role.

56:55

I do try to talk about that a

56:57

lot with my students. Even the first thing I do

56:59

every day, which is a popular

57:01

exercise from an old book,

57:04

Joseph Singer, which is just so

57:06

basic, just half note,

57:09

half note rest, half note, half note rest,

57:11

long whole note. It's like

57:14

this morning meditation and incorporating

57:17

just this steady breathing. You

57:19

hear that a lot now, people talking about different

57:22

ways of breathing. That's

57:24

just for life, but also

57:26

being able to apply that to horror,

57:30

I think and hope that that's

57:32

how people are approaching it

57:34

more now. It's

57:37

a lot. It's a lot of competition.

57:40

It's a struggle out there

57:42

sometimes to get work.

57:45

It's intense. It's harder

57:47

than most people realize. I

57:49

agree. I'm glad to see things moving in

57:51

the direction that you described. Things being more

57:54

holistic, more well- rounded,

57:57

because for one, we're doing incredible

57:59

things on instruments people weren't even really dreaming

58:01

of back in the day.

58:02

Absolutely.

58:03

And we're so busy. You're talking about you

58:05

have to do everything, and you just mentioned the

58:07

theater, playing in a band,

58:09

playing orchestra, all these things, you have to be a

58:11

chameleon. Grab a horn

58:13

player from 1800 and put them in a week

58:16

in your life. Chandra. They will have a panic

58:18

attack immediately. It's

58:20

like, " I have how many gigs or how many rehearsals

58:23

I have to do right now?"

58:25

That could be a good movie. One of those very specific

58:29

movie about musicians, maybe

58:31

something after Mozart in the Jungle.

58:32

I like that.

58:34

Time travel thing.

58:34

Yeah, they've done that with stuff bring a caveman into

58:37

now, bring a-

58:37

A guy with his crooks, "Here, play this."

58:40

Shows up to rehearsal, " Do you have a D

58:43

crook?" Well,

58:46

this has been fantastic,

58:48

Chandra. One question I like to ask

58:50

to end it with is fun. If

58:53

you don't have an answer that's an answer in itself,

58:55

or if you have to change names or locations,

59:00

I guess, what's been your wildest experience

59:03

on stage or maybe broadly

59:05

in music?

59:06

Wildest experience? Well,

59:09

oh my gosh, it's hard to narrow it down. For

59:11

some reason, what pops into my head are all

59:13

these dire situations,

59:15

which may be involve fire or

59:18

falling parts of stage.

59:20

Oh my gosh.

59:20

There's been that kind of wild. I

59:22

will say, there's just been some really profound

59:27

experiences. One of them right here with National

59:29

Symphony and Bruckner and Eschenbach,

59:31

just having that moment

59:33

at the end of this connection

59:36

with everybody and this sense of accomplishment

59:38

and just the interpretation of

59:40

the music feelings just, ugh. I am

59:43

getting chills just thinking about it. Literally

59:46

shed a tear on stage, and I don't know

59:49

if that's wild, but it's certainly memorable.

59:58

Well, those are the intense moments that

1:00:01

stay with us forever, and point to the entire

1:00:03

point of the art that is music and

1:00:05

that is, someone talked

1:00:07

about it recently in the podcast and that paintings

1:00:11

and sculptures, that takes place within

1:00:13

a space. Music, it takes

1:00:15

place within time. It

1:00:17

happens once and that will never

1:00:19

happen again as it was. The people in the orchestra,

1:00:22

the people in the audience, it's just a one time experience.

1:00:26

I guess that's what keeps us going back for

1:00:29

more. Throughout all the punishment and practicing,

1:00:32

you want to chase another moment like

1:00:34

that.

1:00:34

That's true. There's something really intoxicating

1:00:37

about that impermanence and nothing

1:00:40

will ever be like this again.

1:00:42

Yeah, I can definitely relate

1:00:44

to that. It's also was, just to say one more thing

1:00:46

like post- COVID. I thought it

1:00:51

was really heartening to

1:00:54

realize how important music was

1:00:56

to everybody. Maybe they realized

1:00:59

it themselves, but I know that that was one

1:01:01

of the things that people missed so

1:01:03

much as a consumer and as a

1:01:05

musician as well, that it

1:01:07

is such an important part

1:01:10

of people's everyday lives. I

1:01:12

love that.

1:01:13

Well, thank you so much, Chandra, for coming

1:01:15

in and just sharing everything about

1:01:17

the horn.

1:01:18

Thank you for having me. This was so much

1:01:20

fun.

1:01:23

Thanks for listening to Classical Breakdown,

1:01:25

your guide to classical music. For

1:01:27

more information on this episode, visit the

1:01:29

show notes page at ClassicalBreakdown.

1:01:32

org. You can send me comments and episode

1:01:34

ideas to ClassicalBreakdown@WETA.

1:01:37

org. If you enjoyed this episode,

1:01:39

leave a review in your podcast app. I'm

1:01:42

John Banther. Thanks for listening to Classical

1:01:44

Breakdown from WETA Classical.