Re: Dennis Brain's horn [was: Period vs Modern instruments?]

In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
Michael Haslam <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes
>Try reading for comprehension. Note the ** around "if" in my post. That
>means that playing the piece on a Bb single horn is not what BB
>intended. 

I agree.  It is unlikely that BB had even conceived of a single Bb
orchestral horn in 1943, still less seen one.

>It is possible however. Ken Moore has explained how it is
>possible to play the Prologue and Epilogue on a 5-valve single Bb horn,
>but I am not sure if this was even available in the 1950s, and does not
>really affect the argument. 

I had not heard of one by then.  They are still pretty rare, though I
think they are a very good idea because they provide almost all the
total lengths that you get on a double horn (B basso is missing, but you
can easily lip down to bottom B concert, the only note for which it is
nominally necessary), for less weight.  I learnt about them when I got
the 1972 Alexander catalogue.

>Ken, isn't a Bb horn with only one set of
>valve tubes but with an F valve known as a compensating horn?

Not usually, in my experience.  The chromatic horns can be split into
three groups topologically:

Full doubles have double finger valves (i.e. 2 X 4-way) and a thumb
valve (6-way) that routes the air through one set or the other.

Compensating horns have double finger valves and a thumb valve (4-way)
that routes the air through one set or both.

Single horns have single valves (4-way) for fingers and zero, one or two
single valves (4-way) for the thumb.  The five-valve version gives you
32 combinations, and you can adjust the valve crooks so that the lengths
are all different.  In practice, you would get 16 substantially
different lengths and 16 alternatives to some of these. 

-- 
Ken Moore
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
pg composition student, University of Reading