RAVEL, Maurice
Pavane pour une infante défunte for orchestra (horn part)
Richard Watkins, guest professor
Gustavo Castro, student
In this class on orchestral passages for horn, Professor Watkins warns about two dangers in this solo: a tempo that is too slow at the beginning, and the diminuendo in piano, which should not be played too softly to avoid intonation problems. He demonstrates by playing, explaining that the important thing is to control the air, but not from the mouth, without pressing.
According to Richard Watkins, there should be no pause between breathing and emission, because it creates tension. In general, he also points out that orchestral parts, as in solo works, should be practiced by singing.
In conclusion, he reiterates that the most important thing in orchestral horn solos is to sing them: they are almost all slow and require a lot of expressiveness, which is why singing them helps a lot in order to perform a good audition.
Language: English
