Re: orchestral template, please comment (horn transposition)

[Tim Reeves]

> Message: 4
> Date: Mon, 18 Oct 2010 06:25:50 -0400
> From: David Santamauro <address@hidden>
> Subject: Re: orchestral template, please comment
> To: "Trevor Daniels" <address@hidden>
> Cc: Keith E OHara <address@hidden>, address@hidden
> Message-ID: <address@hidden>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
> 
> 
> On Mon, 18 Oct 2010 10:18:52 +0100
> "Trevor Daniels" <address@hidden> wrote:
> 
> > Shouldn't the music for the Horn in F be printed in D major?
> 
> It is very common for key signatures to be omitted for Horn. As the
> notes themselves are correct transpositions, it looks ok.
> 
> There is also a discrepancy between the transposition direction
> (down 5th or up 4th). Some scores actually place an ambitus-sort-of
> note at the beginning of the horn staff to indicate the transposition
> direction.
> 
> One other comment that I think it would also be a good addition to the
> template is that between the differing instrument choirs (woodwinds,
> brass, voice, strings), there should be visual 'space' in addition to
> the grouping itself.
> 
> David
> 
>

David,

I am open to the possibility that I'm wrong in some cases, but in 
thirty-plus years of playing the horn, I've never seen any ambiguity in 
horn transposition like you describe.
Horn in F is *always* sounding a fifth lower than notated.
The only place I know of ambiguity is in parts with bass clef, where "old 
notation" means that the pitch as played is a fourth higher than what is 
notated, but this is limited to a certain period in history (i.e. 
classical period) and is generally discernible by context (e.g. if the 
note lower than it is possible to play for a good player, then it must be 
old notation).
In such cases, I've never seen the ambitus-like notation that you 
describe, but I can see how it would be helpful for those unsure of the 
notation.


Regards,

Tim Reeves