The Italian Horn Website
| Il Club del Corno is promoting an opinion survey among professional horn players, based on a list of questions. The answers will be published on the site in English and in Italian. |
| Answers by Luca Benucci* |
1) What where the turning points in your development as a horn player? List any factor that was important to your progression as a musician (e.g. which conservatory/music school attended, influential teacher/s, particular events). The fundamental step was leaving Italy to begin study in Chicago. Arnold Jacobs taught me the use of air, Dale Clevenger was my model and the main source of my inspiration. Later on, I also learned from Guelfo Nalli a lot about expressivity and music-making with the horn. More recently hornist friends such as Stefan Dohr and Fergus McWilliam had a nice influence on me. 2) Do you think that your professional success could have been essentially different (either greater or lesser) if you had had other teachers? TEACHER CAN BE CHOSEN! In Italy we must content ourselves with our limited choices: not all conservatory teachers are high level. In fact, many of them have never worked in a big orchestra, and so they lack essential experiences they should hand students. Will to improve is important: I went to Chicago one week after the Conservatory diploma, starting again from zero; it was hard, but I can say that all went well. 3) How much does the possibility of becoming a competent horn player depend on a) Facial structure, b) Inborn talent, c) Application/study? A good mix could be: physical structure 20%, talent 60%, study and discipline 20%. However, one may also think of a 300% musician with 80% physical structure, 100% talent and 120% discipline (by 'physical structure' I intend mainly breathing capacity; however, there were physically small hornists with extraordinary technique and sound, such as Dennis Brain, Gerd Seifert, Domenico Ceccarossi, Vincent De Rosa). 4) Should a student who is having serious problems in the fundamentals, after studying the horn for some years, abandon the idea of becoming a professional at all, or could he/she be still brought to a level of competency by appropriate teaching metods (that is, by finding a new teacher)? A student of any age should consult professional performing musicians for opinions and example. 5) What is, in your opinion, the importance and use of a) Mouthpiece buzzing, b) Handled rim (rim on a stick) buzzing, c) Free lip buzzing ? I use and recommend a) and b), not c). 6) Do you know, use, recommend the "inspiron" and/or other breathing devices? Yes, I know many of them; they are as necessary as gymnastics for athletes. They are supporting devices which A. Jacobs used in order to correct breathing of students and professionals, and to optimize the relations between air, blow and smoothness of phrasing. 7) Do you think that progresses in one's playing happens steadily, by constant application, or by leaps?
All is obtained by steady application, provided one has:
8) Should a teacher give precise embouchure directions? And how precise?
This depends on individual taste;
there is no absolutly right setting, since the 10 top players in the world
use different settings.
9) Are there special directions/techniques for mastering the low and high registers? Yes, many, but focusing on these would mean building only the cellar and the roof. Instead, you start from the foundations and then you build a beautiful castle, with a high tower; namely you must always start from the low notes, and solidly connect all octaves together. 10) How was your experience in auditioning and what advice on this matter can you give to aspiring professionals?
I did several auditions
(see
curriculum).
SIX-MONTH PROGRAM
Daily practice timetable:
ALWAYS MAKE MUSIC: THEN YOU'LL BE ALWAYS A WINNER, EVEN IF YOU DON'T OBTAIN THE JOB.
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* Luca Benucci, 1st horn, Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. |