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 Stefan Dohr*

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). First turning points were playing in big youth orchestras: Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, World Youth Orchestra. Then my first orchestra jobs at Frankfurt Opera (at 19), at Nice Philarmonic Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin and Bayreuth Festival Orchester. Then there was, of course, the job at the Berliner Philharmoniker. 2) Do you think that your professional success could have been essentially different (either greater or lesser) if you had had other teachers? Yes. I was lucky with my first teacher Wolfgang Wilhelmi, in Essen, when I was 11. He made me set all basic things right from the beginning, and paid attention that progress was not to fast: step by step. Then at 17, I studied with Erich Penzel, a very good teacher with a large class of very good students. 3) How much does the possibility of becoming a competent horn player depend on a) Facial structure, b) Inborn talent, c) Application/study? a) There is no physical limit, if you just have normal facial structure. b) There is a "facial talent", a "muscolar talent". c) Of course it is essential. 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)? It's possible. Most students should not stay all the time with one teacher. There are good players who are not so good at teaching; because they are natural players who have not analyzed what they are doing, they may be not able to help students overcome their problems. 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 ? a) I use it sometimes as a good warming up. b) I don't use it for myself, but I use it for students with embouchure problems. c) Yes, I use it but not to much. 6) Do you know, use, recommend the "inspiron" and/or other breathing devices? Yes. 7) Do you think that progresses in one's playing happens steadily, by constant application, or by leaps? Sudden progresses are very rare. It's mostly hard work. 8) Should a teacher give precise embouchure directions? And how precise? I give recomendations of things to try out. But there is non such thing as a perfect embouchure for everybody. 9) Are there special directions/techniques for mastering the low and high registers? There are, but also this can be quite individual. Basically breathing control and support (for high and low register). Also essential is strenghtening the embouchure, which takes time. 10) How was your experience in auditioning and what advice on this matter can you give to aspiring professionals? I did a lot of auditions, but didn't win a lot. Do a lot of audition training by playing in front of anybody, particularly in front of persons whom you respect, or even fear (before auditioning in Berlin I went a few times to be heard by Penzel). You also need a good day.

* Principal horn, Berliner Philharmoniker.