On the home page of Naturalhorn.com
I referred to the hand in the bell.
View one (of three possibilities
of Baroque horn playing hand use):
Most baroque players in mainland
Europe play baroque horn with hand technique, preferring it over
the definitely not historical
use of vent holes. Stuff like Bach cantata 105 is way to difficult
to try without either.
View two:
The hand is out of the bell, but ventil holes are added to the
horn to be used like flute holes, that adjusts the tuning
on tones that are out of tune with the temperaments of the
day. There is no proof of this at all from authentic baroque
horns. This is common in England, and some in Canada.
View Three:
The Horn has been
played with the hand in the bell since the end of the Baroque
era. Before about 1760, the hand was not used in the bell, nor
were there holes in the horn to help with the pitch of the difficult
tones.
We are forgetting that 60
years ago it was quite common for orchestra string sections to
play quite out of tune, Dennis Brain revolutionized horn playing
with accurate musical performances. Now we have hand held tuners
that have vastly improved the quality of music, at least regulated
musicians towards a greater prevalence of equal temperament.
An F a quarter
step sharp in passing to notes quite well in tune, or a high A
a 3rd step flat in was not that out of tune, because the refined
tuning wasn't like what we expect. How many people complain today
that equal temperament sound out of tune? I do? It's like that.
The horn was played close to in tune where possible, but there
are some funny notes on the instrument with the bell up and hand
out of the bell! The funny note can be played lightly, de-emphasising
the problems.
The most authentic horn recording
I have heard will be posted here soon . (Well maybe)