I don't know about you, but "practice" isn't usually the number one thing on my lists of things I'd like to do. To prove my point: we just returned from a ten-week trip. I took my horn, my Yamaha Silent Brass mute with tape accompaniments to a bunch of nice horn solos, a folding stand, and some tough etudes, and ended up playing my horn only twice. Somehow, playing guitar around the campfire seemed more appropriate than playing horn. So now I have to pay for my laxity and get back into the habit. Fortunately, Lowell Shaw sent me one of his latest works, Just Desserts, which really makes practice fun.
Most of us are familiar with Lowell's Fripperies for four horns that started coming out way back in 1964. They were challenging and fun to play then and now, and over the years have grown to eight volumes. If you have the luxury of five horns, or four horns and tuba, there is a set of Quipperies. For smaller groups, Lowell has a set of Tripperies and a set of Bipperies. But getting together with even one other horn player can be a challenge these days, let alone three or four, so now we have a set of thirteen etudes for one horn in Lowell's inimitable style.
Just Desserts is a bit easier to read than the early Fripperies. Lowell has traded in his excellent manuscript for Finale software. There are also fewer key changes in the Desserts to blow through. Range is moderate, metronomic markings are reasonable, and straight or swung eighth notes are indicated. The challenge comes in the rhythms, articulations, and some of the fast licks. But never has it been so much fun to work out the difficult sections. A couple of the studies are slow, and the remainder beg to go wide open. The last one of the set is a solo version of Trippery #4 that is marked half note at 126 - 138+. The running eight note slurs make the tempo achievable with a bit of practice.
I found Just Desserts tough, but very playable and extremely enjoyable. They are available for $8 from The Hornists' Nest, PO Box 253, Buffalo NY 14226-0253, 716-626-9534, or lowell.shaw@worldnet.att.net.
Dan is the IHS Area Representative for Alaska. This review first appeared in his newsletter, The Northern Hornnet, Fall 1999.