The low register is important to any good horn player. Erik Ralske and Howard Wall, 3rd and 4th horns of the NY Philharmonic, agree with Simon on this point. They take it further: "Nowadays, everyone is expected to have good control over four octaves," they state.
Erik studied with Ranier DeIntinis, who started on 4th in the Phil, then moved to 2nd, then 3rd, and so covered the entire range. DeIntinis advocated dropping the jaw in the low range, and Erik, who teaches many students and thinks about the technique, agrees. "Say 'whoa'," explains Erik, "so the jaw goes not only down, but also slightly forward. If it just drops, the embouchure pulls away from the mouthpiece. The point of contact of mouthpiece against lip has to be constant, and the fundamental structure of the embouchure has to be constant."
Erik also agrees with Simon that the shift should be fluid, smooth, and gradual. "Don't do anything unnatural," he cautions, "and, as Simon says, blend the low register into the middle and high." He points to the Strauss excerpts as requiring fast register changes. "The 3rd solo in Til is harder than the 1st," Erik states, "and you have to work to make the last note as strong as the previous two."
Howard did not start out intending to be a low horn player. It just happened that way. Now his low register is secure, and he makes an effort to balance his practice with high register playing. Howard recently played Beethoven's Ninth, which he says is an ordeal, but one he would not miss for the world. "In preparing for the Ninth, I focus more on the higher parts," he says, "because I'm not used to playing up there by myself."
Perhaps no one sets out to be a 4th horn player, but Erik appreciates the value of a good one like Howard. "The 4th is the foundation of the quartet, the center of both pitch and sound. A strong, rich sound is essential in the low register, where the air is slower moving than in the high register, but in greater quantity."
Erik and Howard will be playing at the 2000 Northeast Horn Workshop along with the rest of the section (Phil Myers, Al Spanjer, and Jerry Ashby).
See a related article, How Low is Low? by Simon de Souza