Playing French horn parts with trumpet?

[patdublc]

I've dealt with this in theater pits several times. I've tried three different methods:

Play french horn
Play F contralto trumpet
Play flugel

All work well but mostly depend on if you own the instruments and can play them. Of the 3, I prefer using the F trumpet as it is a little easier for me to switch back and forth on that horn.
In the pit situation, often the most difficult issue is space for the second book and extra horn.
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Pat Shaner
Play Wedge Mouthpieces by Dr. Dave exclusively.
Experiment with LOTS of horn makes and models.

[kehaulani]

If it's a trumpet player playing the French Horn part, have him play Flugelhorn. Minimal adjustment. Some notes might need adjusting but you'd be surprised how little these workarounds are heard by the listeners.

If one is going to sub with a different horn altogether, don't mess with other more remote alternatives, just learn to play the Horn.
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"If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn." Bird

Yamaha 8310Z Bobby Shew trumpet
Benge 3X Trumpet
Benge 3X Cornet
Adams F-1 Flghn

[Andy Del]

As above. This isn’t rocket science. You need the part covered, or don’t perform. It’s a pretty simple matter to resolve.

I’ve been directing a community orchestra for (gasp) 25 years. At times, we are short of something, and we have to make an adjustment. Some memorable ones have been:

Mozart requiem - alto trombone covered by a trumpet on flugel. (Range issue)
Dvorak serenade for winds - second horn covered by trombonist using a baritone.
Second oboe taken ill on3 hours notice… luckily there was a guest conductor! I covered it on trumpet, using a straight mute. First oboe forgot it was meat times… Dvorak symphony #7.

At school thee was a whoopdy-doo concert with Tchaikovsky #5… I covered horn 3 in a corno da caccia.

A corno da caccia is rather useful! I’ve used it on all manner of stolen parts, most successfully Quiet City for the cor anglais part. Also when teaching horn. And this week, I’ll be playing the horn part for Poulenc trio sonata for fun in a concert…

This sort of thing has been going on for many many years. Some editions of standard repertoire is cued up for small orchestras!
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so many horns, so few good notes...

[hup_d_dup]

Mellophone is the way to go.

Find one that's wrapped like a french horn, not one of the forward facing models. They generally have piston valves and are most commonly pitched in Eb, so the range of the instrument is ideal, unlike a flugelhorn.

It's pretty easy for a trumpet player to adapt to a mellophone because the mouthpiece size is similar, and more importantly, the shape is a lot more like a trumpet mouthpiece than a horn mouthpiece.

Valves are actuated with the right hand so no problem there (although the bell faces left rather than right).

The sound, although not quite the same as a horn, is closer than a flugelhorn and certainly much closer than an alto trumpet. I have a mellophone and an alto trumpet and wouldn't even consider choosing an alto trumpet over a mellophone to cover a horn part, even though the alto trumpet is build in F.

Used mellophones are pretty inexpensive.

There is a down side; There is not much call for this instrument, and this is just about the only application I can think of where you are likely to use it. But it does seem perfect for what you need in this situation. I know someone who plays horn parts on a mellophone, not as a sub but as a regular member in a orchestra (he learned to play with his left hand so that his bell faces the same way as the other horns).

Hup

[TrumpetMD]

[kehaulani]

Brassnose - What did you decide? How did it work out
?
_________________
"If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn." Bird

Yamaha 8310Z Bobby Shew trumpet
Benge 3X Trumpet
Benge 3X Cornet
Adams F-1 Flghn

[Brassnose]

I’m leaning towards the flugel solution, I have a good one so why not use it. Was gonna try it out next weekend on our rehearsal weekend but am quarantined with Covid at least until the WE 😡😡😡
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2019 Martin Schmidt eXcellence
1992 Bach 43GH/43
1989 Kühnl & Hoyer Model 15 flugel
1980/2023 Custom Blessing Scholastic C 😎
1977 Conn 6B
1951 Buescher 400 Lightweight
AR Resonance, Frate, Klier

[kehaulani]

Thanks. Let us know how it went. Could be useful to other forum members.
_________________
"If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn." Bird

Yamaha 8310Z Bobby Shew trumpet
Benge 3X Trumpet
Benge 3X Cornet
Adams F-1 Flghn