Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2006 12:44:07 -0700 (PDT)
From: Richard Mason <rrmason1@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [TPIN] Faye Hanson
Faye lived in Ogden, Utah and taught all over northern Utah. I studied
with her during high school and later at Utah State University. She
taught both private and group lessons, and seemed to have a special
place in her heart for group lessons. She always told us that if we
can't play properly with a group, i.e. intonation, phrasing,
articulation, then we just can't play.
She used Clarke's Technical Studies and St. Jacome's Grand Trumpet
Method in her lessons. She didn't like Arban's very much because it was
too bulky. If you don't know St. Jacome, he was a contemporary of
Arban. You should get a copy of his method. It is good reading practice.
She had cornet choir made from 16-24 of her best students. We all were
required to play Reynolds Contempora cornets. (During the 60's when I
was there, cornets were still used in concert bands.) About 1966 when
Reynolds went out of business she reluctantly switched her students to
Bach cornets, although she felt the valves were quite rough on most of
their horns. She told us constantly that the Contemporas were the most
consistent horns she had ever seen. Their red brass bells gave a great
round cornet sound too.
The cornet choir (16-24 players) would perform regular concerts. The
hardest thing we ever played was not technically too difficult, but it
was the first piece in the concert and started all of us on a low A.
Try that for your first performance note. It's not as easy as it sounds.
She was a great friend of Raphael Mendez. He perform in the area every
few years. When he did, he would stay at her house, so we all got to
meet him and talk with him. I remember one concert in 1962. It was my
first time hearing him in person, so I was absolutely awe struck. On
the last piece of the first half, he ended on a high C preceeded by a
high Bb grace note. I was astonished that he had the flexibility to do
that. During intermission she told us that he missed the high C (there
was not supposed to be a grace note). She said that he flinched when
that happened but made it sound like it was supposed to be that way. It
seems that our altitude of about 4800 feet above sea level was causing
him some breathing problems.
She ocassionally talked about studying with Herbert L. Clarke. Mostly
she talked about his breath control and tonguing. She told us that he
could single tongue sixteenth notes at 160 bpm to the quarter note for
over a minute on a single breath. His range was almost limitless, too,
according to her. She would then demonstrate what she was talking
about, although her range topped out at about a high F, i.e she would
double and triple tongue and F or 2nd G above the staff. (At the time
for most of us high C or D was the top of our range and we couldn't
tongue it. We had to slide into it.)
She died in the late 70's.
Richard Mason
Denver, CO
