Here is round three.  If response is positive that they are useful, will continue to send some.

Bud Herseth on the C Trumpet...
When I was first privilidged to hear the Boston Symphony Orchestra trumpeters Geroges Mager and Marcel LaFosse, in the early 1940's, I couldn't believe my ears.  The first time heard Georges Mager play Sibelius' Second Symphony, the scintillating brilliance of the tone and attack revealed to me a new dimension in orchestral trumpet artistry.  I soon learned tha Mr. Mager played a large bore Bach C Trumpet.  I hastened to the Bach factory to meet Vincent Bach, and began a friendship which to this day is one of the cherished treasures of my life....  I was convinced that the era of the C trumpet for the symphony orchestra had begun.

Bud Herseth on the C Trumpet...
Why the change?  Certainly the fine trumpet players who today prefer the C trumpet as the mainstay of their orchestral work could perform equally well on the Bb trumpet.  I am also convinced that my teacher, Ernest Williams, never had his hands on a C trumpet of the quality available today....The primary reason for choosing any instrument is its sound, the quality of its tone, and the flexibility or ease with which tones can be manipulated. ...I believe that the general demands of orchestral trumpet playing are best served with the C trumpet - but certainly not limited to that instrument.

Bud Herseth on the C Trumpet...
Transposition is a must for the serious trumpet student, and whether he relies on the system of clefs or intervals, he must understand how instruments of different pitches relate to parts printed in different pitches.  I believe the C trumpet is the best point of departure for this study, and once the student is firmly based here he can adjust easily as he studies multi-pitched instruments.

Bud Herseth on his first concert...
I was only 8 at the time, but I remember it to this day.  I thought "Man alive!  What a kick this is!" And I'll never forget my Dad looking over at me and smiling a couple of times.  He could see that I really dug it.

Bud Herseth on Georges Mager...
The thing I got from him was an understanding of the different styles you need to approach the wide variety of repertoire a symphony trumpet player is faced with...and that was the main thing he wanted to show me.  I still think that's the one thing that separated the "really good players from the "adequate" players.  I know lots of people who can play a million notes - there's always somebody who will play higher than you do, faster than you do, louder or softer than you do, and longer than you do, but it's a matter of "What can you do with the various kinds of music?"  That's where it's really at...in this kind of work at least.

Bud Herseth on Louis Davidson (Cleveland Orchestra/Rodzinski)...
I always thought him a really very elegant and marvelous player.  I heard many things I liked in his playing.  When you hear something you like in someone else's playing, it eventually becomes (almost instinctively) a little part of your own equipment.  That's the positive side of listening. The negative side is that sometimes you hear a player whose style or phrasing you do not like, an almost unconsciously you omit that from your style - it does not become part of your concept.

Bud Herseth on Maurice Andre...
Well, let's face it.  Andre is ...he's "It" in terms of solo playing.  The guy sounds fabulaous, that' all...that's all I can say.

Bud Herseth on "Excitement" in playing...
It's when a guy tells a story with a piece.  That's all.  He gets away from the notes.  It's one thing to turn a crank and get them all, but if you say something besides, that's what it's all about.

Bud Herseth on listening to singers...
Jussi Bjoerling.  Ahh...his singing was out of sight.  You know, every instrument is in a sense an attempt by man to imitate the human voice in some way - and basically that's the ultimate goal that everybody should have in mind when they play an instrument.  I think every instrumentalist can benefit greatly from listening to fine singers, especially opera or leider where they are telling a story.  And you can learn a lot listening to great pop singers like Frank Sinatra. The guy really puts across the lyrics of a tune.

Bud Herseth on "Longevity"...
Gerald Hoffman (in the CSO trumpet section)  said  "Hey, you know kid, you got to to be here 25 years before you're out of the 'rookie' class." (related in Bud's 1st year with the CSO)

The mind goes before the chops.  The chops never quit, but once in a while the mind starts to fade a bit - it's fatigue, that's all.

The more you live the more you find out what you don't know... the more you've still got to learn...and it's exciting.

...His unpretentious nature (balanced with self-assurance) allows him to enjoy his son's idea that he is really a failure because he has been on the same job (circa 1977) for 30 years and has never received a promotion.

Who are you and what do you do?  he replies simply,  "I'm a trumpet player in a symphony orchestra."

Bud Herseth on practice...
...preparing for the job is just mainly keeping up with fundamentals, I guess.  I practice scales, long tones, and nice broad vocalise-type studies every day.  ...I like the Charlier 36 Etudes,  Smith Top Tones, Clarke 2nd and 3rd books, and of course I practice the difficult things that are coming up.  But I try not to over-practice and go stale on them.  I practice to the point where I've got them, but I don't try to grind them into myself because then they become automatic.  I always like to go on the stage with the feeling that I'm doing this for the first time...and let's really go!

...PRACTICE!

Bud Herseth on "Getting Back in Shape after a Lay-off"...
After I've been off a couple weeks I take my mouthpiece along and buzz in the car while I'm driving to the golf course.  I'll stand on the tee and serenade somebody for a few seconds while they're getting ready  (it's always worth a couple of strokes, you know).  I do that for about 15 minutes two or three times a day for two or three days.  That's before I even touch the horn.  When I do, I'm already about 80 percent back in shape.

Bud Herseth on Technique...
Techinique should only serve as a means to an end, which ultimately is the making of music.  Unfortunately, the development of technique is often overemphasized at the expense of musical sensitivity and interpretation....good musicianshiop should always be given priority and painstakingly cultivated from the beginning.

Bud Herseth on "Success"...
In my opinion hard work is the most important factor.  One has to be highly motivated and practice long and hard.  Even at this stage (circa 1992) of the game I practice a lot in order to be well prepared for every concert. The world is full of highly talented but lackadaisical musicians who are passed over by hard working individuals.

Bud Herseth on the Opening Call of Mahler's Fifth Symhony (Funeral March) ...
When I performed it with Maestro Kubelik, he suggested that I close my eyes and imagine a hearse, a solemn procession of mourners dressed in black attire, and the dull sound of feet, touching a cobblestone covered street. In order to establish an appropriate mood, I do this even now before playing the trumpet solo.

Jim Daherty on Bud Herseth...
Adolph (Bud) Herseth is a down-to-earth guy, but there aren't many trumpet players who can generate such a heavenly sound.

His face is as scarlet as a radish from the exertion, but he plays without a hint of strain.  Some trumpeters make you nervous.  They seem to be silently pleading, "Please, chops, don't fail me now."  Not Bud.  With him it's simply a matter of "Just do it!"  Falter?  Fracture a high note?  Blow some air?  Forget it.  Isn't even a possibility.

Talk about power.  If the man could generate electricity with that thing, he'd light up half the state.

He once described himself to me, in the course of a long bibulous dinner at his favorite Spanish restaurant, as "a bit of a smartass."

Dizzie Gillespie once kidded him:  "Bud, how come your cheeks don't puff up when you play?"  Bud replied:  "Diz, how come your face doesn't get red when you play?"

...he auditioned for what he assumed was a low-level position with the Chicago Symphony.  The conductor at that time, the flamboyant Artur Rodzinski, was so impressed that he announced:  "Well, you are the new first trumpet."  Bud was stunned.  He was 26, fresh out of the conservatory and barely knew the repertoire.  "I guess I'd better go home and practice."

"Hey Maestro!" he (Herseth) once razzed Solti at a post-concert reception. "Anytime you think I'm not following you, how about you following me for a while?"

...feigning great seriousness, he asked Solti:  "Do you know what's the hardest part of your job?"  "What's that, Bud?" Solti replied, genuinely puzzled.  "Getting it." Bud said.

Daniel Barenboim on Herseth leading the CSO Brass Section...
Some musicians of great stature become, in effect, the artistic consciences of their orchestras.  "Bud Herseth has been the artistic conscience of this orchestra for many years."

Fritz Reiner  on Bud Herseth...
One of his first numbers with Chicago was Richard Strauss' "Ein Heldenleben."  The guest conductor was Fritz Reiner who, after listening to the new man at rehearsal, asked someone in the brass section,  "Where did you find that jewel?"

Howard Barlow (conductor) on Bud Herseth...
...when he heard him for the first time inquired, "Where did you learn to play like that, New York?"  "Nah," Bud replied.  "Bertha"  (Minnesota)

Chuck Geyer  on Bud Herseth...
You can't overestimate the pressure of being the principal trumpet in an orchestra like that.  You must always be outstanding.  What makes Bud outstanding?  Consistency.  Love of the music.  A definite style - beautiful phrasing.  Technically clear.  A tremendous leader.  In his playing, Bud literally demands that people follow him. Not, mind you, that the man is perfect.  There was a time, for example, when he removed a valve to lubricate it during a performance.  The conductor signaled for him to play, but there was no sound.  He'd put the valve in backward.  He fixed it and started over.  Again, no sound.  He had "fixed" the wrong valve.

Herseth on Technique...
Playing has less to do with the mouth than the ear, he says.  You have to start with a very precise sense of how something should sound.  Then, instinctively, you modify your lip and your breathing and the pressure of the horn to obtain that sound.

Herseth on Developing a Good Sound...
A lot of potentially  good horn players have been screwed up by teachers who insist that the only way to play is the way they play.  That's a crock. Each person has to do it his or her way.  There's no secret about how you learn to make a good sound.  You work your butt off.

Herseth on Discipline...
You have to have the discipline he says.  If you don't come with discipline in your soul, somebody's going to put it there.  Translated, this means practice, practice, practice.

Herseth on His Job...
I get to play with all these great colleagues, to play the world's greatest music under the world's greatest conductors and the world's greatest soloists, and I've been able to do this for, what, 46 years?  (circa 1996) Somebody's kidding me!

Bill Dishman