Solo Training Duets for Horns by James Boldin is appropriate for high school through professional horn players.

In this unique volume, seven of the most popular solo works for horn are rewritten in duet form as an innovative means to help students develop a deeper understanding of the music necessary for successful performances. Solo Training Duets help students develop better rhythmic integrity, improve accuracy and intonation, enhance tone/sound concept, heighten concepts of style and phrasing, and achieve a greater awareness of and sensitivity to the accompaniment. In each duet, the solo and accompaniment passages are evenly divided and, though pedagogical in nature, these duets are also suitable for recital performances. The duets include:

Romance by Saint-Saëns

Reverie by Glazunov

Nocturno by F. Strauss

Concerto in E-flat by Mozart (versions for horn in F and in E-flat)

Morceau de Concert by Saint-Saëns

Villanelle by Dukas

Concerto in D by Telemann (versions for horn in F and in D)

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“With this truly creative book of Solo Training Duets, James Boldin adds yet another useful and enjoyable new dimension to the repertoire for advancing horn students. His clever and effective manipulation and extraction of the melodic and harmonic materials found in the piano and orchestral scores of seven of the most popular horn solos provides us the fun of duet playing. And in doing so, we learn significant compositional content, expanding our understanding and appreciation for these important composers’ intentions. Thank you, James, for this innovative contribution, and for continuing to make the art and the act of horn playing ever more enjoyable.” - Douglas Hill, Emeritus Professor of Horn, University of Wisconsin-Madison (1974-2011)

"Horn teachers will find these duets to be extremely practical materials—a form of cross-training that opens up new challenges in relation to known, famous solos. The solo voice is split between the two parts of these duets, calling on players to both lead and match each other in the solo lines. When not playing the melody, the other voice of the duet is playing the accompaniment, a new role to play with a different level of matching and ensemble to be sensitive to.

But at the same time, any pair of horn players reasonably familiar with the underlying solos will find these duets to simply be fun to play. While there are pedagogical applications, these duets don’t have to be viewed as anything other than versions of horn solos to be enjoyed for what they are: accessible arrangements of famous horn solos.

In either case these duets can be quite a challenge at times, as implied by the title, Solo Training Duets for Horns. Be ready for a workout on some of our best horn literature in a new light, as duets." - John Ericson, Arizona State University

91 pages, spiral bound to lay flat on the music stand

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Solo Training for Horn is a companion book to this volume. Click here to order the Solo Training Bundle for Horn containing both books at a discount.