A Devil to Play: One Man's Year-Long Quest to Master the Orchestra's Most Difficult Instrument

If you play the horn, have ever played the horn, or just played any instruemnt at all you owe it to yourself to read this book. It is a delightful blend of real life, history, musical banter, and comedy as one man attempts to pick up the horn again after decades away from it and make himself good enough to perform solo in front of an audience full of internationally renown professionals. Full of interviews with many of those professional horn players, playing experiences, daily frustrations, comedic interludes, historical scenarios (mostly fictionalized and often humorous), and ultimately triumph. I could hardly put it down. Very easy read in the way it keeps your attention, never dwelling on any one subject very long, bouncing around but never losing cohesion. Buy the book, buy a recording of Mozart's horn concertos (shouldn't you have multiple recordings of those already anyway?) and then go to town on them both. You won't regret it. :)

I can't add much to other reviews, except this. I ran across this book after I also decided to return to horn playing after decades away. What an inspiration! It can be done! I'm not booking any public performances, but I'll see where I am after a year and hope I can get as far as Rees did. His determination and courage are an inspiration. Rees's book is informative - it's full of odd facts - and funny. Rees's self-deprecating style reminds me of Bill Bryson's writing. I'll add this supposed fact about that famous solo Beethoven wrote for the 4th horn in the slow movement of his 9th symphony, which Rees mentions. Robert Greenberg says that Beethoven gave the part to the 4th horn because at the first performance, only the 4th horn player had one of those then-new fangled valved horns.

I have played the horn for 25 years, but reading this book was a whole new education for me. Not only is Jasper's quest amusing in its overkill, but it's a horn lesson for the rest of us too. I strongly recommend it to fellow hornists, and to those who wonder about the strange world we musicians live in.

Could he do it? A British journalist who had played the French horn (not very well) for about seven years while an adolescent decides, 22 years later, to pick up his old dusty Lidl horn, study and practice for a year, and then try to play movements from a Mozart horn concerto in front of the British Horn Society. But could he do it? This is Jasper Rees' story -- surely an inspirational one for anyone (this reviewer included) who ever attempted to play this difficult instrument. It's a wonderful book, both humorous and serious. At one point I laughed so hard my eyes were tearing and my nose was running! But chapter 7, which discusses Dennis Brain, is rather sad. One of the finest horn players ever, Brain's life ended in 1957 at age 36 as a result of a car crash. The last chapter is the grand finale -- the recounting of that nerve-racking, gut-wrenching experience in front of all those horn players, including some of the world's finest. As I read the last couple of pages in which Mr. Rees gives a blow-by-blow description of his mistakes, triumphs, and final bow, tears came to my eyes. He had done it. Jasper achieved his difficult goal. I think the book is a must-read for horn players, past and present, good and not-so-good, but its appeal is broader than this. Probably just about anybody who tried to play a musical instrument in a band and/or orchestra as a youth would find it a pleasure to read. It can certainly bring back memories. Its appeal to lovers of the French horn in general is obvious. So thanks to Jasper Rees and his publisher for giving us this delightful book. Finally, a personal thank you to a Jasper Rees-like horn player, Craig Kowald, for making the book known to me. Tim Koerner February 2009

I read about this book in the Wall Street Journal and bought it for my father in law who runs a music festival and is a big reader. He said it was just about the best present he's ever received! I can't wait to get it for my husband so I can finally read it myself!