The French Horn

Advantages: Great food, good service, location
Disadvantages: Service a little too over the top and food a little cold

...*Please note ? this is a review of the restaurant part of the hotel* A few weeks ago Mr Tart and myself headed to his parents? for a family gathering. We were all going out for a posh meal on the Sunday and the French Horn was chosen as the location for the event. LOCATION: The French Horn is in Sonning-on-Thames. Sonning is not a big place and the restaurant is on the main road so you can?t miss it (sorry I can?t be more specific ? it doesn?t even give a road name on the website!). It?s not the easiest place to get to as the approaches are all through small, busy roads. There is plenty of parking in the French Horn?s car park opposite the restaurant. The restaurant?s location is what really makes it. It is right on the Thames with the gardens leading down to the river. We went on a beautiful sunny day and the setting...

tartlette83 06.08.2009 · Read review
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Review of French Horn Hotel, Sonning on Thames

Horn Trios by Brahms and Ligeti

Advantages: Two outstanding peices of chamber music for an unusual combination of instruments
Disadvantages: On the surface quite contrasting works, listener must be openminded

...The work of Ligeti has been at the forefront of Western avant-garde since his escape from the oppressive communist regime of Hungary in 1956, and he is widely appreciated as one of the most outstanding contemporary composers. The Trio for Violin, Horn and Piano because it was born out of a three-year period of illness and writer's block after the completion of Le Grand Macabre in which time he laboured over a piano concerto but completed only two short harpsichord pieces (Continuum and Hungarian Rock), yet the result in 1982 was the Trio, one of the finest and most complex pieces written so far. His career up to this point had included such sucesses as his Requiem, Atmosphères and the soundtrack for Stanley Kubrick's film 2001. Tiring of his own cluster-textural techniques and the avant-garde, Ligeti refreshed his compositional...

sandersabigail 29.08.2007 · Read review
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Review of Brahms; Ligeti: Horn Trios

Halos and Horns, not the devil you think.

Advantages: Nice smell and kind to the environment.
Disadvantages: You cannot buy this product direct from their website.

...I first used this product when I was taking my friends children away for a few weeks in the Cannary Islands. I at the time was having major problems with my hair as every brand I was using was making my scalp itch and was driving me mad. I thought I would use the childrens halos/horns shampoo as I liked the smell when they used it. I was amazed because IMMEDIATELY my hair and scalp stopped itching. Also if it gets in your eyes it does not sting. On reading the container I discovered it did not contain Sodium Laureth/ Phthalates/Lauryl Sulphate and Parbens which all the other shampoos I bought did. You can buy it at ASDA, TESCO and WAITROSE. If you can't find it in a shop Ring 01202 780558 and the company will tell you the nearest stockists....

CROSSTITCH 20.09.2008 · Read review
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Review of Halos n Horns Childrens Shampoo - Mango Melon Mayhem

Elkhart 100TH Eb Tenor (Alto) Horn

Advantages: Build quality, appearance and tone. Excellent soft case.
Disadvantages: Very minor intonation issues in the upper register.

...For the amazing price of this instrument (I paid around the £150 mark) it is an excellent horn for a player of beginner or intermediate standard. It is beautifully proportioned in the traditional saxhorn style - far more appealing to my eye than the open wrap design of many cheaper models. This horn plays with a lovely tone, perhaps with a few minor intonation issues in the higher register, but the notes can be lipped into shape. The tuning slide set into the leadpipe, before the valve block is a likely contributor to any imperfections. The corrosion-resistant rose brass leadpipe, excellent lacquer finish and robust stays make this horn a must for anyone seeking a real bargain. You can find virtually identical horns made in Taiwan/China and marketed under a number of brand names for £100 or £200 more! Additionally, the mouthpiece...

Lumbricus 09.07.2008 · Read review
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Review of Elkhart 100TH Series Eb Tenor Horn

How Bona To Vada Your Dolly Old Eek!

Advantages: Very funny, clever humour, timeless
Disadvantages: None really

...I am a big fan of 1970s British comedy, but Round The Horne is more my Dad?s era of comedy rather than mine, being broadcast on the radio from 1965 to 1969. I do have some knowledge of and interest in the series though, through the involvement of Kenneth Williams, one of my comedy heroes. Hubby and I decided to go to see Round The Horne ? Revisited after seeing a documentary about the new stage version on BBC 3 or somewhere similar. We found ourselves laughing out loud and thoroughly enjoyed the humour. A little internet search discovered it was coming to Cheltenham ? just an hour or so away ? and soon we had booked our tickets. It was our first visit to the Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham. We got there in good time and had several minutes to admire the set. The stage is set out as a real studio, recording and broadcasting a radio...

KarenUK 12.10.2004 · Read review
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Review of Round The Horne (2004)

Stop those horns

Advantages: It works and doesn't make your hair greasy
Disadvantages: Could be expensive if you use a lot

...I have the most annoying hair possible (or maybe we all think that about our own hair). It is dead straight, lank and greasy – lovely! To cap it all I have horns. By this I mean two curly bits at the edges of my fringe that curl up every day to look like cow’s (or devil’s) horns. My partner often ‘moos’ at me. It gets worse in the damp or rain and I have to wash it or wet it and dry it every morning to try and flatten it (it will always ‘horn’ by the end of the day). If you look carefully at my profile photo you can just see it starting to curl at the edges. I blame my mum for passing me her annoying genes. I had heard of this Frizz Ease serum from adverts but presumed it was for frizzy hair as the product name suggests. One day I read a Ciao opinion about it which suggested that it...

offy 12.10.2001 · Read review
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Review of John Frieda Frizz Ease Hair Serum

The Horse With The Horn - BOOM BOOM!

Advantages: Great story, very good acting, excellent extras on DVD
Disadvantages: None

...about the characters and were desperate to know what was going to happen. As for the special effects, they loved them! They literally let out a ?WOW!? at the unicorn (a horse with a horn on its head), the exploding TARDIS (a model shot) and the companion Jamie being wrongly put back together as a jigsaw (necessitated by actor Frazer Hines developing chickenpox while shooting and needing a temporary replacement). The Mind Robber is not a traditional Doctor Who story. It has the usual characters ? the Doctor (Patrick Troughton) and the companions Zoë (Wendy Padbury) and Jamie. It has various ?bad guys?, a struggle between good and evil and many hazards on the way. But it is set in a land of fiction which features toy soldiers, robots, Gulliver, Rapunzel and many other familiar characters. In many ways, it is rather surreal. The black...

KarenUK 22.03.2005 · Read review
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Review of Doctor Who - The Mind Robber (DVD)

Alexander model 103 and related instruments

Advantages: Beautiful sound, hand made
Disadvantages: Not ideal for beginners

...I currently play on an Alexander 103, which I have owned now for many years. However, perhaps a little background first... I started off as a tenor horn player when I was about 11-12. I played that for a couple of years and then moved on to the french horn, playing on a Holton 177. This was a good horn to start on, but after playing for a few years I wanted more. I spent hours (and I mean hours) in Paxman's in London, trying each and every instrument they had. In the end I decided on a screw-bell Alex model 103. I received it on trial the day before I was due to go off on a course to record a CD. I loved it the moment I played it, and have loved it ever since. -- All Alexander horns are hand-made in Mainz, Germany. They have several different models of single, double, triple and descant horns available. However, the two which...

newc0597 04.05.2004 · Read review
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Review of Alexander French Horns

ME SO HORNY

Advantages: Beatiful sound, British company
Disadvantages: Not many

...The French Horn is quite simply one of the finest instruments ever devised. A favourite among late romantic orchestral composers and a predominant force in many of the greatest movie soundtracks of today. --My Paxman 20M-- Paxman French Horns are the best example of the instrument I heave ever encountered. I personally own a Paxman 20M (M stands for medium bore) in yellow brass and find it quite spectacular. The bottom register if very free blowing, the middle register rich and deep. The upper register may seem thin to start with, but once the instrument is worn in it blows quite freely and I find it easy to pitch. The 20 is a full double horn, having effectively two sets of valve piping, one in the key of F and one in Bb (B flat). Switching between these sets is by use of a thumb valve, giving four valves in total. One point...

Ciaoboy 08.10.2002 · Read review
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Review of Paxman French Horns

Tipped for greater success

Advantages: Enjoyable historical novel
Disadvantages: First major novel, shows in places

...I first came across John Wilcox when I was looking for Bernard Cornwall books in Waterstones. They had a little sign saying "If you like Bernard Cornwall we recommend John Wilcox". So, after picking out a book by Bernard Cornwall - my favourite author, I wandered over to the W's of the Fiction Shelves. After a bit of searching I spotted his collection of books. Or should I say book! What I had found was The Horns of the Buffalo, his first fiction novel. I like good historical novels, I see them as a way to learn a little bit more about history whilst enjoying the benefits of a fiction book. A strong favourite of mine are the Sharpe novels, as well as Hornblower. This seemed to be along the same lines as those, based in South Africa with the battles of Isandhwala and Rourke's Drift included in Simon Fonthill's adventures. We are...

natty250 07.08.2007 · Read review
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Review of The Horns of the Buffalo - John Wilcox