The horn is my "second" love next to piano! But what a demanding and difficult mistress to please! I refer to the notorious challenges of mastering it. Anymore I usually only have time to pull the old Holton out its case and play some scales, arpeggios, a few studies and maybe a Mozart concerto. Recently, I bought an absolutely fabulous recording called "The London Horn Sound" (on the CALA label) produced in 1999. It has arrangements/transcriptions of classical, jazz, and pop standards (for example, Berlioz Roman Carnival overture, Stardust, Titanic movie themes, even Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody!!). The pieces feature 8 to 16 players drawn from London orchestras. The solo and ensemble playing is some of the most incredible I have ever heard. Great stuff!

I don't play anymore, but I did. I was a performance major in French Horn at Cal Arts.
Never became good enough to make the living I wanted, so I moved to another career. Now I just play piano and study music for fun. You mention a Holton, mine was a Conn 8D. I'm sure I would've been rid of the Conn many years ago if I had stayed active in playing. I was getting less active in large orchestra and moving more towards WW quintets and Octets. Not a great spot for 8D's

Steve