Heroic Horn BEST LOVED classical horn music Heroic Horn Best loved classical horn music 1 Robert SCHUMANN (1810–1856) 8 Richard WAGNER (1813–1883) Konzertstück, Op. 86 – I. Lebhaft 7:18 Tannhäuser – Overture (excerpt) 4:25 Robert Bonnevie, Mark Robbins, Slovak Philharmonic • Michael Halász David C. Knapp, Scott Wilson, horn (8.550136) Seattle Symphony Orchestra • Gerard Schwarz 9 Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (8.572770) Horn Quintet in E flat major, K. 407 – 6:14 2 Franz Joseph HAYDN (1732–1809) I. Allegro Symphony No. 31 in D major 5:03 Jen Keveházi, horn • Kodály Quartet ‘Horn Signal’, Hob.I:31 – I. Allegro (8.550437) American Horn Quartet 10 Johannes BRAHMS (1833–1897) Sinfonia Varsovia • Dariusz Wi niewski Trio for Violin, Horn and Piano 6:58 (8.557747) in E flat major, Op. 40 – II. Scherzo: 3 Leopold MOZART (1719–1787) Allegro – Molto meno allegro – Allegro Sinfonia da Caccia for 4 Horns and Strings 5:28 Jen Keveházi, horn • Ildikó Hegyi, violin ‘Jagd Symphonie’ – I. Vivace Jen Jandó, piano Bed ich Tylšar, Zden k Tylšar, (8.550441) Zden k Divoký, Jind ich Petráš, horn 11 Pyotr Il’yich TCHAIKOVSKY Capella Istropolitana • František Vajnar Symphony No. 5 – II. Andante cantabile, 5:29 (8.550393) con alcuna licenza (excerpt) 4 Joseph FIALA (1748–1816) Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra Concerto for 2 Horns in E flat major – 4:19 Antoni Wit III. Rondo andante (8.550716) Bed ich Tylšar, Zden k Tylšar, horn 12 Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770–1827) Capella Istropolitana • František Vajnar Horn Sonata in F major, Op. 17 – 4:49 (8.550459) III. Rondo: Allegro moderato 5 Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756–1791) Wolfgang Tomboeck, horn Horn Concerto No. 2 in E flat major, 3:52 Madoka Inui, piano K. 417 – III. Rondo: Allegro (8.557471) Jacek Muzyk, horn 13 George Frideric HANDEL (1685–1759) Amadeus Chamber Orchestra of Polish Radio Concerto for 2 Wind Groups and Strings 2:17 Agnieszka Duczmal (8.570419) in F major, HWV 334 – V. Allegro 6 Pyotr Il’yich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840–1893) Bed ich Tylšar, Zden k Tylšar, horn The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a – 6:42 Capella Istropolitana • František Vajnar VIII. Waltz of the Flowers (8.550393) Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra • Michael Halász 14 Georges BIZET (1838–1875) (8.552117-18) L’Arlésienne Suite No. 1 – IV. Carillon 4:20 7 Franz Joseph HAYDN Barcelona Symphony and Horn Concerto No. 1 in D major, 3:52 Catalonia National Orchestra Hob.VIId:3 – III. Allegro Pablo González Dmitri Babanov, horn • Cologne Chamber Orchestra (8.573546) Helmut Müller-Brühl (8.570482) 8.578177 Total Timing: 71:36 2 Heroic Horn Best loved classical horn music The origins of the French horn can be traced Hampel, developed a way of manipulating his back to the 6th century BC where Scandinavian right hand inside the bell to alter the pitch, filling clans used a ‘horn-like’ instrument made of in all the gaps between the notes of the harmonic bronze as a signalling device on the battlefield. series. Known today as the ‘natural’ or ‘hand The instrument has developed immensely horn’, this radical development helped elevate since then, from hunting horn to 17th-century the horn to concerto soloist, inspiring Mozart operatic virtuoso, arriving at the chromatic and Haydn to write their famous concertos. The and versatile instrument we know today. Its final major evolution in the history of the horn unmistakable sonority has inspired the most is the development of the valve, invented in the eminent of composers to feature the horn as a early 19th century. The valve allows the player solo instrument, Mozart’s four concertos being to access multiple lengths of tubing simply by amongst the most celebrated. depressing any combination of four valves, The cor de chasse was the first ancestor of quickly changing the key of the instrument, and the modern instrument to appear in a concert negating the need to change a crook or use the hall. This instrument was essentially just a coiled right hand to alter the pitch. metal tube with a flare and mouthpiece at either It is quite unclear as to when exactly end, limiting its range of notes to the natural the horn made its debut in the concert hall, harmonics. During a performance, players although it likely happened at some point in would be expected to switch between multiple the 17th century. There are many Baroque instruments, all pitched in different keys. The operas and oratorios where composers such as impracticality of this led to the development of Bach and Handel used the horn as a soloist. the ‘crook’ in the early 1700s. A ‘crook’ is a Both these composers wrote fiendishly difficult length of coiled tubing that could be inserted obbligato parts for the instrument – Bach in his into the horn, changing the overall length of B minor Mass and Handel in his opera Giulio the instrument, allowing a quicker and easier Cesare. Leopold Mozart was another Baroque transition between keys. Frustrated by the limits composer who had a great love of the horn of the instrument, a skilled horn player, Anton and featured it in many of his compositions, 3 8.578177 including the Sinfonia da Caccia we have on came some 60 years later, and is considered this album. The Mozart family’s association a much tougher challenge than the former, with the most prominent horn player of the 18th although both became important pieces of century, Joseph Leutgeb, is what influenced the horn’s repertoire, and alongside Mozart’s both Leopold’s and Wolfgang’s compositions. concertos are the most frequently performed. Leutgeb was a colleague of Leopold Mozart in Salzburg, and through that got to know his 1 Schumann: Konzertstück, Op. 86 – son well. Wolfgang went on to write his four I. Lebhaft horn concertos and Horn Quintet for Leutgeb. Robert Schumann’s Konzertstück for four They seemingly had a jovial relationship as horns and orchestra was written in 1849, the concerto K. 417 is dedicated as such; and is considered one of the toughest ‘Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart takes pity of challenges in the repertoire. A showpiece Leutgeb, ass, ox and simpleton, at Vienna, for a whole horn section, Romantic-era March 27, 1783’. horn sections are most often made up of With the invention of the valves, on the four players, rather than a single soloist, cusp of the Romantic era, a new role for the and this sets it apart from other concertos horn opened up in the orchestra. It became in the repertoire. The Lebhaft, the first of much more of a lyrical instrument, less restricted three movements, features virtuosic runs to its often-used ‘hunting’ role. Brahms featured right from the bottom to the top of the it heavily in his four symphonies, Tchaikovsky instrument’s range, including a high E probably wrote the most famous orchestral solo (concert pitch A), a note so difficult to play for the instrument in the second movement of his that it is very rarely required. Fifth Symphony and Wagner centred much of his operatic writing around the horn. Richard 2 Haydn: Symphony No. 31 in D major Strauss’s father, Franz, was the principal horn ‘Horn Signal’, Hob.I:31 – I. Allegro of Wagner’s orchestra in Munich. Strauss senior Haydn featured the horn in many of his was never a fan of Wagner’s, although a young 104 symphonies, most prominently in Richard was; his writing for horn particularly Symphony No. 31, or ‘Horn Signal’. intrigued him. Strauss wrote two horn concertos Written in 1765, this piece, uncommonly – the first he composed at just 18, the second for the period, features four instrumentalists. 8.578177 4 In this first movement Haydn starts the revered at the time for its excellence; it was horns off with a military fanfare, followed from Bohemia, through Anton Hampel, that swiftly by a post horn signal, played only the hand horn technique was developed. by the principal horn. The style of horn writing in this movement is reminiscent of 5 W.A. Mozart: Concerto No. 2 the instrument’s origins on the battlefield. in E flat major, K. 417 – III. Rondo: Allegro The second of Mozart’s four horn concertos, 3 L. Mozart: Sinfonia da Caccia as previously mentioned, is adorned with for 4 Horns and Strings ‘Jagd Symphonie’ – the famous dedication to his friend and I. Vivace horn player Joseph Leutgeb; ‘Wolfgang Mozart’s Sinfonia da Caccia, or Amadeus Mozart takes pity of Leutgeb, ‘symphony of the hunt’, features the horn in ass, ox and simpleton, at Vienna, March another one of its original forms, as a call 27, 1783’. This final movement,Rondo , and response instrument blown on the hunt. is probably one of the most recognisable Mozart specifically asked for the horns to horn tunes, once again placing the horn in be played ‘raucously’ and ‘as loud as the context of the hunt. possible’, and not in the refined manner to which the players were now accustomed. 6 Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Suite, He instructed that this first movement should Op. 71a: VIII. Waltz of the Flowers also feature barking dogs, other performers One of the most recognisable tunes one to shout, and gunshots! hears around Christmas time is the melody the horn section plays in the Waltz of 4 Fiala: Concerto for 2 Horns the Flowers from Tchaikovsky’s ballet The in E flat major – III. Rondo andante Nutcracker. Written only a year before his Hailing from Bohemia, Joseph Fiala was death, Tchaikovsky had no faith in his final a contemporary of Wolfgang Amadeus ballet, he once exclaimed that; ‘The Ballet is Mozart, and he was admired enough infinitely worse thanThe Sleeping Beauty.’ by Mozart that it was he who helped An opinion not shared by the public today, Fiala gain employment in Salzburg.