French Horn
Marty Siegel
band music, recently bought a CD player. I'd like to get him a couple of
discs. Would you recommend something special -- a French horn concerto
(are there any?)... some work featuring horns... or? Thanks for your help.
Joan Boorstein
Off the top of my head and I expect the horn players will know a lot more
Bach -- Brandenburg Concerto #1 -- only one of these using horn
Mozart -- 4 Horn Concertos
my favorites are those by Lowell Greer on natural valveless
horn with the Philharmonia Baroque -- quite amazing playing
when you consider there are no valves on his horn
Schumann -- Konzertstuck for 4 Horns & Orch.
this is is the only piece I can recall for multiple horns (> 2)
and orchestra
Richard Strauss -- he wrote at least 1, maybe 2 horn concerti
Strauss -- he wrote at least 1 Horn Concerto, maybe 2
Other than the Mozart I make no specific recording recommendations, but
I am sure others will.
Joan
jb...@cs.umb.edu
Markus PFISTER
This one hurt a little bit...
>Nntp-Posting-Host: msiegel.cica.indiana.edu
>
>A friend of mine who is a French horn player as well as into symphonic
>band music, recently bought a CD player. I'd like to get him a couple of
>discs. Would you recommend something special -- a French horn concerto
>(are there any?)... some work featuring horns... or? Thanks for your help.
Yes there _are_ French horn concertos... and even works featuring horns.
Try (between many, many of other possibilities) perhaps
R. Strauss, Hornkonzerte 1 & 2,
Radovan Vlatcovic (Horn), English Chamber Orch. Tate(?), EMI, I think
W.A. Mozart, Hornkonzerte 1 - 4
Dennis Brain (Horn), Philharmonia Orch., Karajan, EMI references
etc., etc.
and for a work with a lot of featuring I suggest Anton Bruckner, especially
Symphony Nr. 4, a recent and to my opinian excellent recording is Abbado with
Wiener Philharmoniker, DG
Markus
Jack Campin
Your friend probably already has recordings of the Mozart concertos; but
there are lots of good performances of these and another one or two would
likely still be appreciated. The Strauss concertos are unbelievably
tedious for anyone who isn't _seriously_ dedicated to late Romantic
megalomania. Some other recommendations:
Brahms: Trio for violin, horn and piano
Ligeti: Trio for violin, horn and piano
Janacek: Concertino (has a large and peculiar horn part)
Tippett: Sonata for four horns (used to be available on an LP with his
second symphony)
Musgrave: Horn concerto (in which the solo horn is surrounded by seven
orchestral horns)
Britten: Serenade for tenor, horn and strings
A number of wind quintets, of which Nielsen's might be a good one to start
The Norrington performances of Beethoven symphonies might also be of
interest, as they use natural horns rather than the modern instrument.
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Dave Lampson
A couple of suggestions for the hardcore horn fanatic:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MECHURA Quartet in E Flat Major DDD
WEBER, B.D. 4 Sextets in F Major
Czech Philharmonic Horn Section
Supraphon Musica Antiqua Bohemica 110780-2 59:44
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes, these are horn sextets. Nothing but horns. Or perhaps a horn with
strings (can't fail to mention Brahms' Horn Trio or Mozart's Horn Quintet!):
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BRAHMS Trio #1 Op. 8 DDD
Horn Trio Op. 40
Golub-Kaplan-Carr Trio
Horn JOLLEY, David
Arabesque Z6607 1:07:10
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MOZART, W.A. Oboe Quartet K. 370 DDD
Horn Quintet K. 407
Clarinet Quintet K. 581
Academy Of Ancient Music Chamber Ensemble
Oboe HAMMER, Stephen
Horn THOMPSON, Michael
Clarinet PAY, Anthony
Violin HUGGETT, Monica
Violin BEZNOSIUK, Pavlo
Viola SCHLAPP, Jan
Cello MASON, Timothy
L'Oiseau-Lyre 421429-2 1:13:53
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Concertos for one or more horns, you say? No problem:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TELEMANN 3 Concertos in D Major DDD
Concerto in D Major
Concerto in D Major
Concerto in E Flat Major
Suite in F Major
Academy Of St. Martin-In-The-Fields BROWN, Iona
Horn BAUMANN, Hermann
Horn BROWN, Timothy
Horn HILL, Nicholas
Philips 412226-2 57:43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MOZART, W.A. Allegro K. 412 DDD
Concerto K. 417
Concerto K. 447
Concerto K. 495
Rondo K. 514
Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra ZUKERMAN, Pinchas
Horn BAUMANN, Hermann
Philips 412737-2 55:03
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HAYDN, F.J. Divertimento Hob IV: 5 DDD
Horn Concerto Hob VIId:3
Horn Concerto Hob VIId:4
Trumpet Concerto Hob VIIe:1
Philharmonia Orchestra WARREN-GREEN, Michael
Horn THOMPSON, Michael
Trumpet WALLACE, John
Nimbus NIM5010 57:00
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HAYDN, F.J. Concerto for 2 Horns Hob VIId:2 DDD
MOZART, L. Concerto in D Major
ROSETTI Concerto in D minor
VIVALDI Concerto RV 539
Philharmonia Orchestra WARREN-GREEN, Michael
Horn THOMPSON, Michael
Horn WATKINS, Richard
Nimbus NIM5018 1:00:04
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHABRIER Larghetto Op. posth. DDD
DUKAS "Villanelle"
GLIERE Concerto Op. 91
SAINT-SAENS "Morceau de concert" Op. 94
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig MAZUR, Kurt
Horn BAUMANN, Hermann
Philips 416380-2 45:59
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GRAUN, C.H. Concerto in D Major DDD
KNECHTL Concerto in D Major
QUANTZ Concerto in E Flat Major #3
Concerto in E Flat Major #9
REINHARDT Concerto in E Flat Major
ROLLIG, J.G. Concerto #14 in D Major
Concerto #15 in D Major
Academy Of St. Martin-In-The-Fields BROWN, Iona
Horn TUCKWELL, Barry
London 417406-2 1:00:50
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ROSETTI Concerto in E Flat Major K3:39 DDD
2 Concertos in E Major K3:42,44
English Chamber Orchestra TUCKWELL, Barry
Horn TUCKWELL, Barry
EMI Eminence CDM7620312 53:01
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
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Guide access cs.uwp.edu (131.210.1.4) by anonymous FTP, or email me for info.
James J. Szinger
There are concerti by Michael Haydn, Josef Haydn, Leopold Mozart,
W.A.Mozart, Franz Strauss, and Richard Strauss. Also a sonata by
Beethoven, the Concertst"uck for four Horns by Schumann, a
concertino by Weber, the Horn Trio by Brahms, the Concertpiece by
Saint-Saens, the Villanelle by Dukas and a whole lot of other
stuff. The Los Angeles has a CD of music for large groups of
Horns. Wagner made heavy use of the Horn. For example, Das
Rheingold basically starts with an eighth Horn solo, and
Siegfried's Horn Call in Siegfried often gets the Hornist special
billing. The symphonic literature is full of examples. I just
happened to look at the score of F.J.Haydn's 51st Symphony a
couple of day's ago and the Horn parts are rather astonishing.
By the way, the preferred term is Horn, not French Horn,
especially since most modern orchestras use Horns based on the
German rather the French models. For more information, see The
Horn Call, volume 1, number 1.
Jim
Alan Munn
ja...@dcs.glasgow.ac.uk (Jack Campin) writes:
[of horn music]
> The Strauss concertos are unbelievably
>tedious for anyone who isn't _seriously_ dedicated to late Romantic
>megalomania. Some other recommendations:
Come on Jack, we recorder players are just jealous that we couldn't
possibly come up with a third movement opening like in the Strauss
1st! I was just listening to it today, and it has some *gorgeous*
slow movement parts.
Anyway, it's been my experience [WARNING unsubstantiated
generalisation ahead] that horn players (or brass players for that
matter) absolutely *adore* late Romantic megalomania. The quality of
orchestral music for brass players is in direct proportion to their
numbers. Just think, 8 horns instead of a measely 2 in Beethhoven.
(Of course the 3th symphony gets special dispensation for having a
great horn solo in it).
[Jack adds some good suggestions for horn music]
>
>The Norrington performances of Beethoven symphonies might also be of
>interest, as they use natural horns rather than the modern
instrument.
(So does the Brahms trio, at least as Brahms scored it).
Also some of Mozarts wind divertimentos, I have a recording of K213,
240,252, 253 & 270 by the Amadeus Winds, also on original instruments.
Alan "I once had a whim and I had to obey it" Munn
<am...@umd5.umd.edu>
Margaret Mikulska
>
>A couple of suggestions for the hardcore horn fanatic:
>Concertos for one or more horns, you say? No problem:
What about Schumann's Konzertstueck for 4 horns and orchestra ?
Hindemith's Sonata for four horns ?
Tippett's Sonata for four horns ?
(I don't think you mentioned them.)
Margaret
James J. Szinger
In article <1991Nov13.1...@dcs.glasgow.ac.uk>
ja...@dcs.glasgow.ac.uk (Jack Campin) writes:
[of horn music]
> The Strauss concertos are unbelievably
>tedious for anyone who isn't _seriously_ dedicated to late Romantic
>megalomania. Some other recommendations:
Come on Jack, we recorder players are just jealous that we couldn't
possibly come up with a third movement opening like in the Strauss
1st! I was just listening to it today, and it has some *gorgeous*
slow movement parts.
The Strauss Horn Concerti are rather modest when compared with
the likes of Alpensinfonie or Heldenleben. The first Concerto,
Op. 11 is a work of Strauss's youth and more of a middle Romantic
work like the Brahms concerti or the Schumann Concertst"uck. The
second Concerto dates from 1942. The instrumentation is sparser
that that of the first Concerto and the mood is meditative. Both
of these Concerti owe much to the Mozart Horn Concerti, being
about the same length and in the same key (E-flat) as the last
three Mozart Concerti. In addition, the last movements are
similar is character to hunting Rondos used by Mozart to end his
Concerti. We Horn players (and their audiences) are fortunate to
have these two Concerti.
Anyway, it's been my experience [WARNING unsubstantiated
generalisation ahead] that horn players (or brass players for that
matter) absolutely *adore* late Romantic megalomania. The quality of
orchestral music for brass players is in direct proportion to their
numbers. Just think, 8 horns instead of a measely 2 in Beethhoven.
(Of course the 3th symphony gets special dispensation for having a
great horn solo in it).
Now on to symphonies: Beethoven's "measely" two Horn parts did
much to empower the Horn. The two Horn parts for the fifth
Symphony should be a textbook example of how to write Horn parts.
The same could be said about the three Horn parts in Eroica or
the four Horn parts in the Ninth. Notice the way that duets go
either to Horns 1 and 2 or Horn 3 and 4, not to Horns 1 and 3;
that the low Horn parts are just as important and meaningful as
the high Horn parts; and that Horns are an integral part of the
wind section. Unfortunately some more recent composers forget
that the quartet is really a pair of duets, believe that low Horn
players are incompetent, and segregate the brass from the rest of
the winds. Such parts are not satisfying, regardless of the fact
that there might be as many as eight Horns.
Trivia question #1:
What wind instrument is in all of Mozart's symphonies?
Trivia question #2:
Of the instruments he did not play, for which did Mozart write
the most concerti?
Jim
Martin S T Watts
Some of my favourite pieces of Horn music on record are:
Richard Strauss - Horn Concertos 1 & 2: One good recording is that of Peter
Damm accompanied by Kempe conducting the Dresden Staatskapelle orchestra.
It's available on EMI.
Brahms - Horn Trio in E-flat: Barry Tuckwell with Izthak Perlman and Vladimir
Ashkenazy seems to be regarded as the definitive modern recording (on Decca
I think).
Mozart - Horn Concertos 1-4: The best recording of these that I've heard is
that of Dennis Brain accompanied by the Philharmonia Orchestra under Karajan.
This is admittedly a fairly old recording (on EMI), but perfectly acceptable,
and you really don't notice it once you get absorbed in the music.
Hope these suggestions are of some use to you.
Martin Watts.
Dept. of Physics and Astronomy,
University College London.
Robert W. Holzel
> The Strauss concertos are unbelievably
>tedious for anyone who isn't _seriously_ dedicated to late Romantic
>megalomania.
Talk about tedious! I'd take the Strauss First over any of the more
formally "Classical" concertos anyday. For what it's worth (and as
James Szinger points out) it's a "totally different head" than his
more self-absorbed compositions (although I think those other works
are just as wonderful.)
Albeit, I also admit to being "seriously dedicated to late Romantic
megalomania."
Do your worst.
David Brooks
I'll add Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings (NOT "Tenor horn
and strings).
Great Slow Movements From Symphonies: Brahms 3rd and Tchaikovsky 5th.
Perhaps your friend, as a horn player, can come up with a better list? :-)
--
--
David Brooks dbr...@osf.org
Systems Engineering, OSF uunet!osf.org!dbrooks
Indict Ronald Reagan -- the biggest confidence trickster still at large.
Roland Hutchinson
>The Norrington performances of Beethoven symphonies might also be of
>interest, as they use natural horns
Along the same lines, let me recommend Anthony Halstead's performances
of the Mozart concerti on natural horn (with Hannover Band on Nimbus).
Hannover Band has also done the complete Beethoven Symphonies on
period instruments. If you seek electrifying orchestral horns, you
could do much worse than their Eroica.
Roland Hutchinson Visiting Specialist/Early Music
Internet: rhut...@pilot.njin.net Department of Music
Bitnet: rhutchin@NJIN Montclair State College
Upper Montclair, NJ 07043
--
Roland Hutchinson Visiting Specialist/Early Music
Internet: rhut...@pilot.njin.net Department of Music
Bitnet: rhutchin@NJIN Montclair State College
Upper Montclair, NJ 07043
houston dunleavy
Probably you've received a heavy list by now, but pieces to look out
for would include the concertos by Mozart and Strauss, and the _Sereande for
Tenor, Horn and Strings_ by Britten. Orchestral music might include Strauss'
_Til Eulenspiegel_ or, if he likes opera, _Der Rosenkavalier_ (fantastic horn
parts in the overture). Performers to look out for would include the Barry
Tuckwell and the late Dennis Brain.
--
Houston Dunleavy, ex-pat Aussie and single composer (the latter two are
probably related). "I find that one is never quite alone with a rubber duck"
Peace, light and love to you wherever you can find it daddyo!
"Life's hard - it's even harder when you're stupid." Redd Fox.