Within the early nineteenth century, valves started to appear on horns.
It was an innovation which expanded the instrument’s virtuosic potentialities. Beforehand restricted to a sequence of pitches based mostly on the harmonic sequence, the horn might now glide up and down the chromatic scale.
Robert Schumann took discover and was keen to take advantage of the brand new know-how. He described his Konzertstück (“live performance piece”) for 4 Horns in F Main, Op. 86 as “one thing fairly curious.” In a novel and virtuosic showcase, the quartet of horns takes centerstage in entrance of the orchestra as soloists. First carried out by the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra on February 25, 1850, the Konzertstück celebrates an instrument reborn.
Schumann thought-about the horn to be “the soul of the orchestra.” From the blazing opening measures, we’re thrust right into a fanfare-filled journey. It’s the music of sunny landscapes, medieval looking calls, heroism, and valor. Schumann appears to have delighted in exhibiting off the brand new technical potentialities of the instrument.
The three actions of the Konzertstück are performed with out pause. Erupting with frolicking triplets, the primary motion (Lebhaft) is adopted by the majestic and nocturnal Romanze. Ziemlich langsam, doch nicht schleppend. The ultimate motion (Sehr lebhaft) begins with a jarring interrupting fanfare from the rival trumpets. With boundless exuberance, the musical protagonists gallop to the triumphant remaining cadence.
This efficiency, recorded in August of 2021, options soloists Marc Gruber, Kristian Katzenberger, Maciej Baranowski, and Charles Petit with conductor Alain Altinoglu and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony:
Featured Picture: “Life-Dimension Horse with Huntsman Blowing a Horn” (1732), John Wootton
