Continuing the theme of people playing the horn better than I did….. today it is the music of Saint-Saëns. This particular recording is with wind band accompaniment (which I think works quite well).
The Natural Horn
Following on from the demonstration of the natural horn in yesterday’s link here is the Weber Concertino played on a natural horn. Another solo that I (along with most aspiring horn players) learned to play once upon a time.
One Of The Greatest
It wasn’t my original plan, but when I saw that today would have been Dennis Brain’s 99th birthday it seemed as though I ought to have him playing something.
Now This Is Music
For the third Sunday in a row I am linking some unaccompanied vocal music – not bad for a brass player!
An Old Favourite
The last of this week’s “symphonies I have played with good horn parts” is a much less well known one – that of Cesar Franck. This was something that was in the “Music of the World’s Great Composers” collection that I have previously mentioned was very much part of my learning of orchestral music.
Russian Calm
Still with Russian symphonies – but for today’s “calm moment” I have switched from the sometimes grumpy music of Shostakovich to the lush romanticism of Rachmaninoff – his 2nd Symphony – the Adagio.
Russian Music
A late offering tonight – the link is to the first movement of Shostakovich 5 – another composer who wrote “interesting” horn parts. One of the ‘interesting’ things about this one is the range that is required.
Lovely Sound
A quite different set of challenges from yesterday’s Mahler – and only two horns this time. However from the “no room for error” opening bars and thoughout this long symphony there is plenty to keep the horn players on their toes.
Dominating Horns
Continuing my “symphonies I have played with good horn parts” today I link Mahler. I think every horn player would agree that they are good parts – if a bit scary at times 😱😱
My First Symphony
(No not one that I composed 😂) A few weeks ago I “featured” the horn solo from the 2nd movement of Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony. That was the second symphony that I had played – my first ever symphony was Dvorak’s 8th. Less well known than the “New World Symphony” I have played it more often.